Region Zealand health authority optimises its data centre environment with HP Networking

“In our data centre environment we were concerned

about CO2 emissions and overheating. HP E6600 data centre switches’ reversible back-to-front and front-to-back airflow supports our hot aisle/cold aisle design. All we had to do was just plug them into the new infrastructure. The competitive pricing of the HP Networking equipment we purchased and its lifetime warranty were also important deciding factors for us.” Kenneth Mogensen, leader of infrastructure operations, Region Zealand

Objective When three Danish counties were combined into the newly formed Region Zealand administrative authority, one of the main challenges was to create a unified central healthcare service. Reliable, high-performance networking was vital to connect the many hospitals and healthcare facilities to a new regional data centre.

Approach To centralise its IT infrastructure, Region Zealand consolidated three existing data centres in the towns of Vestsjællands, Roskilde and Storstrøms HP customer case study: into one new data centre at Ringsted Hospital. Danish health authority Implemented HP Networking ‘open standards’ implements reliable, switches including the HP E6600 data centre high-performance switches into its mixed networking environment. networking from HP into Enhanced mobility services offered to staff its consolidated data by implementing HP Networking wireless centre environment connectivity. Region Zealand is one of five administrative authorities in Denmark. Overseen by a council of 41 Industry: Public sector, IT improvements elected politicians, its main responsibility is to deliver Healthcare healthcare services to more than 800,000 residents. • Open standards-based technology enables Healthcare provision is spread across the region’s interoperability and provides flexibility. 22 cities with 12 general hospitals and a variety of • Redundant hot-swappable fans and power healthcare facilities. supplies allow hardware to be maintained and upgraded without service disruption. Situated in the east of Denmark, Region Zealand was created by Government decree when the former • Front-to-back cooling supports contemporary counties of Vestsjællands, Roskilde and Storstrøms data centre design. were combined into one health authority that could deliver unified, centralised health services. Business benefi ts • Cost-effective and competitive pricing with “Previously the three counties did their own thing in lifetime warranty. IT terms and we faced the challenge of centralising a lot of disparate systems so that the IT infrastructures • HP Networking wireless technology keeps could talk together,” says Kenneth Mogensen, leader doctors mobile and in touch, improving patient of infrastructure operations at Region Zealand. service. • Ease of implementation and centralised network management software ensures reduced costs. “Our HP Networking is based on open standards only and this gives us the advantage of being able to implement various vendor solutions in our infrastructure, as long as they comply with the standards.” René Clausen, head of IT, Region Zealand

“This meant consolidating our three data centres Data centre benefits into one. Each of these data centres had their own network, based on different networking vendor The new Ringsted Hospital data centre uses technology and were totally independent. However, HP E6600s as top-of-the-rack switches. A crucial when they were consolidated there was a need for purchasing decision for Region Zealand was their networks to be integrated.” the switches’ front-to-back airflow, designed to complement contemporary hot aisle/cold Open standards solution aisle configurations of modern data centres. By eliminating the direct transfer of hot exhaust air With fibre links to 11 other hospitals, Region Zealand from one system into the intake air of another, needed to connect 17,500 users and 12,000 this prevents overheating and reduces the risk of desktops to its new data centre based in the hospital equipment damage. at Ringsted, to the west of Copenhagen. Furthermore, the authority planned the modernisation of an “Having the right kind of airflow was an important existing data centre in the town of Slagelse to create decision for us,” says Mogensen. “In our data

a disaster recovery and back-up facility. To meet centre environment we were concerned about CO2 these business challenges, it considered emissions and overheating. HP E6600 data centre networking solutions from several networking switches’ reversible back-to-front and front-to-back vendors including HP. airflow supports our hot aisle/cold aisle design.”

A key deciding factor in choosing HP Networking “We were also attracted by the HP 6600’s to refresh the network infrastructure was its non-blocking architecture and 24 1G uplinks. All open standards-based approach, allowing easy we had to do was just plug them into the new interoperability with the other vendor equipment. infrastructure. The competitive pricing of the Included in the HP Networking solution were high HP Networking equipment we purchased and its performance HP E8212 zl core switches and over 40 lifetime warranty were also important deciding HP E6600 data centre switches. factors for us because with some other vendors we Region Zealand’s head of IT René Clausen added: were asked to buy service contracts up front.” “Our HP network is based on open standards Also attractive was the redundant hot-swappable only and this gives us the advantage of being fans and power supplies found in the HP E6600 able to implement various vendor solutions in our series. This functionality means that server and infrastructure, as long as they comply with the networking hardware do not need to be powered standards.” down in the event of maintenance or upgrades, ensuring minimal service disruption.

2 HP server and networking synergy Customer solution at a glance HP Technology Services assisted Region Zealand with the design, consolidation and transition of their Primary applications new data centre environment. The hardware in the • Data center Ringsted data centre now includes six new • Mobility • Network Management HP ProLiant BL460 dual processor blade servers • Security housed within HP cClass Enclosures. With the Primary hardware HP 6600 switches sat at the top of the rack, Region • HP E8212 zl Switch Zealand has the ability to achieve redundancy, load • HP E6600 Switch series balancing and increased resilience through server­ • HP E5400 zl Switch series to-switch distributed trunking. Another plus was • HP E3500 yl Switch series the simplicity of using HP Virtual Connect Flex-10 • HP E2600 Switch series interconnect modules in the HP c7000 Enclosure to • HP E2500 Switch series ensure its uplinks were aggregated in a cost-effective • HP Wireless Edge Services zl Module (WESM) manner into the HP E6600 switches. The synergy • HP E-MSM765 zl Mobility Controllers between these solutions, that were all designed • HP E-MSM422 Access Point (WW) with the data centre in mind, provide incremental Primary software savings with regard to power, cooling and space • HP PCM+ considerations. • HP Mobility Manager

Ease of management To provide efficient and centralised network management, Region Zealand integrated HP PCM+ and HP Mobility Manager. HP PCM+ allows Region Zealand’s administrators to configure, update, monitor and troubleshoot wired switches centrally whilst HP Mobility Manager enables its staff to plan, deploy, manage and monitor the wireless network from a common, unified network management console. Integrated features in the Networking switches, such as HP Virus Throttling and industry standard ‘S-flow’ statistical sampling technology, further enhance the security and manageability of Region Zealand’s network.

3 Flexible software licensing and free software updates “HP Networking is easy to use, even by someone will provide scalability as the network grows. As who has not seen or worked with any network the new HP E6600 switches, and other equipment before,” says Mogensen. “Also, having HP switches installed in the Region Zealand networking wireless access points in our hospitals enables environment, are compatible with this same software, doctors to be more mobile and connected, which Region Zealand could use the same management means we can provide a better service to the settings, reducing the impact of change. patients.” “As far as we are concerned, HP Networking is HP mobility services more affordable than its competitors. We did a In consolidating its data centre environment, Region calculation on what a network infrastructure would Zealand also took the opportunity to enhance the cost us with Cisco and compared it with HP. The mobility services offered to staff by installing wireless results came out firmly in favour of HP. Although it connectivity with HP Wireless Edge Services zl is difficult to say by how much, we have definitely Modules (WESM) and over 700 HP E-MSM422 saved money on maintenance contracts thanks to the Access Points (WW). For greater flexibility in lifetime warranty, which other network companies managing both its wired and wireless networks, do not currently offer. We also gained very direct Region Zealand also uses HP E-MSM765 zl Mobility access to the HP Networking Technical Consultants. Controllers. All of these factors heavily influenced our decision,” concludes René Clausen.

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© Copyright 2009-2010 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.

4AA1-2188EEW, Created December 2009, Updated December 2010, Rev. 1