Data centers are the backbone of modern healthcare, as they store, process, and deliver vital information for patient care, research, and administration. However, not all healthcare data centers are created equal. In this article, we will explore what an active-active data center is, why it is important for hospitals and healthcare institutions, what are the benefits of using it, and how to implement it with Huawei’s solution.
An active-active data center is a configuration where two or more data centers are running the same services and applications simultaneously, and are synchronized with each other. This means that if one data center fails or experiences a disruption, the other one can take over seamlessly, without any data loss or downtime. This ensures high availability and reliability for the critical systems and data that hospitals rely on.
A data center strategy is a plan that defines the objectives, requirements, and solutions for the data center infrastructure of a hospital. It helps to align the data center with the business and clinical goals, optimize the performance and efficiency, and reduce the risks and costs. A data center strategy is important for a hospital because it can help to:
• Improve patient care and outcomes by ensuring fast and secure access to medical records, images, and applications.
• Enhance research and innovation by enabling data analysis, collaboration, and sharing across departments and institutions.
• Increase operational efficiency and productivity by streamlining workflows, automating processes, and reducing errors and delays.
• Comply with regulatory and ethical standards by protecting the privacy and security of patient data and meeting the industry best practices.
• Achieve scalability and flexibility by adapting to the changing needs and demands of the healthcare environment.
By adopting an active-active data center configuration, hospitals and healthcare institutions can enjoy the following benefits:
• High availability: An active-active data center can provide 24/7 uninterrupted service, even in the event of a disaster or a failure. This can prevent data loss, downtime, and disruption, and ensure continuity of care and operations.
• High performance: An active-active data center can improve the speed and quality of data delivery, as it can balance the workload and traffic across multiple sites. This can enhance the user experience and satisfaction, and reduce the latency and bottlenecks.
• High efficiency: An active-active data center can save resources and costs, as it can eliminate the need for backup and recovery systems, and reduce the power and cooling consumption. It can also simplify the management and maintenance, and increase the utilization and productivity.
• High scalability: An active-active data center can support the growth and expansion of the hospital, as it can easily add or remove capacity and services, and accommodate new technologies and applications.
To implement an effective and efficient data center strategy, hospitals should follow some best practices, such as:
• Conduct a comprehensive assessment of the existing data center infrastructure, and identify the gaps, needs, and opportunities for improvement.
• Define the objectives, requirements, and solutions for the data center, and align them with the business and clinical goals and priorities.
• Choose a reliable and reputable partner that can provide the data center solutions and services that meet the specific needs and challenges of the hospital.
• Adopt a modular and flexible data center design that can support the current and future demands and changes of the hospital.
• Implement a robust and secure data center network that can connect and integrate the data center with the cloud, the edge, and the end devices.
• Optimize the data center performance and efficiency by using advanced technologies and tools, such as artificial intelligence, automation, and analytics.
• Monitor and manage the data center operations and performance, and ensure the compliance and security of the data center.
Huawei is a leading provider of data center solutions and services for hospitals and healthcare institutions. Huawei’s active-active data center solution for hospitals is based on the following features:
• OceanStor Dorado: Huawei’s OceanStor Dorado is a mid-range all-flash storage system that offers high availability, utilization, and usability for medium and large enterprises. It can provide huge storage capacity and quick data access, and support the PACS image retrieval efficiency by 60%.
• Data Protection Appliance: Huawei’s Data Protection Appliance is a data protection product that integrates backup software, servers, and storage components. It features a distributed architecture that facilitates linear expansion of both performance and capacity, and enables a single system to protect, construct, and manage user data and applications. It can improve data protection efficiency, reduce data protection investment, and simplify data management.
• Active-active mode: Huawei’s active-active mode is a configuration that builds two data centers between hospital buildings into the active-active mode. It can provide redundancy protection for applications in each data center and implement seamless migration within the site. It can also switch all application systems of one site to the other site when a fault occurs, without data loss or downtime.
Data centers are essential for hospitals and healthcare institutions, as they support the core functions and processes of patient care, research, and administration. However, not all data centers are the same, and some may not meet the high standards and expectations of the healthcare industry. An active-active data center is a configuration that can provide high availability, performance, efficiency, and scalability for the data center infrastructure, and deliver significant benefits for the hospital and its stakeholders. Huawei’s active-active data center solution for hospitals is a comprehensive and customized solution that can help hospitals achieve their data center goals and challenges, and enhance their digital transformation and informatization development.
If you are interested in learning more about Huawei’s active-active data center solution for hospitals, please visit our Hospital Active-Active Data Centers Solution page or contact us.
