What is the CRN Cloud?¶
The CRN Cloud is a data-sharing platform created by Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s (ASAP) that enables researchers worldwide to discover, access, analyze, and share Parkinson’s disease ‘omics data generated by CRN teams.
Three ideas are worth knowing before anything else:
- You can browse before applying for access. You don't need an approved application to review dataset descriptions and harmonized collections on the CRN Cloud Explorer.
- Analyze data in the cloud with Verily Workbench. Analyze large-scale omics data in a secure cloud environment, no local setup required.
- Processed outputs for faster discovery. Move from data access to insight more quickly using curated, analysis-ready resources.
Recap: How the pieces fit together¶
| Pillar | Platform | What it's for |
|---|---|---|
| Data Discovery | CRN Cloud Explorer | Browse collections, review metadata, and apply for data access |
| Data Utilization: Analysis & Sharing | Verily Workbench | Analyze approved data, run notebooks and pipelines, collaborate |
| Resources & Documentation | GitHub | Tutorials, workshops, pipeline code, and community contribution |
All three sit on Google Cloud Platform, which hosts the data and handles backend access control underneath everything above.
A note on naming
"CRN Cloud" is the umbrella name for the whole ecosystem — but you'll also hear "CRN Cloud Explorer" used specifically for the discovery/browsing tool (the first pillar above). If someone says "log into CRN Cloud," they mean the Explorer.
What's actually in it¶
Data in the CRN Cloud Explorer is organized into two kinds of collections:
- Harmonized Collections — data standardized across multiple CRN teams' points of commonality, so it can be analyzed together (e.g., the Postmortem-Derived Brain Sequencing collection).
- Individual Datasets — A contributed body of data and related outputs for a defined study or experiment by an individual CRN team.
The typical path¶
- Browse & evaluate collections on the CRN Cloud Explorer.
- Request data access — a one-time, per-person application. See Requesting Data Access.
- Explore metadata in the CRN Cloud. Refer to the Navigating the CRN Cloud Explorer Video.
- Analyze data in Verily Workbench. See the Verily Workbench Guide.
- Learn and contribute — tutorials, workshops, and pipeline code live on GitHub. Explore at Contributing on GitHub and Tutorials & Case Studies.
Where to go next¶
| If you're trying to... | Go to |
|---|---|
| Get access to the data | Requesting Data Access |
| Set up your analysis environment | Verily Workbench Guide |
| Fork a repo or contribute | Contributing on GitHub |
| Learn by doing | Tutorials & Case Studies |
| Understand dataset/release versions | CRN Cloud Rosetta Stone |