Release Notes

Release 2.0.0

Summary

This release represents a major update to the MSA Search NIM, featuring significant performance improvements and streamlined database management. The GPU Server is now enabled by default, providing better out-of-the-box performance with the included ColabFold databases. This release also includes an upgrade to MMSeqs2 version 18, enhanced stability, and expanded hardware support.

Key Changes

GPU Server Enabled by Default

The GPU Server is now enabled by default, improving performance for the default ColabFold databases. The previous release allows enabling the GPU Server required manual configuration and custom database indices created with the makepaddedseqdb command. This release includes the following features:

• Reduced latency: The GPU Server intelligently stores and loads target sequence databases in GPU memory, reducing query latency
• Simplified deployment: No additional configuration or separate database indexing steps needed to achieve optimal performance with default databases
• Pre-indexed databases: The included ColabFold databases (Uniref30_2302, colabfold_envdb_202108, PDB70_220313) come pre-indexed and optimized for GPU Server use
• Better resource utilization: Efficient GPU memory management enables faster search and alignment operations

Database Changes

With the GPU Server now optimized and enabled by default, this release focuses on the ColabFold databases for optimal performance:

• Default databases: ColabFold databases (Uniref30_2302, colabfold_envdb_202108, PDB70_220313) provide better performance and are recommended for most use cases
• AlphaFold2 databases: The CPU-only AlphaFold2 databases (uniref90, small_bfd, mgnify) are not included for GPU Server operation. However, both alphafold2 (iterative) and colabfold (cascaded) search types remain fully supported when used with the provided Colabfold databases.
• External database support: Users can still use custom or external databases by mounting them via the MODEL_PATH environment variable

MMSeqs2 Version Upgrade

This release upgrades to MMSeqs2 version 18, bringing:

• Enhanced performance optimizations
• Better stability and error handling

Hardware Support

Added support for NVIDIA B200 GPUs, expanding deployment options for the latest NVIDIA hardware.

New Features and Improvements

• GPU Server enabled by default for optimal performance with ColabFold databases
• Upgraded to MMSeqs2 version 18 with improved accuracy and performance
• Enhanced stability and error handling throughout the pipeline
• Added NVIDIA B200 GPU support
• Optimized database loading and GPU memory management

Performance Enhancements

• Reduced query latency through default GPU Server activation
• Faster database loading with pre-indexed ColabFold databases
• Better throughput scaling across multiple GPUs

Migration Notes

Configuration Changes

• GPU Server: GPU Server is now enabled by default; to disable it, set NIM_DISABLE_GPU_SERVER=True
• MSA Depth: With GPU Server enabled by default, the maximum MSA depth must be set globally for all requests through the NIM_GLOBAL_MAX_MSA_DEPTH environment variable at container startup for performance reasons. This parameter cannot be changed per-request. If you require a specific MSA depth, configure this environment variable accordingly.

Hardware Requirements

• 48GB GPUs: For 48GB GPUs (L40S, RTX 6000 Ada), the minimum requirement is now 2 GPUs when using GPU Server (default). This is because GPU Server holds databases in memory for optimal performance.

For Existing Users

No migration steps are required. The default ColabFold databases will automatically benefit from the enabled GPU Server, providing improved performance.