The Automatic Linux + ARB Installation DVD: ARBuntu
- Click to enlarge
Current version: 3.1
- NEW: ARBuntu 64-bit edition for EUR 89.00 (excl. VAT) plus shipping
- Please note: we do not maintain an ARBuntu 32-bit edition anymore.
What is ARBuntu?
- A standardized ARB platform for beginners and advanced users
- Automatic installation of a fully-featured Linux operating system plus ARB and all its dependencies by few clicks in only 10-15 minutes
Features:
- Based on the ARB 5.2 release from September 2010 and the
Kubuntu 10.04 LTS (long-term support) Linux distribution from April 2010
- SILVA "demo" databases for SSU (16S/18S) and LSU (23S/28S) rRNA sequences (SSU Ref NR 102, LSU Ref 104, LTP SSU 102, LTP LSU 102) plus pre-calculated pt-servers for the smaller datasets and a detailed documentation (
ARBuntu screenshot)
- Live DVD -> hardware compatibility can be checked without installation!
- All the additional software offered by the Kubuntu project ( feature tour) plus the free tree viewer and finalizer FigTree (
ARBuntu screenshot)
- Prepared for easy later integration of
SINA - the SILVA Aligner
- Installation guide plus 6 month installation and bug support
Important Remark
With the new ARBuntu system comes a major change. It is related to the ARB memory requirements and gains more and more in importance ...
- The new ARB 5.x is also available as a 64-bit version and as a consequence, we only offer a 64-bit edition of ARBuntu from now.
ARB is a very memory(=RAM)-intensive application, at least if you are working with large databases such as the current rRNA datasets (see www.arb-silva.de). So far, 32-bit operating systems and software had dominated the end-user computer market. One characteristic of a 32-bit system is that it can only address a maximum of 4 GB of RAM. If an ARB database requires more RAM, you can not work with it anymore - a severe limitation.
This limitation can be resolved by setting up a 64-bit operating system which can handle a nearly unlimited amount of RAM. Such systems are already available since several years. However, also the software itself must come in a 64-bit version to be able to use more than 4 GB of RAM. This is realized by the new ARBuntu system 3.1 for the ARB software. Of course, you can install the 64-bit ARBuntu edition also if you have less than 4GB of RAM available.
Please note that you also require 64-bit hardware (processor) to set up a 64-bit system. However, since several years most standard processors are prepared to run in both modes, using any recent machine there should be no problem.
To bring some light into the dark concerning the ARB hardware demands, we have compiled a table which shows you the 
ARB Memory (RAM) Requirements (ver. 1.3) for the recent SILVA rRNA datasets.
Latest ARBuntu News & Announcements
September 9, 2011
We have decided to not maintain a parallel 32-bit edition of ARBuntu anymore because of limited user interest. Thank you for your understanding.
January 7, 2011
A new ARBuntu release can be ordered! It is based on the recent stable ARB release 5.2 from September 2010 and an updated Linux system representing the latest long-term support (LTS) release of Ubuntu (version 10.04 of April 2010). Our future focus will be on the 64-bit edition (see above for more information) but for the moment we will also maintain a parallel 32-bit edition. There is no "pro" and "standard" version of the ARBuntu DVD anymore since SINA - the SILVA Aligner can now easily be integrated also later into the existing installation.
ARBuntu Release History (2006 - 2011)
Release | ARB version | Distribution | Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
version 1.0 | internal enhanced ARB version from March 2006 with same stability as the Linux Beta release from August 2003 | Ubuntu 5.10 from October 2005 + GNOME 2.12 desktop environment | tested: fully operational; released in May 2006 | ||
version 1.2 | internal enhanced ARB version from August 2006 with same stability as the Linux Beta release from August 2003 | Kubuntu 6.06 from June 2006 | tested: fully operational; released in February 2007 | ||
version 2.0 | ARB release from December 2007 | Kubuntu 7.10 from October 2007 + K Desktop Environment (KDE) 3.5 | tested: fully operational; released in | ||
version 3.0
| ARB 5.1 release from October 2009 | Kubuntu 9.04 from April 2009 + K Desktop Environment (KDE) 4.3 | tested: fully operational; released in November 2009 | ||
version 3.1 | ARB 5.2 release from September 2010 (64-bit) | Kubuntu 10.04 LTS from April 2010 + K Desktop Environment (KDE) 4.4 | tested: fully operational; available from January 2011 |