IT Infrastructure in the Medical and Healthcare environment

Transcription

1 June 2008 IT Infrastructure in the Medical and Healthcare environment Information technology is now a vital component of healthcare provision both in the General Practitionersʼ surgery, the proposed new Polyclinics and general hospitals. Numerous committees and bodies around the world are writing standards and codes of practice to improve current infrastructure and to achieve best practice at the lowest cost. From a European perspective we have: CEN European Standards Organizations Joint Project on Interoperability of ehealth standards. In 2007 the European Commission adopted Mandate M/403 in the field of ICT applied to ehealth and ETSI has created an ETSI Project ehealth. From America: The Telecommunications Industry Association (the TIA) has created a new Engineering Committee, TR-49, for HealthCare ICT. And in the UK: General Practice Infrastructure Specification NPFIT-FNT-TO-TAR , Infrastructure in hospitals can be quite a challenge due to the scale of the installation. Delivering 21st Century IT Support for the NHS, National Specification for Integrated Care Records Service. According to the latter, the essential components of the ICT infrastructure in an NHS organisation are: Structured cabling Network equipment (supporting fixed and mobile devices) Workstations and servers Business continuity & disaster recovery arrangements In this paper we will focus on the best network cabling infrastructure for the healthcare environment Connectix Limited

2 Structured cabling for ICT provision According to the GP Infrastructure Specification: Cabling Requirement For new cabling, Category 5e is the minimum requirement for cabling in end user areas. Existing cabling should be capable of running 100BASE-TX (100Mbps) Ethernet services as a minimum. All Category 5 cable should be capable of this. For server room installations, consider installing Category 6 cabling capable of supporting 1000BASE-TX (1000Mbps or 1Gbps) Ethernet services for server-to-server and server-toswitch interconnection. Wireless networking is also recommended where appropriate and where suitable security measures are in place. From ʻDelivering 21st Century IT, Support for the NHSʼ, we have the statement: In the past, networks and associated equipment in the NHS have tended to grow in response to specific demands, e.g. installation of a new system, the Patient Power Initiative. In many cases this has resulted in parallel networks, incompatible protocols, duplication of facilities, none of which will be conducive to the successful implementation of electronic record systems. There is therefore a need to standardise and develop specifications for Information and Communications Technology. Although structured cabling standards (such as the older version of EN 50173) have doubtless been used for recently installed networks, older installations may not have been designed and installed to anything like the standards expected for modern equipment. Standards The correct Standards for the provision of structured cabling and associated hardware in the European Union are: EN :2007 Information technology. Generic cabling systems. General requirements: Parts 2, 3, 4 and 5 of this Standard focus on Office cabling, Industrial cabling, Residential cabling and Data centre cabling. There is no specific healthcare standard and requirements for the health sector can be extracted from all parts of this Standard. EN :2001 Information technology. Cabling installation. Specification and quality assurance. EN :2001 Information technology. Cabling installation. Installation planning and practices inside buildings. This will be subject to major revision this year; EN Information technology. Cabling installation. Part 3: Installation planning and practices outside buildings Connectix Limited

3 Specific to the UK there is also: BS 6701:2004 Telecommunications equipment and telecommunications cabling. Specification for installation, operation and maintenance. Also applicable are a test standard and a standard for higher quality earth bonding systems for information technology installations: Wireless networks require cabling infrastructure EN 50310:2006 Application of equipotential bonding and earthing in buildings with information technology equipment. EN 50346:2002+A1:2007 Information technology. Cabling installation. Testing of installed cabling. There is a wider range of Standards, Directives and Statutory Instruments covering Health & Safety issues, e.g. safe use of laser equipment, and energy management and reduction requirements. Wireless LANs Despite their name, Wireless LANs (or WLANs) need cable too. The wireless device, e.g. a laptop computer, communicates by radio to a nearby WLAN Access Point (WLAN AP) usually within twelve metres. In turn the WLAN AP must be connected back into the main building LAN and Ethernet switching equipment. The WLAN AP must be connected by structured cabling to effect this communication back to the LAN switch and also allow the LAN switch to power the WLAN AP. The Standard for WLAN cabling is: ISO/IEC Information technology - Customer premises cabling for wireless access points. In addition to this there are two IEEE Ethernet standards that dictate how power is supplied over the structured cabling to power the WLAN AP and other Power over Ethernet (PoE) equipment. IEEE 802.3af Data Terminal Equipment (DTE) Power via Media Dependent Interface (MDI). IEEE P802.3at DTE Power Enhancements Connectix Limited

4 PWR SYSTE M Web S marted ge Eng ine 2 4P ort 10 / Gi gab it Gigabit 100Mbps LNK/A CT 1000Mbps Base-T Mini-GBIC General layout Diagram 1 shows the general arrangement of network components. It shows the general horizontal cabling, installed under floors (within conduits), in ceiling voids etc., connecting the equipment room cabinet/rack to the general office environment PCs and printers with Category 5e or 6 cable, up to 90 metres away. These cables are terminated in Telecommunications Outlets where we see the familiar RJ45 sockets, and the final link is called the Work Area cabling which consists of patch cords connecting the TOs to the actual IT equipment. As the total communications link must not exceed 100 metres it is good practice to limit the main horizontal cabling run to 90m and then ensure that patch cords are no longer than five metres. A high-level cabling system is also shown, which will connect the Wireless LAN Application Points back to the rack. This cable is also Cat 5e or 6 and terminated in an RJ45 Telecommunications Outlet. A grid pattern is formed with these TOs so that wireless equipment is within 12 metres of the WLAN AP. Wireless devices within 12m average Laptop Wireless LAN Access Point Laptop Laptop Telecoms room cabinet / rack Backbone cabling, usually optical fibre Telecomunications Outlets, TO, (Wall/ floor outlets) Patchpanel PC Ethernet Switch Horizontal cabling Cat 5 or 6 90m Max PC PC Secure Power Supply UPS Consolidation point optional Work area cabling (patchcords) 5m max Printer Building Power Diagram 1 : General layout of network cabling

5 Fibre optic and copper patch panels installed in a communications rack at James Cook University Hospital. In the rack itself the main cabling is always terminated in patch panels. The electrical performance of these patch panels is always the same as the cable to which it is connected e.g. Cat 5e or Cat 6. Patch cords then connect from the patch panel into the active Ethernet switch. Once again the patch cords must be the same category of performance as the rest of the cable plant. The Ethernet switch will then connect to other parts of the building or to the outside world. This uplink is usually effected by optical fibre. Optical fibre is now used whenever distances exceed 100 metres. Rear of Connectix communications rack showing Ethernet switch in the top and Telecoms panel at the bottoom. Changes from the flammable outdoor grade cable to the less flammable indoor grade cable. Provides overvoltage protection for incoming copper cables, e.g. against lightning strikes on the cable. To make the connection to the outside world the Ethernet switch normally connects to a Router. The cabling from the outside comes into the building at a point known as the Entrance Facility. The Entrance Facility (EF) is very important as it: Marks the point of demarcation between your cable plant and that of the telecommunications company. Double outlet in stainless steel designed for use in hospitals and kitchens environments

6 Conclusion As yet there is no specific standard to help in the selection of cabling infrastructure products for the healthcare environment. There are however numerous existing standards which do cover selection and installation of cabling products in office and industrial environments. The existing standards still leave open a number of choices for the designer to make, e.g. cable grade, level of screening and fire performance. Connectix products meet all the requirements of the healthcare sector and Connectix would be pleased to offer their services in helping customers make the most appropriate and cost effective selection for their project. To help understand product selection we have produced a chart that breaks the network designers choice down into four categories: Product Electrical Fire Environmental Connectix communications rack clearly showing APC UPS and patching between Ethernet switches and patch panels. When specifying cable please reference all the associated standards to ensure guaranteed performance. UK Head Office: Connectix Limited 33 Broomhills Industrial Estate Braintree, Essex CM7 2RW

7 Product Selection Chart Product Performance Copper Cables Category 5E Suitable for gigabit Ethernet up to 100m. Category 6 Suitable for gigabit Ethernet up to 100m and 10 gigabit over a reduced distance e.g. 37m. Category 6A Suitable for 10 gigabit Ethernet up to 100m. Optical Cables OM3 Multimode Suitable for 10 gigabit Ethernet up to 300m. OS1 Singlemode Suitable for 10 gigabit Ethernet up to 10km. Electrical Performance Copper Cables Screened Suitable for moderate electrically noisy environments between 3 and 10V/m, e.g. X-ray equipment, lift motors, microwave sources. Unscreened Suitable for low electrical noise environments <3V/m, e.g. an average office. Optical Cables Screened or Unscreened Suitable for extremely noisy environments and long runs >10V/m. *Screening of optical cables is purely mechanical protection for the cable. Light signals are unaffected by electrical noise. Fire Performance Copper & Optical Cables PVC Most indoor grade data cables are made of PVC (poly vinyl chloride). The problem with this material is that when it burns the chlorine released combines with water vapour to produce hydrochloric acid. This is extremely toxic to humans but also very damaging to electronic equipment as the gas is not only acidic but conductive as well. For this reason high value installations, and other sensitive areas e.g. hospitals and military environments, tend to specify zero halogen cables (chlorine is a halogen). This is not currently required under British or European law but is common practice where the effects of a fire would be particularly severe. LSZH IEC The specifications are IEC Tests on electric and optical fibre cables under fire conditions - Part 1: Test for vertical flame propagation for a single insulated wire or cable. A higher performance can be obtained from the Standard for bunched cables. LSZH IEC Tests on electric cables under fire conditions - Part 3: Test for vertical flame spread of vertically-mounted bunched wires or cables. There is also a smoke evolution test: IEC Measurement of smoke density of cables burning under defined conditions. The zero halogen content is inferred by passing the following test standard: LSZH IEC Test on gases evolved during combustion of materials from cables - Part 1: Determination of the amount of halogen acid gas. Environmental Factors Copper & Optical Cables Indoor / Outdoor Cables The sheathing materials used in most data cables tend to be polyethylene for outdoor cables and PVC or zero halogen types for indoor cables. The indoor cables have very little guaranteed performance against water, ultraviolet radiation or indeed any kind of liquid or solvent. More specialist forms of cable sheathing are therefore required if such contamination is likely.