Published on 03-Apr-2008
Validated on 01 Oct 2009
"Thanks to IBM, we now have a higher level of confidence in our ability to deliver services with fewer single points of failure. We’re protecting our central applications—and our brand." - Marty Buening, director of information technology, Northwest Radiology Network
Customer:
Northwest Radiology Network
Industry:
Healthcare
Deployment country:
United States
IBM Business Partner:
Software Information Systems
Overview
Northwest Radiology Network is a healthcare organization that provides comprehensive diagnostic reporting services throughout central Indiana. These diagnostic reports provide critical patient health information from imaging tests such as mammography, ultrasound, CT, PET-CT, nuclear medicine, MRI and X-ray.
Business need:
Northwest Radiology's new director of information technology quickly realized that the company's existing IT infrastructure was vulnerable at multiple single points of failure, and that the mission critical diagnostic reporting function lacked redundancy in the supporting systems. Northwest Radiology turned to IBM Premier Business Partner SIS for a new infrastructure solution.
Solution:
The company replaced seven existing servers with a cluster of two IBM System x3650 servers, load balanced over fibre channel connections. The environment was virtualized with VMware and expanded to include 15 virtual machines. For shared data storage, the company chose the IBM System Storage™ DS3400 .
Benefits:
The IBM solution has helped eliminate single points of failure from critical IT infrastructure, consolidated storage hardware and expands storage space, and simplified systems maintenance and management. The solution has also given Northwest Radiology the ability to scale to accommodate future growth.
Case Study
Northwest Radiology Network is a healthcare organization that provides comprehensive diagnostic reporting services throughout central Indiana. The diagnostic reports contain an array of patient health information, including medical exam results and imaging, such as mammography, ultrasound, CT, PET-CT, nuclear medicine, MRI and X-ray. In 2007, Northwest Radiology released over 135,000 reports with a staff of 180 employees including 40 physicians.
When Marty Buening was hired as Northwest Radiology's new director of information technology, he quickly realized that the company's existing IT infrastructure was vulnerable at multiple single points of failure. The mission critical diagnostic reporting function lacked redundancy in the supporting systems. If a server or software component failed or needed maintenance, there was no automatic switchover to backup, and Northwest Radiology could not provide services until the component was repaired. "Radiology information systems have become a very integral part of health care," explains Buening. "A reliable IT infrastructure is key."
A first-tier solution
The diagnostic reporting function at Northwest Radiology was running in a mixed-vendor environment. Buening worked with IT service provider Software Information Systems (SIS), an IBM Premier Business Partner, to analyze the diagnostic reporting and storage infrastructure, and suggest options to address the single points of failure. After completing the analysis, SIS recommended a new solution featuring a cluster of two IBM System x3650 servers, a storage area network (SAN) with an IBM System Storage DS3400 device, and virtualization via VMware. Buening viewed IBM's solution as a first-tier option with better vendor support than competing solutions. Buening elaborates, "We felt that IBM was a more mature vendor in this marketplace, with more experienced service engineers in place to support the solution."
Eliminating single points of failure
With SIS providing implementation services, Northwest Radiology replaced seven existing servers with the two IBM System x3650 rack servers, load balanced over fibre channel connections. The functional hardware environment was virtualized with VMware ESX Server and expanded to 15 Microsoft® Windows® virtual machine--effectively more than doubling computer resources while increasing and consolidating storage space. The project team chose the x3650 model as the best value because it met their sizing and power requirements while remaining cost effective.
For a shared data storage solution, Northwest Radiology chose the DS3400, which is optimized for use with System x™ servers. "Inch per inch, the footprint of the SAN is more efficient," Buening says. "The DS3400 was everything we were looking for in terms of features, price and performance. Plus, it can continue to scale out as future needs require."
Protecting mission-critical applications
By implementing a new server cluster and storage solution from IBM, Northwest Radiology has eliminated the single points of failure that threatened their critical daily operations, and has gained the capability to easily repair, update and configure servers with no visible downtime. IT administrators can provision new virtual servers in a matter of minutes, a task which used to take weeks. The IBM solution has also given the company expanded capabilities for remote management--administrators can now manage 95 percent of their tasks remotely.
"Thanks to IBM, we now have a higher level of confidence in our ability to deliver services with fewer single points of failure," Buening reports. "We're protecting our central applications--and our brand: 'Trusted Imaging Since 1967.'"
For more information
Contact your IBM sales representative or IBM Business Partner. Visit us at:
For more information about the Northwest Radiology Network, visit: www.northwestradiology.com
For more information about SIS, visit: www.thinksis.com
Products and services used
IBM products and services that were used in this case study.
Hardware:
Storage: DS3400, System x: System x3650
Legal Information
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2008 IBM Systems and Technology Group Route 100 Somers, New York 10589 U.S.A. Produced in the United States of America March 2008 All Rights Reserved IBM, the IBM logo, System Storage and System x are trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States, other countries or both. Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States, other countries or both. Other company, product and service names may be trademarks or service marks of others. IBM and Software Information Systems are separate companies and each is responsible for its own products. Neither IBM nor Software Information Systems make any warranties, express or implied, concerning the others’ products. References in this publication to IBM products, programs or services do not imply that IBM intends to make these available in all countries in which IBM operates. Any reference to an IBM product, program or service is not intended to imply that only IBM’s product, program or service may be used. Any functionally equivalent product, program or service may be used instead. Offerings are subject to change, extension or withdrawal without notice. All client examples cited represent how some clients have used IBM products and the results they may have achieved. Performance data for IBM and non-IBM products and services contained in this document was derived under specific operating and environmental conditions. The actual results obtained by any party implementing such products or services will depend on a large number of factors specific to such party’s operating environment and may vary significantly. IBM makes no representation that these results can be expected or obtained in any implementation of any such products or services. THE INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED “AS-IS” WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED.