Case Study: Virtual Desktop Solution Delivers Higher Levels of Patient Care
A Large Texas Hospital System Needed to Increase the Speed and Amount of Information Doctors and Nurses Could Access
The Challenge
The ultimate goal of any hospital system is to elevate their quality of patient care. It’s far more than providing great service. It’s about delivering comfort to patients and their family members who may be experiencing the most traumatic, life-changing event of their lives. A large Texas hospital system knew that achieving its patient care goals required a new, innovative solution. They needed to reduce the time it was taking to make decisions and increase the speed and amount of information doctors and nurses could access, regardless of the time of day.
They needed a solution. They needed professionals who could create and deploy the perfect one, and do it cost effectively. They needed the best VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure) solution in the industry. They needed the benefits of hyperconvergence. They needed Netsync.
They needed the best VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure) solution in the industry. They needed the benefits of hyperconvergence. They needed Netsync.”
After conducting interviews with the hospital’s key stakeholders, Netsync created a roadmap that accounted for the number of users that would need to send and receive files and utilize applications that needed to traverse the network. There would be graphic-intense PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication Systems) and 3D imaging, and everything would need to be easily accessible at a moment’s notice, whether on site or at remote clinics.
Cisco HyperFlex Integrates Data Center Components and Simplifies Management
Netsync knew exactly what was needed to accomplish the lofty goals of the hospital—Cisco HyperFlex. Netsync’s years of experience working with trusted partner Cisco has resulted in the deployments of thousands of successful solutions that have transformed organizations of all sizes, and from an array of industries.
They knew Cisco HyperFlex would provide the perfect backbone for the solution. In a world where data is everywhere, Cisco HyperFlex extends the simplicity of hyperconvergence from core to edge and multicloud, putting IT at the heart of innovation. It’s engineered on Cisco UCS (Unified Computing System), which combines industry- standard, x86-architecture servers with networking and storage access into a single unified system. It brings increased productivity, reduced total cost of ownership, and scalability into customers’ data centers.
Two Data Centers + One Test/Dev Data Center = One Robust Solution
Netsync deployed 40 HyperFlex nodes at each of the customer’s 2 data centers, which provides VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure) to support over 1,500 active sessions. In addition, Netsync deployed Cisco UCS 6200 Series FI (Fabric Interconnect) routers at each data center, which delivers both network connectivity and management capabilities. The Cisco UCS 6200 Series FI’s expand Cisco’s UCS networking portfolio, increasing capacity and port density, while reducing power consumption. And the entire VDI infrastructure is connected to the hospital’s core network with over a dozen 10 Gb ports at each data center. Netsync set up a separate, scaled down Test/Dev site with the same equipment installed at the 2 data centers to allow for testing in an isolated environment.
The Netsync solution allows the client to not only survive a complete outage in one of its data centers, but also enables them to direct traffic between the data centers and perform normal operational maintenance without impairing the VDI solution.
The Hospital System Now Enjoys What it Provides to Patients
The entire project was handled by Netsync’s tenured and highly credentialed project management professionals and its field installation technicians. As always, standard Project Management Institute (PMI) methodologies and processes were followed, and they provided the client with detailed documentation that included task lists and guidelines, weekly reports that included updated budget and timeline information, post-implementation technical documentation, and Visio diagrams illustrating each phase of the project. Netsync provided training to the hospital’s end users and its IT staff in a lab setting. And, of course, the entire solution was fully tested and validated prior to deployment.
In the end, the hospital system got far more than a solution. They got exactly what they provide to patients—comfort, peace of mind, and a better overall experience.
