Cisco Cisco Wireless Control System Version 4.0 数据表

Customer Case Study

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The hospital’s existing wireless network of autonomous access points provided basic network data

access to medical staff members with notebook computers. But the network didn’t have the

location capabilities, security standards, quality of service (QoS) features, or centralized

management tools necessary to support Wilfong’s advanced network plans.

Wilfong also wanted a simple way to manage the access points on the WLAN. The existing system

lacked central management. This meant the staff had to physically touch each access point for

every software upgrade, and this was time-consuming. Early in 2006, the IT staff set out to find

a wireless system that met its needs.

Network Solution

Wilfong determined that the hospital’s management, location, and security needs would be

best met by a centralized WLAN in which the access points were controlled by a series of

controllers using the Lightweight Access Point Protocol (LWAPP). In March 2006, the IT team

decided to deploy an 802.11a/b/g unified wireless network consisting of three Cisco

4400 Series

Wireless LAN Controllers, approximately 200 Cisco Aironet

1200 Series Access Points, a Cisco

Wireless Control System (WCS) management software system, and a Cisco 2700 Series Wireless

Location Appliance.

In addition to centralized management of all the access points, the controllers provided the Layer 3

roaming necessary for an uninterrupted connection as users and infusion pumps moved

throughout the hospital. The Cisco WCS software, combined with the location appliance, provided

the tools for tracking the infusion pumps.

Furthermore, the Cisco unified network allowed for separate Service Set Identifiers (SSIDs) within

the WLAN. This meant the IT staff could configure guests for access to one subnet and the

medical staff to another, protecting confidential patient information from unauthorized parties. The

system also allowed a separate subnet for voice-over-IP wireless applications, which prepared the

hospital for an eventual deployment of Wi-Fi phones.

To further ensure network security, Cisco also provided the hospital with the Cisco Security

Monitoring, Analysis and Response System (Cisco Security MARS). This appliance allows network

and security administrators to monitor, identify, isolate, and counter security threats with a variety

of vectoring and analysis tools. “With Cisco we had a one-stop shop,” Wilfong says.

The hospital worked with Stalwart Systems, a local systems integrator, to oversee the deployment.

Led by company principal Jim Guido, the Stalwart team performed an initial site survey that made

sure the wireless network would not interfere with any medical equipment, such as imaging

equipment. The site survey also ensured that every part of the hospital would be covered by the

wireless network, including the basement, which was full of complicated corners and crannies.

Stalwart also made sure that the deployment of the new access points ran in parallel with the

removal of the previous ones, so that the staff would not be inconvenienced by network downtime.

“There was full-time wireless connectivity throughout the migration,” Guido says. “In a hospital you

can’t take four or five days of downtime; the network has to be up constantly.”

To prepare the system to track the infusion pumps, Stalwart imported design files of the hospital’s

floor plan into Cisco WCS and the location server. Then the team hooked the pumps up to the

network. Stalwart held a few knowledge transfer sessions with the hospital’s IT staff. The new

network was fully operational by October 2006.