COVID-19 vs. our Networks

Tue Mar 17 15:38:28 UTC 2020

>
> If an x-ray machine won't work because the Internet is down, I'm not sure
> that is responsible. As inefficient as it may be to have a license server
> on-prem if there is an option to check against one in the public cloud,
> for a medical use-case, that would make more sense to me.

Totally agree with you. Unfortunately it's not a problem with the medical
providers, it's a problem with the medical devices. Anybody who works in
the healthcare vertical will tell you just how bad medical devices are to
work with from an IT perspective. And that is part of my original comments.

In your case, I am not sure I have an answer for you, unfortunately. The
> public Internet is what it is, mostly best-effort. Your applications and
> use-cases certainly deserve better than that. I'm not sure how to achieve
> that as your industry shoves more and more activity into the public
> Internet domain, for one reason or another.

I don't know what it's going to take either. A general shift in mentality
from the vendors we use I guess. I'm not sure how you get a bunch of
medical providers to tell these companies they need to fix their stuff. You
can't exactly use your wallet to force change either. There are only a
handful of vendor options out there so there isn't a ton of choice. It's
not like you can buy one of 50 different models of CT machines or EHR
systems.

Generally speaking it's not an issue. It's just in crazy times like these
where, if congestion on the public internet gets too crazy, that certain
platforms might need to be deemed "unnecessary". Is playing Fortnight a
right? Is streaming a movie in 4K a right? In cases like San Francisco they
have decided that leaving your home for anything other than work or medical
care is no longer a right because you're now infringing on other's rights
by potentially getting them sick. Maybe 4K Netflix fits into that category
if you're causing problems for first responders and hospitals trying to
save lives.

- Mike Bolitho

On Tue, Mar 17, 2020 at 2:22 AM Mark Tinka <mark.tinka at seacom.mu> wrote:

>
>
> On 16/Mar/20 16:54, Carsten Bormann wrote:
>
> > I recently had to reschedule an X-ray because the license manager for
> the X-ray machine was acting up.  I don’t think people have a grasp for how
> much of the medical infrastructure no longer works when the Internet is
> down.
>
> I get this, to some extent. But also, there is a reason hospitals,
> airports and military installations are either put on special power
> grids or invest plenty of money in backup power.
>
> If an x-ray machine won't work because the Internet is down, I'm not
> sure that is responsible. As inefficient as it may be to have a license
> server on-prem if there is an option to check against one in the public
> cloud, for a medical use-case, that would make more sense to me.
>
> Mark.
>
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