ent ▁sched uling , ▁and ▁parallel ▁I / O , ▁m pi B LA ST ▁impro ves ▁NC BI ▁B LA ST ▁performance ▁by ▁several ▁orders ▁of ▁magnitude ▁while ▁scaling ▁to ▁hundreds ▁of ▁process ors . ▁ ▁Ca B LA ST ▁makes ▁search ▁on ▁large ▁databases ▁orders ▁of ▁magnitude ▁faster ▁by ▁explo iting ▁redund ancy ▁in ▁data . ▁ ▁Par ac el ▁B LA ST ▁was ▁a ▁commercial ▁parallel ▁implementation ▁of ▁NC BI ▁B LA ST , ▁supporting ▁hundreds ▁of ▁process ors . ▁ ▁Quick B LA ST ▁( k blast p ) ▁from ▁NC BI ▁is ▁an ▁implementation ▁acceler ated ▁by ▁pre filter ing ▁based ▁on ▁J acc ard ▁index ▁estimates ▁with ▁hash ed ▁pent amer ic ▁fragments . ▁The ▁filtering ▁slightly ▁reduces ▁sens itivity , ▁but ▁increases ▁performance ▁by ▁an ▁order ▁of ▁magnitude . ▁NC BI ▁only ▁makes ▁the ▁search ▁available ▁on ▁their ▁non - redu nd ant ▁( nr ) ▁protein ▁collection , ▁and ▁does ▁not ▁offer ▁download s . ▁ ▁Altern atives ▁to ▁B LA ST ▁▁ ▁The ▁prede cess or ▁to ▁B LA ST , ▁FA ST A , ▁can ▁also ▁be ▁used ▁for ▁protein ▁and ▁DNA ▁similarity ▁searching . ▁ ▁FA ST A ▁provides ▁a ▁similar ▁set ▁of ▁programs ▁for ▁comparing ▁prote ins ▁to ▁protein ▁and ▁DNA ▁databases , ▁DNA ▁to ▁DNA ▁and ▁protein ▁databases , ▁and ▁includes ▁additional ▁programs ▁for ▁working ▁with ▁un ordered ▁short ▁pe pt ides ▁and ▁DNA ▁sequences . ▁ ▁In ▁addition , ▁the ▁FA ST A ▁package ▁provides ▁S SE AR CH