Combine and Conquer

Over the past few years, virtualization has helped organizations of all sizes reduce IT costs by eliminating underutilized servers and simplifying desktop management. ARCare wanted to take advantage of server and desktop virtualization across its 26 locations, but lacked the in-house staff to take on such a large project. The Augusta, Ark.-based healthcare organization called on NetGain Technologies for help. ARCare Center is a private non-profit corporation developed to provide affordable care to meet the primary medical and dental care needs of the residents in rural Arkansas, especially in Cleburne, Craighead, Cross, Independence, Jackson, Lonoke, Monroe, Prairie, White and Woodruff counties. Over the years, the organization’s data center had grown to include 14 servers running various business applications. More than 200 desktops of various ages and types were scattered among its medical, dental and wellness facilities throughout the state. “We received some stimulus money and were looking to use virtualization to eliminate some of our old server hardware. We also wanted to virtualize about 260 desktops,” said Greg Wolverton, CIO, ARCare. “We have been working with NetGain Technologies for a number of years, and have been very pleased with their technical knowledge and customer service. Our account representative told us that the NetGain Technologies engineers had expertise with the latest virtualization solutions, so we asked them to take on this project for us.”

Solving Real Problems

By enabling a single piece of hardware to run multiple operating system images at once, virtualization allows organizations to consolidate existing server hardware onto fewer physical machines. The NetGain Technologies team deployed VMware ESX, enabling ARCare to remove 14 old servers. “We now have two ESX servers running all of our applications except for our pharmacy operations,” Wolverton said. “VMware is supporting our network of 24 primary care and dental clinics, two wellness centers and two retail pharmacies. NetGain Technologies also installed a LeftHand SAN to create a scalable and reliable pool of storage to support those servers. The NetGain Technologies engineer is a real expert. We wanted to move quickly, so he jumped right on it and completed the installation without any downtime.” The second phase of the project involved the installation of VMware View for desktop virtualization. Desktop virtualization solutions transform the entire desktop — including operating system, applications and data — into an image that is stored and executed on a server. End-users access the image using either a traditional PC, thin client or other network-connected device. It eliminates the need for time-consuming and complex upgrades, security updates and desk-side support across individual workstations. “We cover about 9,000 square miles of the state of Arkansas. We have clinics all the way from Lake City, Ark., in the north down to England, Ark., in the south and back over to Parkin, Ark. We have 26 locations that are all spread out and have a variety of desktops as well as wireless tablets and laptops. There is also a cornucopia of different connections — about 90 percent of these locations are remotely connected through VPNs,” Wolverton said. “We need someone who understands our challenges and our environment, and can make sure that a project like this is seamless. NetGain Technologies does that, and the engineer who spearheaded this project has been a joy to work with.”

Less Is More

Ultimately, virtualization will enable ARCare with improved disaster recovery. Virtualization allows organizations to replicate asymmetrically — that is, without having to provide a matching host or disk at the disaster recovery site. ARCare will be able to eliminate its managed hosting provider by creating a virtual server to replicate its VMware environment. That’s a real boon to an organization that has just two IT people on staff and a “lean” approach to IT management. “We squeeze every bit of value we can out of everything and use the technology as much as possible rather than hiring more people,” said Wolverton. “We bring in NetGain Technologies on special projects like this so we don’t tie up our folks who are doing the day-today work. “We’ve really come to rely on Net- Gain Technologies. They’ve been very good about supplying us with information and training, and have been right there with answers when we’ve asked the tough questions. Really and truly the service we’ve received from NetGain Technologies has just been unparalleled.”