Case Study: Hyperconverged information technology to optimize the Hospital de Clínicas Caracas data center

Migrating to hyperconverged infrastructure allowed Hospital de Clínicas Caracas to improve the efficiency of its data center with the support of SupraBT’s technological consultancy.

Hyperconverged technology for data center optimization

Pioneer and leader in the health sector in areas such as robotics, cardiovascular surgery and minimally invasive surgery, Hospital de Clínicas Caracas has been characterized by innovation and permanent incorporation of scientific advances and state-of-the-art technology to guarantee the excellence of its services. In 2021, they decided to renew their server and storage infrastructure, having as a premise a solution that, in addition to advanced components, would offer simplicity, reliability and high performance. The HPE Nimble DHCI platform was chosen, with VMWare as the virtualization software.

“We started a bidding process to acquire our new platform and we invited several national fims to participate, among them SupraBT,” commented Carol Duque, IT Projects Manager at Hospital de Clínicas Caracas. “Among the solutions evaluated, SupraBT, together with its commercial partner HPE, presented us with an intelligent disaggregated hyperconvergence solution based on HPE Enterprise. After an evaluation process, we found that this solution had the features that met the institution’s needs, and it was also the best value for money,” he said.

We invite you to read more about what a hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) is, its key components, advantages and use cases on the website.

Problem with the data center infrastructure of the Hospital de Clínicas Caracas.

By then, the data center infrastructure was based on a traditional storage area network (SAN), which was already presenting several drawbacks that hindered performance and represented an obstacle to growth, with high maintenance costs and no longer supported by the manufacturer.

Among the difficulties they were experiencing, Duque refers to slow information management and processing, recurrent failures, weak security and a static and inefficient management of processing, memory and storage resources, which offered little availability, an aspect that was critical for the hospital.

Once the decision was made and the administrative and procurement process was completed, the entire server and storage environment was migrated to HPE Nimble DHCI, with VMWare as the hypervisor and vCenter as the console for the unified management of the entire solution.

Results with the implementation of hyperconverged infrastructure

This solution implemented by our IT services team has allowed Hospital de Clínicas Caracas to reduce the investment in hardware to gain performance and storage, achieving greater efficiency, improving service and access to data and information security, as well as considerably reducing backup tasks, restoration, cloningor any data movement with a single console, minimizing business downtime in case of incidents. Additionally, since the storage and processing modules are on different devices, there is greater flexibility to scale and expand computing power and storage capacities independently.

With the disaggregated hyperconvergence model, we went from using 6 server racks to 2; and from requiring 3 storage units, which handled 70 Teras of data, to only one unit, with 15 Teras, thanks to the deduplication and compression of data achieved through the use of software, thus allowing a considerable optimization of space.

“By getting rid of the management complexity of the traditional environment (13 servers, 3 storage, 2 fibre channel switches), with platform management on separate consoles and replacing it with HPE Nimble DHCI, we have reduced operational risks, driving data reduction and simplicity through the use of tools that are easier to operate,” said the IT director.

Duque acknowledges that SupraBT’s advice and quality of service had a positive influence on the success of the project. “Working with SupraBT has been a very valuable experience. It is a company with a long history and extensive experience in the Venezuelan market, which incorporates high quality standards in its services.”

“SupraBT has been one of our best trusted suppliers in the technology area for over 13 years. In this time, the commercial nexus has flowed optimally, we certify and attest to their quality of service and highly recommend them. One of their best qualities is that they keep up to date in their areas of expertise”. Their concern and efforts have always been focused on providing personalized attention, adapted to the requirements of the HCC, transmitting credibility, trust and transparency.

Future plans

Assuming the challenge of remaining a medical institution of reference, based on technology, excellence and safety, always supporting national talent and betting on Venezuela, Hospital de Clínicas Caracas continues in the process of updating its diagnostic and treatment services, relying on technological renovation with virtualization, telemedicine, storage and administration projects, which increase the added economic value, as well as the institution’s patrimonial strength.

In the not too distant future, we see ourselves and bet on the use of the universe of technology at all levels, with maximum Internet connectivity, high data and information management (Big Data) for decision making, the Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence (AI); leveraged on scientific, managerial, technological, but also humanistic criteria in the recruitment, training, remuneration and recognition of human resources, both in assistance and administrative, managerial and directive.

SupraBT is a company that provides cutting-edge technological products and services committed to the objectives of its customers, designing solutions that meet their needs, following certified methodologies, relying on the most advanced technology of its partners and achieving optimized business processes to achieve the desired expectations.