Carolinas HealthCare System implements Radware's application delivery solutions to prevent network downtime

Sep 22 2009

Radware (Nasdaq: RDWR), the leading provider of integrated application delivery solutions for business-smart networking, today announced that Carolinas HealthCare System (CHS), the largest healthcare system in North and South Carolina, has leveraged Radware's suite of application delivery solutions in an effort to maintain a secure network environment with advanced load balancing capabilities for its extensive hospital system.

The need to have "always up" network availability is critical when managing a hospital system that includes more than 40,000 employees. Downtime could mean a reduction in patient healthcare service and satisfaction, as well as an uptick in employee dissatisfaction. In an effort to maintain continuous availability while also having a secured environment, CHS leveraged Radware's expertise in the application delivery space and employed its AppDirector(R), Content Inspection Director(R) (CID) and LinkProof(R) solutions to meet its networking needs.

Initially, CHS deployed the CID and Linkproof solutions. CID, Radware's transparent smart redirection and dynamic policy enforcement device, enables CHS to redirect traffic for Web traffic filtering devices without having complicated scripts while accelerating and scaling this service. Additionally, the solution increases the level of network security by blocking malicious sites and keeping spyware out of its system. The use of LinkProof, Radware's multi-WAN load balancer, has allowed CHS to have multiple paths to the Internet in order to accomodate various levels of traffic resulting in reduced costs for connectivity and increasing fault tolerance. LinkProof further monitors network connections by automatically recognizing when an issue arises, and reacts by re-routing traffic congestion that may occur for improved availability and response time for applications.

"Having unlimited access to a secured network without service interruption is a requirement in order for us to run our day-to-day operations to the maximum of our ability," said Todd Greene, Information Security Manager, at CHS. "Since engaging with Radware 10 years ago, we've steadily increased the number of solutions we rely on them for, and continue to be impressed by their product suite and extensive customer support. Once we have something that works we stick with it, and this relationship has been great for us."

Following the successful launch of CID and LinkProof, CHS implemented an additional Radware application delivery product, AppDirector, in order to support its corporate intranet (Synapse) and main data center. AppDirector has worked to consolidate CHS' systems in order to help load balance traffic. This provided network flexibility and reduced costs associated with maintaining numerous applications, and further improved employee and patient satisfaction. This solution answered a critical challenge to ensuring CHS' staff ability to record important patient information and access care instructions without complications. With up to 7 million page hits per day, Synpase is the most visible system on CHS' network.

"In order for us to maintain a productive work environment for employees and maximize patient care, network downtime is not an option," said Tommy Forrest, Senior Systems Engineer, at CHS. "Not being able to have consistent availability to the Intranet would hinder our ability to provide the best service possible. But with Radware's help we've been able to stabilize our system and make it hassle-free."

Radware's technologies - as part of its Business-Smart Data strategy - allow organizations to maximize ROI on IT investments as they deliver mission-critical applications over the Internet and across the WAN by ensuring fast, reliable, secure delivery of both web-enabled applications and services that drive business productivity.

"Keeping a high-volume network such as CHS' up-and-running can be a challenging task, but with our advanced solutions it has become possible to optimize the system's availability and maximize reliability," said Bob Simpson, Vice President Southeast, at Radware. "We value our relationship with CHS and take pride in delivering excellent application delivery products in order to provide a competitive advantage in today's business landscape."