Cisco Cisco 5508 Wireless Controller Guía De Información

Last year, for example, the hospital introduced a computerized physician

order entry system, and many of Chilton’s doctors are putting all their

orders online, from medications to lab tests and radiation studies. Still

to come are more extensive documentation applications for the doctors,

including voice dictation from wireless workstations.

Hospital executives knew the hospital’s old wireless network would not

stand up to new demands. “We had issues with coverage and roaming,”

says Morgan Geoghegan, senior network engineer at Chilton. “Given the

older networking protocols of our wireless adapters, simple microwave

ovens used to heat patients’ meals would create interference and cause

drops in our wireless connections.”

But, while mobility was the hallmark of many of the improvements

they had in mind, Chilton IT staff knew they had to work on the wired

network too. The core switches did not provide the power over Ethernet

needed for a planned upgrade of the hospital’s phone system to voice

over IP, nor an adequate level of security or centralized management

capabilities. Desktop connectivity was limited to 10 megabits, nowhere

near the bandwidth needed for telepresence and other new services

that were under consideration. The moment was right to modernize.

Network Solution

Meraz Nasir, Chilton’s director of technology services infrastructure,

worked with IT and managed services provider Presidio, a Cisco® Gold

Partner, to redesign and rebuild the whole network. They started with

the core.

Because redundancy was important for ensuring the network’s

availability, they installed twin Cisco Catalyst® 6509 16-port switches,

each with a 10 Gigabit Ethernet base module, configured as a virtual

switching system. If one core fails, the other provides sub-second

failover to prevent any loss of connectivity to the 11 closets that make

up the wired network. To provide highly secure user authentication on

both the wired and the wireless sides, Chilton deployed twin Cisco

Identity Services Engine 3315 hardware appliances in the core as well.

In the wiring closets, the IT team stacked from two to eight Cisco

Catalyst 3750-X 24-port or 48-port switches, each with a PoE base

and an optional 10-Gigabit network module linking it to the core.

Offering both generous desktop bandwidth and high-volume wireless

access points, these versatile, scalable switches enhance user

productivity and help enable a range of rich services, including VoIP and

video. Intent on a complete overhaul, Chilton’s IT team also updated the

entire network fabric with 10-Gigabit-rated fiber from end to end and

new category 6 cabling and patch panels, all color-coded to make it

easy to troubleshoot service desk calls.

The wired component of Chilton’s network was based on Cisco

equipment, both before and after the overhaul. On the wireless side,

Cisco was not the incumbent technology provider. But Chilton’s IT team

decided to go with Cisco wireless solutions for the future.

“It just made sense to have one vendor for both wired and wireless,”

says CIO Mark Lederman. “As a long-time Cisco customer on the

wired side, we were familiar with the company’s reputation for excellent

service. We also knew we could readily get support for our Cisco

equipment from other providers, including our IT partner, Presidio.”

To achieve the same redundancy on the wireless side as they had in

the network core, Lederman and his team deployed two Cisco 5508

Wireless Controllers. Featuring Cisco CleanAir® technology to monitor

and mitigate interference in real time, these controllers centralize control

and help ensure a high-quality mobile experience with efficient roaming

for a wide range of mobile devices, including the tablets that many

of Chilton’s physicians are adopting as their bring-your-own-device

(BYOD) preference. On the wards, Chilton deployed a fleet of new

mobile workstation carts with updated adapters and bandwidths four to

six times higher than the old carts.

Business Results

“Performance. Security. Manageability. Those were the goals,” says

Lederman, “and we’ve achieved all three.”
For example, as he explains, physicians can now access the network

from anywhere, using a VMware view virtual desktop. They can use

any secure device, including their own BYOD tablet or smartphone, to

access and augment their patients’ records from anywhere. Visiting a

patient’s room, they can not only consult the patient’s record, but also

access, present, and explain a lab result or radiology image in order to

discuss diagnoses and treatment options.

Medical Center Supports Network-Based Care

Case Study

Cisco Public