Greetings traveller, and welcome to the release announcement for Digichem version 8!
Version 8 is a major update to the entire Digichem ecosystem, bringing big changes to Digichem-desktop, the Digichem back end, and the open-source Digichem-library. Headlines include support for a new computational engine (xTB), support for a new method for calculating electronic excited states (sTD-DFT), a new dashboard and drawing application for Digichem-desktop, and the introduction of our own in-house computational server: Digicloud.
Version 8 is available for download right now, simply follow the link below to pick up your copy. Otherwise, please read on to find out all that's new.
The big headline feature of Digichem 8 is, of course, the introduction of Digicloud; the computational cluster for everyone! Digicloud is a complete high-performance computing (HPC) cluster that is managed directly by us. It is available to everyone, anywhere in the world.
Digicloud heralds a big shift in computational chemistry because it means you no longer need access to your own HPC cluster to start running calculations. For many researchers and scientists looking to get into modelling, this can be a significant hurdle to overcome, either because their institution does not provide a HPC service, or because it is too complicated to use without the prerequisite knowledge and training. Digicloud changes all of that, by providing the entire Digichem experience in a simple, ready-to-use package.
Digicloud currently offers 5 different server types, ranging in size from Nano (4 CPU), Micro (8 CPU), Milli (16 CPU), Kilo (32 CPU), and Mega (64 CPU), depending on the size of the molecules (and the complexity of the computation) being calculated. All users on Digicloud will have a monthly quota of CPU-hours to track their computational usage. The size of this quota, as well as which servers on Digicloud are available, depend on which plan you pick.
Our goal, as ever, is to make computational chemistry accessible for everyone. To that end, we've endeavoured to offer a range of pricing tiers to suit different users needs. Visit out pricing page to find a Digicloud plan that suits you!
The xTB logo is copyright Sebastian Ehlert. It is reproduced here under the terms of the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.
In addition to these new features, there have been a plethora of minor changes and improvements to the program. A particular focus has been on connection stability between the Digichem back end and Digichem-desktop, which is much improved in version 8 (particularly for self-host servers which are protected behind SSH tunnels). We've also overhauled the server API to better conform to the JSON:API specification which will greatly help developers looking to access Digichem functionality remotely (full documentation on the Digichem API is in the works, but please get in touch if you need access sooner). In Digichem-desktop, new program versions will now be downloaded automatically in the background, keeping you up-to-date with future developments without having to manually upgrade. Finally, there has, of course, been a mountain of bugfixes and other adjustments to improve your Digichem experience, please check out the full change log for more information.
Well, that's it for now folks! As always, a big thanks from everyone here at Chemicus for making Digichem the success that it is today, and we hope you enjoy using the new program as much as we have enjoyed putting it together.