Background

The New Century partners accepted your interface, output, input, and data designs and your recommendation to install a server and desktop computer clients on a local area network. At this point, you review your notes and plan the architecture for the New Century system.

New Century Wellness Group has four primary care physicians, one nurse practitioner (NP), four physical therapists, one registered nutritionist, eight nurses, and eight support staff. Each of the physicians, NP, therapists, nutritionist and support staff has their own workstations. The nurses work from one of three nurse stations that should have at least three computers at each station. Each nurse station will have a high-volume network laser printer and a scanner attached to one workstation. The check-in/checkout area will have an impact printer for multipart forms and a network laser printer. The network will include an online backup service, Internet access via a cable connection with a local cable company.

The partners want you to ensure the physical network is scalable, and able to handle the electronic medical record phase after the business support system is implemented. The electronic medical record phase will require a computer or thin client to be installed in each exam room and procedure room. They will also use portable computers and tablets to access patient information as the providers move from room to room around the clinic.

The hardware requirements are only part of the final installation plan which you must develop. You should start by reviewing the DFDs and object-oriented diagrams that you prepared in the systems analysis phase, and the ERDs and table designs that you created in the systems design phase. Then, review the system architecture checklist at the beginning of this chapter. With this information, you should be able to prepare a system design specification.

Tasks

1. Draw a simple floor plan for New Century Wellness group and include the placement of all network nodes including the placement of a server, and network equipment. How many ports will your switch need to accommodate?
2. Given this information, what physical and logical topologies would you recommend for New Century? Explain your answer.
3. What would be the benefits of using a wireless network? Are there any drawbacks?
4. Using the information you just prepared, as well as other information you developed for in previous chapters, prepare a system design specification that includes sections on the management summary, system components, system environment, implementation requirements, and time and cost estimates.