Abstract: Techniques for providing access to data are disclosed. In an embodiment, a method for providing access to data involves storing data among a plurality of data stores where at least two of the data stores differ in at least one ability to perform a data operation. A mapping associates data containers with locations of corresponding data among the data stores. At least a portion of the data is redistributed among the data stores according to at least one policy that defines where among the data stores said at least a portion of the data should be stored. A request from a requestor to access particular data corresponding a data container is received and the particular data is located using the mapping. The particular data is provided to the requestor.

Abstract: An embodiment of a system for managing files generated from biological probe arrays is described that comprises a first generator that produces a first data file comprising a plurality of raw intensity values, and metadata comprising a first identifier that uniquely identifies the first data file; a second generator that produces a second data file comprising a plurality of processed intensity values each representing a probe feature on a biological probe array, and metadata comprising a second identifier different than the first identifier that uniquely identifies the second data file and a pointer to the first identifier; and a file indexer that stores the metadata for the first and second data files in a cache database.