ADAM: automated data management for research datasets

Existing repositories for experimental datasets typically capture snapshots of data acquired using a single experimental technique and often require manual population and continual curation. We present a storage system for heterogeneous research data that performs dynamic automated indexing to provide powerful search, discovery and collaboration features without the restrictions of a structured repository. ADAM is able to index many commonly used file formats generated by laboratory assays and therefore offers specific advantages to the experimental biology community. However, it is not domain specific and can promote sharing and re-use of working data across scientific disciplines. Availability and implementation: ADAM is implemented using Java and supported on Linux. It is open source under the GNU General Public License v3.0. Installation instructions, binary code, a demo system and virtual machine image and are available at http://www.imperial.ac.uk/bioinfsupport/resources/software/adam. Contact: m.woodbridge@imperial.ac.uk