Ferrum — GA4GH infrastructure that actually runs.
On-premise GA4GH data and compute (DRS, WES, TES, TRS, Beacon, htsget, Passports, Crypt4GH) aimed at clinics, data integration centres, and later-wave genomDE-adjacent sites that cannot send raw data to the cloud. Tested, documented, in Rust. Identity can be Ferrum-standalone or GA4GH Infra — separate product, Apache-2.0. Not a named DIZ or genomDE production deployment.
Evidence you can inspect
Ferrum is the paid data/compute product (BUSL-1.1, research allowance, four-year conversion to Apache-2.0 — see LICENSE). Lab Kit and ferrum-meta come with Ferrum; they are not separate products. The Demo and HelixTest are reference / demo evidence, not products. GA4GH Infra is a separate Apache-2.0 identity product.
Why Ferrum exists
Most GA4GH implementations are cloud-first, hard to verify, or simply not finished. Ferrum is built for teams that know their data must stay on-premise — while still needing to interoperate with GA4GH-compatible networks. The GA4GH APIs are good. There should be a system that implements them consistently. So we built it.
National archives hold submitted genomic data. Ferrum is the local side: GA4GH-oriented infrastructure at the clinic or data node before submission. Crypt4GH is implemented in Ferrum — the same encryption many archives use. DRS interface for structured transfer. No cloud as an intermediate step.
Clinical companion: Solum
When you also need clinical/EHDS compliance (enforce · translate · evidence) beside genomic data, Solum is the optional companion — separate product and regulatory perimeter, shared Crypt4GH and sovereignty patterns. Not required to run Ferrum.
Ferrum + Solum together
Genomic plane and clinical compliance plane as one engagement: shared Crypt4GH patterns, separate perimeters, one pilot conversation. Ask about a joint Ferrum + Solum scope.
Ask about Ferrum + SolumCore capabilities
| Feature | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| Portable workflow engines | WES/TES execution for Nextflow, CWL, WDL, and Snakemake — on Slurm or local runners. LSF is not implemented. | |
| Provenance & RO-Crate export | Lineage metadata and exportable RO-Crate bundles for reproducibility, audit trails, and downstream catalogues. | |
| Offline-first / Edge mode | Runs on a single device with SQLite and local storage. No PostgreSQL or MinIO required for Edge deployments. Recovers cleanly from power loss. | |
| Data residency audit | Cryptographically chained, append-only log of all data movements. Proves data stayed within your institution. | |
| Federated Beacon (P2P) | Ferrum instances query each other directly — no central coordinator, no cloud dependency. Works across slow or intermittent links. |
Orientation, not legal advice
Designed for regulated environments (GDPR, EHDS, NIS2, HIPAA as orientation). Technical evidence and tests — not a compliance certificate and not legal advice.
Ferrum Readiness Check
A paid step between the research licence and a pilot. The check is booked time. The licence fee under the grant stays €0.
Remote check of the existing infrastructure against Ferrum prerequisites (Compose/Helm capability, need for GA4GH interfaces). Written short report with a recommendation.
€1,800 fixed for up to 2 days of remote review; optional third day +€600.
Up to 100% of the fee is creditable toward a Ferrum pilot if the pilot SOW follows within 60 days.
The short report is a recommendation for the pilot conversation. It is not a conformity result and not a GA4GH certification.
Ask about the Readiness CheckInstitutional pricing (indicative)
Permitted non-commercial research under the BUSL Additional Use Grant stays free of a licence fee. The fixed price is our time in a bounded pilot, not a right to buy the software. If you do not book the pilot and you stay within the grant, you do not pay that sum. For production institutional deployments outside the grant we quote fixed annual licences and optional support — not per-seat SaaS.
| Item | Guide (net EUR) |
|---|---|
| Commercial licence — single node | €15,000–35,000 / year |
| Commercial licence — multi-site (2–5) | €40,000–80,000 / year |
| Pilot (commercial, 60–90 days) | €10,000–20,000 fixed (credit toward year-1 licence by arrangement) |
| Public research | Free licence (BUSL Additional Use Grant). The Testinstallation is free of charge, with an effort cap of up to two working days. Further implementation is billed by effort at the Technical-Implementation-Tagessatz (€1,200–1,800/day). |
| Support | Standard included · Priority +15% · Enterprise +30% (uptime SLA only if SOW defines it) |
Indicative only. Binding terms in writing. Consortium / national nodes: contact us. Africa: documented regional pricing 25–50% below EU tier.
Year-1 worked example (indicative)
A single-site DIC piloting Ferrum + Solum Track A together often lands around €18k–38k in Year 1 before support uplifts: Ferrum pilot €10k–20k (creditable toward year-1 licence) plus Solum Track A pilot €8k–18k. Both fixed prices are time in the pilot, not two licence fees. Multi-site and Track B CDR add-ons sit above that band. Binding totals only in writing.
Support tiers
Support applies to paid institutional licences and support agreements for Ferrum (and Solum under the same model).
Delivered by a small team (founder-scale), business hours CET/CEST, Monday–Friday (Baden-Württemberg holidays excluded). Not a 24/7 NOC.
| Tier | First response | Hours / channels |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | 2 business days | Business hours CET · email / ticket · included |
| Priority | 8 business hours | Business hours CET · email + scheduled call · typically +15% |
| Enterprise | 4 business hours | Extended 07:00–20:00 CET · dedicated contact · typically +30% |
First response means acknowledgment and triage, not resolution. BUSL research use may get good-faith community replies without a contractual SLA.
Numeric production uptime percentages are not a standing vendor promise for customer-hosted deployments. Enterprise uptime SLA only if a signed SOW defines measurable scope; otherwise N/A.
What Ferrum is not
- No formal compliance certification (e.g. ISO, NIS2, EHDS)—orientation only.
- Not a fully managed cloud SaaS—Ferrum runs in your environment.
- Not a one-click substitute for governance or organisational process.
- Default demo compute is TES noop; auth is off (NON-PILOT). Real local containers: make up-tes. Clone path with auth on: make eval.
- htsget region queries (referenceName / start / end) return HTTP 400. LSF is not implemented.
- Not a live DIZ, genomDE, GHGA Central, or clinical production deployment. Demos, CI, and HelixTest NON-PILOT runs are technical signals — not a named pilot and not GA4GH certification.
Technical depth
Install commands, full deployment options, and architecture live in the citable reports and the GitHub quickstart — short here, deep there.
- SF-TR-2026-001 — Ferrum Architecture →
- SF-TR-2026-002 — Ferrum Field & Edge →
- Getting started on GitHub →
- For evaluators (GitHub) →
- Deployment docs on GitHub →
- Field & offline deployment →
- Read the Ferrum & GA4GH white paper →
Ferrum is licensed under BUSL-1.1. Permitted non-commercial research under the BUSL Additional Use Grant stays free of a licence fee. Production deployments outside that grant need a commercial licence. After four years each version changes to Apache-2.0. No vendor lock-in.
Regulatory context: EHDS · NIS2 · GDPR & health data
We typically reply within two business days. Repository and licence details are available on request.