What other benefits does Metro Ethernet offer?
For one, Metro Ethernet is easy to implement and cost effective. A Metro Ethernet solution lets health care providers centralize servers at one location, which means there is no server room or supporting remote servers. With one server handling the tasks of multiple servers, you’ll be on your way to a virtualized network.
This can also be tied in with cloud computing, so a health care site could have a private cloud providing application support.
Another efficiency of Metro Ethernet is diverse connections from a location to multiple hubs, so if one fiber connection or hub goes down, service will instantly connect to another hub, and your business won’t miss a beat — something that’s very important when lives are at stake. Diverse connections also are beneficial whenever monitoring and/or diagnostic support is needed. So, if you suspect a problem, you can have someone looking at it — and fixing it — within minutes, without having to wait for a technician to come to your site.
Also, testing and diagnostics can be done while your servers and systems are up and running. In the past, your service provider would have to shut down part of your server to check and fix problems. Now, remote diagnostics can be done without any service interruption.
How do voice services tie into Metro Ethernet?
Most modern voice PBX (private branch exchange) systems are VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), and that data can be carried over very easily and tied into the other data traffic on a Metro Ethernet solution. Like all other aspects of Metro Ethernet, you can have one phone system serving multiple sites.
With health care providers building multiple neighborhood sites to put clinics and hospitals close to where people are, as opposed to one big, centrally located hospital, Metro Ethernet can make all of those sites appear as one network, creating a virtual ‘campus’ across a city.
How secure are Metro Ethernet solutions?
Security is always an important issue, especially when it comes to health care providers who are dealing with HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) concerns. Metro Ethernet is very secure, but to ensure an extra layer of security, users are able to easily add as much encryption and as many security components as needed. Metro Ethernet also covers Internet services, and you can put separate Internet services at each site to keep external traffic off of the main network. This would require multiple firewalls, but it would also offer more security.
Finally, there is a movement in the health care industry to have universal medical records, patient records that follow the patient wherever he or she may go for medical services. With a secure Metro Ethernet solution, those records can easily be supported and transported across health care providers.
Steve Wreede is a sales engineer with Time Warner Cable Business Class. Reach him at [email protected].
