3Com-Instrumentation Laboratory

Technology Used: 3Com Switch 8800 switches, 3Com Switch 7750 modular switches

Solution: Headquartered in Bedford, Massachusetts, Instrumentation Laboratory has 10 locations scattered across the globe. In operation for 50 years, Instrumentation Laboratory is a recognized market leader in critical care and hemostasis diagnostic instruments. This member of the Werfen Group also produces in-vitro diagnostic products, as well as a number of medical devices and scientific instruments.

As Instrumentation’s workforce and remote site needs continued to grow, the company realized their existing 3Com network would need to be upgraded. The company was adding nodes to their network and also running out of IP ranges, and needed to find core switches that could handle the large number of VLANs needed.

To address these issues, 3Com Switch 8814 modular core switches were deployed at the company’s Bedford location and a remote site in Orangeburg, New York. These switches currently support 550 users and 800 nodes in the U.S. and Europe. A 3Com Switch 7754 and a 3Com Switch 7758 were also deployed at Bolton Medical, Instrumentation’s sister company in Florida.

The high performance and robustness of the switches deployed by Instrumentation Laboratory are key benefits of the 3Com solution. The switch fabric operates at 720-GB per second, and users have noticed that the network is now faster. Because there are two independent switch fabrics, the 3Com switches are extremely reliable, something that has helped the company expand network operations without more administrators. The switches offer seamless interoperability with third-party network devices. Price was also a crucial benefit. Instrumentation Laboratory stated that 3Com’s products were similar in quality to those offered by large vendors, but offered savings of up to 35 percent.

Further details: http://www.3com.com/other/pdfs/solutions/en_US/3com-505480-Instrumentation_Labs.pdf