Data storageUsing tiered storage to address the increasing flow of data in healthcareAndy Hardy of Compellent explains the virtues of tiered storage in addressing the challenge of the rapidly increasing amounts of data generated by new imaging technology and communications in the healthcare sector. 14 December 2009
As we head into 2010 the healthcare sector is facing many challenges. Not only are budgets being cut, but many institutions are faced with growing numbers of patients, which means more patient data to manage. Sophisticated medical technology is also adding to the storage problem. The increase in the use of high-resolution imaging for diagnosing patients is leading to ever more data to manage, secure and store. While hospitals need to grow their storage capacity, many lack the budget, physical space or even sufficient energy supplies to do this, so there is increasing pressure to do more with less. In the past, radiology and cardiology departments were the primary users of medical imaging systems, picture archiving and communication systems (PACs), including CT scans, MRI, cardiac catheterizations and echocardiograms. But recently medical digital imaging has exploded into many more medical specialties. Pathologists and dermatologists are among the new users. Images of tissue samples and skin lesions improve diagnosis and track the progress of patients' treatments. Also, new cancer diagnostic exams involving the latest medical imaging equipment, such as digital mammography, produce thousands of high-resolution images per study. But the practical ability for most hospitals to host more equipment to store and manage more data is being severely impacted by the expectation that many UK hospital data centers are rapidly running out of space and power. About five years ago, the average 500-bed hospital needed less than two terabytes of storage for its medical imaging. Today, it needs 50TB to 100TB for the average 150,000 to 200,000 imaging-related procedures done annually in these facilities. Storage efficiency is, therefore, being cited as one of the biggest drivers for hospitals determining their storage spend this year and beyond. This was confirmed in a study by analyst research firm Enterprise Strategy Group. Its survey of 504 global storage professionals found that budget-conscious storage decisions in 2009 will be driven by efficiency. The survey also identified that specific efficiency-friendly technologies enabling data reduction, intelligent tiered storage and storage reservation were among the top priorities for the next 24 months. Tiered storage Intelligent tiered storage is particularly important to the healthcare industry, as it can provide hospitals with a cost-effective way of centralising their image database and other storage resources. On top of images, hospitals also store thousands of other files that must be kept on file regardless of how big they get. However, only a fraction of this data needs to be accessed frequently; the majority of files, once they pass their useful life, are never opened again. Tiered storage automatically moves the least accessed files to the lowest-cost tier of storage. Similarly, if an infrequently accessed file later becomes more popular, this will be moved back up to the faster, more expensive storage so that it can be accessed and downloaded more quickly. Interest in fluid storage technologies like these clearly indicates a growing trend, indeed a flight, towards greater storage efficiency. By boosting the efficiency of their storage infrastructure hospitals can accommodate data growth within strictly limited budgets. And they can do all this using a smaller hardware footprint that in turn consumes less physical space and less energy. When these technologies are combined, the compounded efficiencies can be dramatic and immediate. It’s not uncommon to see 90% utilisation improvements over legacy storage capacities resulting in further significant reductions in energy needs. It sounds simple enough but a major hurdle remains. Hospitals often find it very hard to break free from their existing storage brands and their inefficiencies, to which they’ve grown accustomed to using. They are also reluctant to move when they look back at the high investment in training and other costs they’ve incurred. Case study University College Hospital Galway achieves 90% energy saving One of Ireland’s major academic teaching hospitals, Galway’s HSE University College Hospital, was experiencing increasing IT requirements spread across the various departments. By June 2008 storage levels were at a critical level and they were on the verge of running out of storage. These problems were compounded further by their existing storage area network (SAN) being at the end of its product life and could not be upgraded. The only option was to buy a new one. Their existing SAN vendor was happy to sell them a new SAN but there was no way of avoiding the same problems again over the next 3 years. Through working with Origina’s Innovation & Development team UCHG devised a pioneering new storage framework for the entire organisation. Origina storage architects designed a system built on Compellent Storage technologies that delivered a variety of benefits that solved the organisation’s storage problems and, moreover, facilitated their requirements into the future. Based on Compellent’s energy-efficient storage area network (SAN) the solution is saving the hospital 90% on power and cooling costs, and with no model range, the same SAN can be used until a 900TB capacity is reached. Annual storage requirements for many providers are increasing at a rate of 20% to 100%. This has resulted in a number of challenges, from cost to disaster recovery to security and access issues. IT managers need to ramp up their knowledge of intelligent tiered storage as quickly as possible and ensure that it’s a central platform for their future storage strategy. Not only will this help solve their immediate problems of data growth, budget limits, space and energy, but it can just as directly benefit their hospital’s bottom line. In this period of economic uncertainty, a healthy obsession with efficiency will be the key to weathering the storm. Andy Hardy, Managing Director, International Sales, Compellent 
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