Why we are launching the Incremental Steps Tech Blog
Why this blog
After a significant journey developing custom software and optimizing infrastructure within the Nextflow ecosystem, we reached a turning point. We’ve spent years solving complex bottlenecks—from data transfer speeds to cluster orchestration—and we realized that the solutions we were building for ourselves and our clients could provide immense value to the wider community.
Today, we are excited to launch this blog as a dedicated space to share our contributions, technical insights, and the suite of plugins we’ve developed under the Incremental Steps umbrella.
From Problem-Solving to Plugin Development
Our transition into plugin development wasn't accidental. It was driven by necessity. The challenges we faced in production environments—like managing massive genomic datasets or orchestrating tasks in non-standard clusters—required specialized tools.
We started building these bridges, and today, that work has materialized into a robust set of plugins:
- Infrastructure: Bringing flexibility with
nf-nomad. - Data Handling: Optimizing with
nf-parquetandnf-csvext. - Speed: Accelerating transfers with
nf-aspera. - Observability: Improving the dev-loop with
cache-browser.
We believe that the best software is "battle-tested." Our plugins aren't just theoretical exercises; they are the result of real-world requirements where performance and reproducibility are non-negotiable.
What to Expect from this Blog
This blog isn't just about announcements. We want it to be a resource for the Nextflow community. Moving forward, you can expect:
- Technical Deep Dives: Breakdowns of how our plugins work under the hood.
- Best Practices: Guides on optimizing data flow and storage.
- Infrastructure Insights: How to leverage modern tools like Nomad and private networking for scalable research.
- Community Updates: News on our latest open-source releases.
Building in the Open
Our commitment to Open Source is at the core of our philosophy. By sharing these tools, we hope to lower the barrier to entry for complex data pipelines and help teams focus on what really matters: their science and their data.
"Every great achievement is the result of a series of small, consistent improvements. This blog is where we document our incremental steps toward better workflows."
Join the Conversation
We are building these tools for the community. If you have feedback, ideas for new plugins, or if you’re facing a specific infrastructure challenge that needs a custom solution, don't hesitate to reach out.