A 164Gbs dark fibre backbone to connect two merging NHS Trusts
How Stream helped Somerset NHS Foundation Trust merge two datacentres and storage area networks into one high-bandwidth, low-latency platform serving over 10,000 users.
A business-only technology partner you can build around
Founded in 2007, Stream Networks is an independent UK provider of secure connectivity, communications, managed IT and cyber security — one provider, one umbrella. Our services are backed by a carrier-grade network monitored 24/7/365, with a personal, non-corporate approach that keeps us by your side as your business grows.
About Somerset NHS Foundation Trust
somersetft.nhs.ukSomerset NHS Foundation Trust is the first NHS trust on the English mainland to provide community, mental health and acute hospital services. It was formed on 1 April 2020 when Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust merged.
The Trust provides community and mental health services across the whole of Somerset, and acute hospital services in the north, west and centre of the county and beyond.
Merging two IT platforms into one, without traditional P2P limits
Following the Trust merger, the IT department needed to efficiently connect two datacentres, server infrastructures and storage area networks together — a process demanding high bandwidth, low latency connectivity that traditional Ethernet Access Direct circuits couldn't deliver.
What Stream delivered
Stream Networks worked with the Trust to install OSA Filter Connect — a managed Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) dark fibre solution built to scale as demand grows.
OSA Filter Connect dark fibre
A managed DWDM dark fibre solution installed to connect the Trust's two datacentres, scalable by adding wavelengths as demand grows.
164Gbs of total bandwidth
10x10Gbs Ethernet wavelengths for standard TCP/IP connectivity, delivering the headroom the merged Trust needed.
Low-latency Fibre Channel for SAN
8x8Gbs Fibre Channel wavelengths gave the Trust's storage area networks mission-critical, almost lossless data transport between datacentres.
Built to scale, cost-effectively
Additional Ethernet and Fibre Channel wavelengths can be added cost-effectively as needs grow, with no rework to the underlying infrastructure.
"Merging two networks of this size was a big project that we feared would be complicated and expensive. However, by introducing us to OSA Filter Connect, Stream Networks made the process straightforward and most importantly, cost-effective. Implementing OSA presented us with the opportunity to make significant cost savings versus traditional EAD P2P's and ensured we met every objective we set out for this project. Everyone at Stream Networks quickly understood our aims and could not have been more helpful."
Ready for connectivity you can depend on?
Let's talk about how Stream can support your organisation — with the same care we gave Somerset NHS Foundation Trust.