Healthcare networks are becoming the hub for patient treatment, making data center performance critical. Network downtime can cost healthcare providers $100,000+ per hour. Uninterrupted access to mission-critical use cases, ranging from preventative monitoring devices to emergency tele-surgery and everything in between, places pressure on network engineers.
The pressure is much more than strictly financial. Earlier this year, a study conducted and published by a medical cybersecurity research team took the impact of healthcare network outages a step further. The team found that the 2024 CrowdStrike’s software bug crippled at least 750 hospital systems. Of those healthcare networks, more than 200 experienced patient-related service outages, delaying treatment.
Needless to say, maintaining healthcare data centers and networks has significant financial and patient safety importance. How do engineers and IT managers maintain performance and uptime in this environment?
By adopting carrier-grade test and monitoring solutions. Analyzers such as Anritsu’s Network Master™ Pro MT1040A (figure 1), Network Master™ Pro MT1000A, ACCESS Master MT9085, and Virtual Network Master MX109030PC (vNM) deliver comprehensive testing, validation, and maintenance capabilities to ensure secure, reliable, and future-ready data center operations.
Figure 1: Carrier-grade solutions, such as the Network Master Pro MT1040A, are necessary to maintain today’s healthcare networks.
Maintaining Healthcare Data Center Uptime
As mission-critical systems, healthcare networks must guarantee uninterrupted access to diagnostic imaging, patient monitoring, and other telehealth applications. The most pressing challenges to achieve that goal include:
Hybrid Network Complexity: Multi-cloud and virtualized infrastructure must integrate seamlessly, which is no easy task given the preference for open-architecture systems.
- Data Volume: Massive amounts of real-time and stored medical data require high-capacity data centers and scalable storage solutions.
- Data Security and Compliance: Regulations such as HIPAA and GDPR demand strict verification of encryption and access control of patient data.
- Edge Computing: To reduce latency, some processing is performed at the network edge, thereby increasing the overall infrastructure's complexity.
- Scalability and Lifecycle Management: Networks must evolve while ensuring consistent performance and reliability.
Despite this list of challenges, healthcare organizations must aim for zero downtime because of the important role data centers play in patient care. The best approach is to invest in dedicated test solutions that can accurately, repeatedly, and precisely measure key performance indicators (KPIs).
Anritsu’s test platforms address the entire healthcare data center lifecycle – from optical installation to high-speed Ethernet and cloud performance testing. Table 1 highlights the respective Anritsu solution for each stage.
| Lifecycle Stage | Objective | Anritsu Solution |
| Network Buildout | Verify fiber integrity and loss performance | ACCESS Master MT9085 |
| Service Activation | Validate Ethernet, OTN, and IP transport | Network Master Pro MT1000A / MT1040A, and vNM MX109030PC |
| Monitoring & Maintenance | Continuous uptime and latency assurance | Network Master Pro MT1000A / MT1040A, and vNM MX109030PC |
Table 1: Healthcare data center stage and corresponding test solution.
Reducing Downtime and Risk Through Precise Testing
Many healthcare systems are transitioning from private infrastructure to hybrid cloud-based virtualized solutions. Moving IT operations outside the enterprise brings significant loss of visibility and control. Traditional network monitoring tools fail to provide granular visibility into this layered landscape, hindering teams’ ability to accurately anticipate application behavior.
The vNM addresses the issue by creating visibility into hybrid cloud-based solutions. It accurately measures and evaluates end-to-end (E2E) communications quality. IT teams get a continuous view of network performance that they cannot achieve with traditional hardware. Remotely deploying vNM directly onto a server eliminates the need for a person with a physical, handheld test analyzer to connect at the server rack. Plus, insight into the application performance on the actual server being used can be obtained.
Anritsu’s other platforms – MT1040A, MT1000A, and MT9085 – also provide the advanced validation, troubleshooting, and monitoring to keep healthcare data centers operating at peak efficiency. They minimize risk by providing the performance required to verify key factors, including fiber, RF, Ethernet, and wireless connectivity. They help validate networks with accurate measurements on key parameters, from pre-deployment to ongoing maintenance.
Figure 2: The Network Master MT1000A can provide end-to-end network latency and synchronization measurements.
For example, the MT1000A, as shown in figure 2, provides the ability to measure packet loss down to <1% to prevent data corruption or delays by identifying bottlenecks, latency, and dropped packets across cloud-based systems. Healthcare systems need jitter as low as <30 milliseconds. The MT1040A features advanced analysis tools to accurately assess the low jitter and latency required for use cases such as real-time telemedicine and surgery. These are only two of the many tests and analyses that must be conducted to keep data centers up and running in accordance with specifications.
Future-proof Your Healthcare Network
Anritsu’s latest white paper explores practical test strategies, real-world use cases, and actionable insights to help healthcare IT teams ensure network uptime. Download the full white paper.
