Have you ever felt tied to your ÄKTA system and itching to get out of the lab? Consider this scenario: you have started a run in the lab and want to get some work done in your office. You may want to plan for the next run, analyze previous runs, prepare a presentation or work on your next publication or report. But while you focus on other activities, you still need to monitor the progress of the run in the lab. Would you benefit from the freedom to use UNICORN software remotely?
If so, I recommend listening to our webinar-on-demand, Work from anywhere with UNICORN and add flexibility to protein purification workflows, about the remote capabilities of UNICORN software when working with ÄKTA systems. The live webinar was held on September 6, followed by a Q&A session where my colleagues Olivier Friker, Lena Nyholm and Lotta Hedkvist and I answered questions from the audience. Here are the questions and answers from the Q&A session.
UNICORN remote capabilities
UNICORN Remote allows you to work from the comfort of your office or any computer outside of the one connected to the system. The remote capabilities in UNICORN allow you to monitor runs outside of the lab, receive alarms and warnings, check on settings, view results and work on method editing and evaluation, without blocking the dedicated UNICORN workstation connected to the ÄKTA system.
A1: There are many features in UNICORN to ensure safety of operation, such as control priorities, user and computer access control, audit trailing, etc. Working without these features may lead to incidents or non-compliance.
A2: Yes, this is possible.
Q3: Can UNICORN 7 be installed on an office PC and access the networked ÄKTA systems without being physically connected to a system?
A3: Yes, if the office PC can connect over the network.
A4: No, ÄKTA start, our simplest ÄKTA system, is an easy-to-use protein purification system that automates manual protein purification procedures in academic and educational labs. It does not have remote capabilities.
Q5: What is the procedure for operating and controlling the ÄKTA avant system from home on my cell phone. Sometimes I am at home and my run in the lab gets paused due to errors. I must wait until the next day to continue the run.
A5: Remote operation is not yet available for UNICORN. However, we do realize the benefits of operating remotely and this something that GE Healthcare is considering.
A6: UNICORN software natively runs on Microsoft Windows, and Mac is not supported. However, we have seen a workaround used by few of our users to access UNICORN from Mac computers by using a remote desktop application and connecting to the windows computer running UNICORN. This does not provide all the benefits of using the UNICORN Remote client. The remote (Mac) computer will take complete control of the UNICORN workstation, blocking all other users from utilizing the software. We do not support or recommend this workaround.
A7: UNICORN 7 has replaced UNICORN 5.x; however, not all systems are covered. ÄKTAexplorer and ÄKTApurifier can run on UNCORN 7, but unfortunately not ÄKTAprime.
A9: Please connect with your regional service team to get more information and access to the data viewer tool.
Network requirements
The UNICORN Remote capabilities are realized by leveraging network installation and floating licenses. There were several questions related to the network needed for the installation.
A10: Network specifications are much more complex than just speed (latency, bandwidth, etc.). GE is working to provide meaningful and realistic specifications.
Q11: Do workstations require a wired network connection between network and system? Or does it work over Wi-Fi?
A11: The UNICORN client must be able to access the UNICORN database, regardless of the infrastructure of the network. Both wired and wireless connection should work fine if the UNICORN client has access to the UNICORN database and the network connectivity is stable.
Q13: How does the system cope with loss of connectivity? What happens if the network is disconnected between the standalone desktop and the ÄKTA system? Is the run interrupted?
A13: When connection is lost to the central data base, UNICORN will store data locally until reconnection. The control computer hosting the UNICORN client will continue the run.
Q14: There is a huge database generated daily. How I can minimize the database, as it is consuming memory of computer?
A14: There are many ways to minimize data weight, with different pros and cons depending on the context. Refer to the Administration and Technical manual for data sampling and database archiving.
UNICORN licenses
A typical representation of the UNICORN network setup includes a common database, where the data from all the UNICORN workstations are stored, and a license server that is common to the network installation. The common license server holds the floating licenses that are used by all the remote clients. In addition, there are also node-locked licenses for the dedicated UNICORN workstation connected to each ÄKTA system.
Q15: Is the remote license database specific, or can we have a single remote license for multiple ÄKTA systems?
A15: Remote licenses are floating, so each license is valid for one concurrent user but can be used by multiple users at different times.
A16: Yes. Please connect with your sales team to order UNICORN Remote.
A17: The UNICORN client can be installed on any computer. GE Healthcare offers floating remote licenses for sharing between multiple users.
Get to know more about the different UNICORN licenses in UNICORN 7 software data file.
Learn more about UNICORN remote capabilities and learn how to implement in our webinar-on-demand; Work from anywhere with UNICORN and add flexibility to protein purification workflows.