For several years now, we have distributed the SAbDab database and SAbPred tools as a virtual machine, SAbBox, via Oxford University Innovation. This virtual machine allows a user to utilise the tools and database locally, allowing for high-throughput analysis and keeping confidential data within a local network. Initially distributed under a commercial licence, the platform proved popular and, in 2020, we introduced a free academic licence to enable our academic colleagues to use our tools and database locally.

Following requests from users, in 2021 we released a new version of the platform packaged as a Singularity container. This included all of the features of SAbBox, allowing Linux users to take advantage of the near bare-metal performance of Singularity when running SAbPred tools. Over the past year, we have made lots of improvements to both SAbBox platforms, and have more work planned for the coming year. I’ll briefly outline these developments below.