RIKEN BSI-TOYOTA Collaboration Center, RIKEN Brain Science Institute, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan.
Neural Netw. 2011 Sep;24(7):693-8. doi: 10.1016/j.neunet.2011.06.010. Epub 2011 Jun 23.
For multi-scale and multi-modal neural modeling, it is needed to handle multiple neural models described at different levels seamlessly. Database technology will become more important for these studies, specifically for downloading and handling the neural models seamlessly and effortlessly. To date, conventional neuroinformatics databases have solely been designed to archive model files, but the databases should provide a chance for users to validate the models before downloading them. In this paper, we report our on-going project to develop a cloud-based web service for online simulation called "Simulation Platform". Simulation Platform is a cloud of virtual machines running GNU/Linux. On a virtual machine, various software including developer tools such as compilers and libraries, popular neural simulators such as GENESIS, NEURON and NEST, and scientific software such as Gnuplot, R and Octave, are pre-installed. When a user posts a request, a virtual machine is assigned to the user, and the simulation starts on that machine. The user remotely accesses to the machine through a web browser and carries out the simulation, without the need to install any software but a web browser on the user's own computer. Therefore, Simulation Platform is expected to eliminate impediments to handle multiple neural models that require multiple software.
对于多尺度和多模态神经建模，需要无缝地处理不同级别描述的多个神经模型。数据库技术对于这些研究将变得更加重要，特别是用于无缝、轻松地下载和处理神经模型。迄今为止，传统的神经信息学数据库仅被设计用于存档模型文件，但数据库应该为用户在下载模型之前提供验证模型的机会。在本文中，我们报告了正在进行的开发名为“Simulation Platform”的在线模拟的基于云的网络服务的项目。Simulation Platform 是一个运行 GNU/Linux 的虚拟机云。在虚拟机上，预安装了各种软件，包括编译器和库等开发工具、GENESIS、NEURON 和 NEST 等流行的神经模拟器以及 Gnuplot、R 和 Octave 等科学软件。当用户提交请求时，会为用户分配一台虚拟机，并在该机器上启动模拟。用户通过网络浏览器远程访问该机器，并在无需在用户自己的计算机上安装任何软件但只需安装网络浏览器的情况下进行模拟。因此，预计 Simulation Platform 将消除处理需要多种软件的多个神经模型的障碍。
