The leading software package for protein identification and characterisation using mass spectrometry data.
Mascot Server is a powerful search engine which uses mass spectrometry data to identify proteins from DNA, RNA and protein sequence databases as well as spectral libraries. While a number of similar programs are available, Mascot is unique, as it integrates all of the proven methods of database searching: peptide mass fingerprinting, sequence query and MS/MS ions search.
Mascot has become firmly established as the standard for protein identification using mass spectrometry data. It will give excellent results with peak lists from instruments manufctured by: AB Sciex, Agilent, Bruker, Jeol, Shimadzu, Thermo Scientific, Waters.
Mascot Server V3.0
What’s new in Mascot Server 3.0:
- Refine results with machine learning
- Use predicted retention time (DeepLC) and predicted spectra (MS2PIP): Both tools have been proven to improve sensitivity of database search results in all types of experiments
- Nose-to-tail workflow: you can now select refining with machine learning directly in the search form.
- Machine learning quality report: Take the guesswork out of machine learning with the new machine learning quality report.
- Faster and more precise error tolerant search: the Mascot Error Tolerant Search is a second pass search that identifies unsuspected chemical and post-translational modifications as well as enzyme non-specificity. You can now restrict the second pass to specific modification classes.
- Improved results file performance across the system
- New file format: Mascot Search Results (MSR)
- Backwards compatibility:
- Mascot Daemon improvements
- Changes to defaults
- Removal of obsolete functionality
- Other improvements:
- Major update to user documentation
- Peptide View now annotates all fragments
- Reduced “query prep time” on many Windows systems
- Perl has been updated to version 5.38
- Javascript speed improvements in the interactive reports.
Take a look at this leaflet to see a short summary of the improvements in Mascot Server 3.0.
MASCOT SERVER – FREE TRIAL
You are welcome to use Mascot’s free service running on their website. It is ideal for evaluation and searching smaller data sets. Most of the Mascot Server functionalities are available in the free service, but it has some restrictions. For routine or high throughput work, we recommend licensing Mascot in house.
Mascot Server In-house licence
There are several reasons why you might choose to license Mascot for in-house use:
- You need a proven and high performance solution for protein identification
- To search data sets that exceed the size limit on this free server
- To search data sets or databases that exceed the capabilities of competing products
- Confidentiality issues prohibit transmission of sensitive data to a third party
- You need a single solution for data from instruments from different vendors
- Multiple people in your group need to run searches concurrently
- To search your preferred collection of sequence databases (any Fasta file) or spectral libraries
- For automated, high throughput work using Mascot Daemon or your own pipeline
- So that search results can be imported into a relational database
- To add and edit modifications, enzymes, quantitation or crosslinking methods, etc.
- To be able to drill down into the data and validate the software’s decisions
Mascot Server is available for Windows and Linux on Intel and AMD processors. The software is typically installed on a server grade computer at your own premises, but you can also run it on your workstation, virtualised infrastructure and in the cloud. All aspects of the hardware and software are fully under your control, and there are no restrictions on the number of users submitting searches to the Mascot server or the size of the searches.
Mascot Server is shipped as a digital download. The licence is perpetual, not an annual fee, and includes 1 year warranty covering technical support and all updates. After the first year, if you wish to continue receiving technical support and updates, you have the option of purchasing a support contract.
CPU upgrade
The Mascot search engine is very fast and the code is threaded for execution on multi-processor systems and clusters. Whatever throughput is required, it can be achieved by running Mascot on a sufficient number of processors.
Entry level is a single processor (1 CPU) licence. For licensing purposes, 1 CPU equals 4 cores. For example, a 1-CPU licence will use the first four cores in a system with 1 x 6-core processor or 2 x 4-core processors. If the system has more cores than are covered by the licence, the surplus cores are used for generating reports and web server/operating system overhead.
A licence can be upgraded to use additional processors at any time. Start with just the number of processors you need today and add additional processors to the licence as and when required. Note that there is no limit to the number of users that can submit searches to a Mascot server, even if it is just a single CPU licence.
Premium Support
A Mascot licence includes one year of Premium Support, providing:
- Priority access to expert technical support
- No charge to swap to another supported platform
- Remote problem diagnosis if deemed necessary
- Run a 1 CPU ‘test server’ in addition to a ‘production server’, provided the licence is for 8 CPU or more
- Free updates to all new releases of Mascot
You can continue receiving these benefits in subsequent years by purchasing an annual support contract. After the first year, if you wish to continue receiving technical support and updates, you have the option of purchasing a support contract for 20% of the licence fee per year. Alternatively, you can buy a version update, which includes one year of Premium Support.
Version update
Your Mascot Server licence entitles you to use the licensed version or any earlier version (at your option). They regularly release new versions with major new functionality. If you have an active Premium Support contract when a new version is released, we will send it to you for free. If you are out of support, the cost is based on the version difference.
| Version difference | Cost |
|---|---|
| 1 version | 25% of new licence |
| 2 versions | 50% of new licence |
| 3 versions | 75% of new licence |
| 4+ versions | 90% of new licence |
E.g., if you have Mascot Server 2.5, and the latest version is 2.8, then the cost to update is 75% of the cost to buy a new license (with the same number of CPUs). When you update, you can optionally increase or decrease the number of licensed CPUs. All version updates include one year of Premium Support.
Top-down licence
The standard Mascot Server has a 16kDa limit for precursor masses, making it unsuitable for most top-down experiments. An optional special version of Mascot, known as Mascot Top Down, is available which has a limit of 110kDa.
If you have an existing Mascot Server licence, please contact us for a free 30-day trial of Mascot Top Down. Your licence does not need to be at the latest version.
Click here to request your quote for Mascot Server.
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