Cisco Cisco Nexus 2224TP GE Fabric Extender Information Guide
Customer Case Study
© 2010 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
SAINT JOSEPH HEALTH SYSTEM
● Healthcare
● Orange, California USA
● 20,000 Employees
● Orange, California USA
● 20,000 Employees
BUSINESS RESULTS
● 85% savings on cabling, which funded data
center switches
● 80% less space needed
● 25% reduction in energy consumption
● 25% reduction in energy consumption
Healthcare Provider Saved $1 Million on Data Center
Saint Joseph Health System used Nexus family to save on cabling, hardware, energy consumption, and
space.
space.
Business Challenge
Saint Joseph Health System (SJHS) is an integrated healthcare
delivery system sponsored by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange.
Serving patients in California, Texas, and New Mexico, the system
comprises 14 acute care hospitals as well as home health agencies,
hospice care, outpatient services, skilled nursing facilities, community
clinics, and physician organizations.
delivery system sponsored by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange.
Serving patients in California, Texas, and New Mexico, the system
comprises 14 acute care hospitals as well as home health agencies,
hospice care, outpatient services, skilled nursing facilities, community
clinics, and physician organizations.
SJHS has two regional data centers, in Texas and California. Its
enterprise data center strategy includes server consolidation and
enterprise data center strategy includes server consolidation and
virtualization as well as high availability for critical applications, including the healthcare information system and
picture archiving and communication system (PACS). As part of the strategy, SJHS decided to transform its California
data center, which is used for regional as well as enterprise applications. “We were nearing the power capacity of the
old data center, and we wanted to adopt best practices such as separate hot and cold aisles and redundant server
connectivity,” says Mike Shandraw, enterprise data center\manager, SJHS.
picture archiving and communication system (PACS). As part of the strategy, SJHS decided to transform its California
data center, which is used for regional as well as enterprise applications. “We were nearing the power capacity of the
old data center, and we wanted to adopt best practices such as separate hot and cold aisles and redundant server
connectivity,” says Mike Shandraw, enterprise data center\manager, SJHS.
Availability of the data center network was critical. “Hospitals can’t tolerate interruptions when clinicians need to
access a critical lab result or image before or during a procedure,” says Bill Lazarus, vice president of IT, SJHS.
In the original proposed data center design, each server had four connections to data center switches in a separate
row. During design review, it emerged that the racks could not support the weight of the cables.
row. During design review, it emerged that the racks could not support the weight of the cables.
Solution and Results
SJHS found its solution in the Cisco
®
Nexus family of data center switches. Rack-optimized servers connect over
Gigabit Ethernet to a Cisco Nexus 2000 Fabric Extender at the top of the rack, which acts as a patch panel. The
fabric extenders connect to Cisco Nexus 5010 switches in the middle of the row, which connect over 10 Gigabit
Ethernet to dual Cisco
fabric extenders connect to Cisco Nexus 5010 switches in the middle of the row, which connect over 10 Gigabit
Ethernet to dual Cisco
®
Catalyst 6509 Switches at the network core. The Cisco Nexus solution provided the following
benefits:
“With any other design, we would have spent US$1.3 million for copper
cabling, overhead racks, and patch panels. With the Cisco Nexus family,
cabling cost $190,000, an 85 percent savings. The money we saved paid
for the Cisco Nexus equipment implementation.”
cabling, overhead racks, and patch panels. With the Cisco Nexus family,
cabling cost $190,000, an 85 percent savings. The money we saved paid
for the Cisco Nexus equipment implementation.”
—Mike Shandraw, Enterprise Data Center Manager, St. Joseph Health System