Hyper-Converged Infrastructure Improves Health IT ROI

July 24, 2017 - Chelsio Communications announced that its line of Terminator 5 & 6 (T5 & T6) 1/10/25/40/50/100 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) iWARP (RDMA/TCP) enabled unified wire adapters have been validated to support hyper-converged infrastructure with Windows Server 2016 Storage Spaces Direct (S2D) deployments. The adapters also do not require Top-of-Rack (ToR) switches to support Data Center Bridging (DCB) capabilities.

Hyper-converged storage uses software-defined technology to combine storage, networking, and virtualization into one unit that can be managed by one single system. Hyper-convergence gives IT administrators more control over their storage environment by consolidating all of the management features into one system.

Hyper-convergence can be run in a cloud or on-premise environment and lets IT administrators control all virtual deployments from one place. This allows for less user error and faster technology speeds.

The software-defined cluster needs to have enough bandwidth to communicate with the nodes for the hyper-converged storage to work efficiently. The new Chelsio validation allows bandwidth allocation capabilities to be offloaded onto the unified wire adaptors to bypass the operating system.

This eliminates the need for DCB-capable switch hardware, which can be expensive. Eliminating the DCB-capable switches improves overall ROI on hyper-converged storage and simplifies system management.

"Windows Server 2016 Storage Spaces Direct brings cloud architecture and high-performance computing prowess to the software-defined datacenter (SDDC)," Expert IT Solutions President Paul Schnackenburg said in a statement.  "Hyper-converged Storage Spaces Direct appliances powered by Chelsio iWARP RDMA adapters improve S2D networking and reduce the IT infrastructure total cost of ownership."

The T5 and T6 iWARP adapters assist in building advanced Microsoft Cloud deployments quickly. iWARP is also compatible with legacy ethernet switches, which allows organizations to enable incremental Windows Server 2016 Storage Spaces Direct installations without having to completely upgrade the switch infrastructure or the data center.

"Chelsio's T5 & T6 based solutions enable high-performance Windows Storage Spaces Direct installations without requiring a concurrent upgrade of the switch infrastructure and help customers to efficiently and cost-effectively scale their Microsoft Cloud environments to derive the full benefit of cloud computing," Chelsio Communications CEO Kianoosh Naghshineh said in a statement.

Hyper-convergence is emerging in healthcare to simplify and unify parts of the health IT infrastructure for more network visibility and control. Converging systems can also save organizations money over time and reduce the amount of time it takes to perform certain tasks so employees can better use their time.

Emerging hyper-converged technology is appealing as organizations realize that they can have turnkey solutions that are easily managed and maintained.

Hyper-converged infrastructure also directly affects clinicians and their workflow.

Southern New Hampshire Health has seen significant workflow improvements due to its hyper-converged infrastructure and VDI environment.

Southern New Hampshire Health’s hyper-converged environment significantly cuts back on lengthy clinician login times, which allows them to spend more time interacting with patients at the point of care.

“What’s great about the hyper-converged environment is we use a single sign on solution so our staff can tap their badge on the cart, get logged in to the medical applications they use, and start doing their job,” SNHH Desktop Configuration Engineer Scot Tymowicz told HITInfrastructure.com.

“If they’re in the room with a patient doing their job, and there’s an emergency and they have to leave that room, they can quickly wave their badge over the computer to lock it and secure it,” he continued. “Clinicians are no longer tasked with launching and logging into applications, making valuable patient interaction time.”

The control hyper-convergence gives IT administrators over logins also provides better security. Tymowicz stated that passwords in most legacy healthcare environments are usually typed out by the user an average of nine times every login. It’s typed to access the desktop, access email, and access the medical applications needed for that session.

IT administrators can enforce a 10 or 20-character alphanumeric password that staff never has to type because they’re tapping their badges to gain access to their hyper-converged desktops. The environment is secure, but it’s also seamless for end-users.

New infrastructure technology is constantly being introduced and layered on top of one other. Hyper-convergence can help healthcare organizations consolidate processes for a better and more streamlined environment.