Support FAQs

SMRT Link Cloud is available to all PacBio customers at no cost, with no one-time fees or recurring subscription charges.

Please contact tech support to access SMRT Link Cloud. Note that when setting-up SMRT Link Cloud, a workspace name (of the customers choosing), an administrator name, and an administrator email will be requested.

No, using SMRT Link Cloud is optional. Installers for the on-premises version of SMRT Link are available for download at PacBio’s software downloads page.

Please note that users of the on-premises version are responsible for purchasing and managing their own compute hardware.

SMRT Link Cloud is currently hosted in the United States and is accessible to users worldwide.

No, SMRT Link Cloud does not include sequence storage, and PacBio does not bill users for cloud storage. Starting with v25.1, SMRT Link allows users to configure data transfer settings to upload sequence data directly from their instruments to either:

• Local network storage (owned and managed by the user)

• Cloud storage (owned and managed by the user)
  

SMRT Link supports transfers to Amazon S3, Azure Blob Storage, and Google Cloud Storage Buckets. Transfers to other cloud storage systems that use an S3-compatible API are also supported. Cloud storage costs are billed directly by the user’s cloud provider, with pricing and storage limits determined by the vendor.

Transfer schemes can be configured from SMRT Link Cloud to set up direct-to-cloud transfers between your sequencing instrument and a cloud storage system. SMRT Link supports transfers to Amazon S3, Azure Blob Storage, and Google Cloud Storage Buckets. Transfers to other cloud storage systems that use an S3-compatible API are also supported.

Please note that SMRT Link Cloud only configures the data transfer connection between your sequencing instrument and a cloud storage system, but otherwise does not have direct access to your cloud storage system.

SMRT Link Cloud stores metadata related to sequencing runs but does not store raw sequencing data or analysis results.

Data stored in SMRT Link Cloud includes:

• Sample setup information

• Run design information

• Instrument monitoring statuses

• Run monitoring statuses

• Run QC data

Data that is not stored in SMRT Link Cloud:

• Sample accessioning information (LIMS)

• Sequence data (e.g., BAM files)

• Secondary and tertiary analysis results
  

Users are responsible for storing sequencing data and analysis results in their own local or cloud storage solutions.

Currently, SMRT Link Cloud is not GDPR or HIPAA compliant. Users handling personally identifiable information (PII) or protected health information (PHI) should ensure compliance with relevant regulations by storing and processing such data in their own secure environments.

No, PacBio does not sign Business Associate Agreements (BAAs) for SMRT Link Cloud. Since SMRT Link Cloud does not handle or store sequencing data, users managing protected health information (PHI) must ensure compliance with HIPAA by obtaining a BAA directly from their chosen cloud storage provider if needed.

No, SMRT Link Cloud does not currently include the SMRT Analysis module for performing secondary analysis. Users who need secondary analysis can:

• Install the on-premises version of SMRT Link, which includes the SMRT Analysis module: Download here

• Use a PacBio Compatible partner: Find third-party secondary analysis solutions

• Utilize publicly available command-line tools

Currently, SMRT Link Cloud does not include capabilities for running the lima and lima-undo data utilities for demultiplexing and undoing demultiplexing. SMRT Link Cloud users who need to run these utilities will need to install lima and lima-undo on a Linux operating system hosted either locally or in the cloud. lima and lima-undo can be installed using the SMRT Link installer with the —smrttools-only flag enabled.

Currently, SMRT Link Cloud does not include capabilities for running the skera data utilitiy for read segmentation of Kinnex libraries. SMRT Link Cloud users who need to run this utility will need to install skera on a Linux operating system hosted either locally or in the cloud. skera can be installed using the SMRT Link installer with the –smrttools-only flag enabled.

Yes, users can use both SMRT Link Cloud and a local SMRT Link server simultaneously to manage their fleet of instruments. However, please note that each sequencing instrument can only be configured to connect to one SMRT Link server at any given time.

Currently, SMRT Link Cloud users and connected instruments can only be assigned to a single workspace.

Syncing or sharing historical records of sequencing runs between SMRT Link Cloud and a local SMRT Link server is not currently supported. Run designs and run details from past sequencing experiments remain specific to the SMRT Link instance where they were generated.

However, new run designs can be transferred between a local SMRT Link server and SMRT Link Cloud by exporting and importing run design CSV files.

For more details, refer to the SMRT Link user guide.