Newtown Health Centre LAN

The Newtown Health Centre LAN

The Newtown Health Centre LAN is a network that connects various users within the health center to facilitate data sharing, printing, and communication. The users of this network include reception staff, doctors, and the practice manager. Each user has access to specific hardware needed to their tasks.

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Users and hardware used by users:

• Reception Staff: The reception area has a PC, a laser printer, and a dot-matrix printer, as well as a central server. Reception staff use the PC to access patients' records, drug information, and manage appointments. The server is essential for storing and sharing data, while the printers are used for printing patient information and appointment details.
• Doctors (Consulting Rooms A, B, and C): Each consulting room has a PC. Doctors use these computers to access medical records, input patient data, and communicate with other parts of the health center through the network.
• Practice Manager: The practice manager's office has a PC dedicated to finance tasks. The manager uses it to manage the center’s finances and has access to other shared network resources.

The Newtown Health Centre LAN also includes email connections that allow users to communicate with hospitals, other practices, and the local health board. This enables the exchange of medical information and patient records securely across different medical institutions.

Advantages of the The Newtown Health Centre LAN:

• Data Sharing: The network allows users to share data easily, which improves efficiency in accessing and updating patient information. Although this sharing is convenient, it also means that any data breach or virus can spread quickly across all connected devices.
• Resource Sharing: Shared printers and centralized servers help reduce costs by eliminating the need for individual devices for each user. However, if the server fails, all users lose access to critical information, leading to work disruptions.
• Centralized Management: The server provides a central point for managing records, which simplifies data backup and security. But, this also means that the network is heavily reliant on the server's functionality, which could cause issues if it experiences downtime.
• Improved Communication: The email connectivity enables efficient communication with external health organizations, facilitating better coordination and patient care. This benefit, however, increases the dependency on stable network connections, so any internet connectivity issues could impact communication.

Disadvantages of the The Newtown Health Centre LAN:

• Risk of Data Breaches: Since the network holds sensitive patient data, there is a higher risk of data breaches. Security must be maintained rigorously to protect patient confidentiality, but this increases the complexity and cost of network management.
• Dependency on Server: The entire network’s operation depends on the server. If it fails, then no user can access shared data, which would halt essential operations within the health center.
• Potential for Virus Spread: Viruses and malware can spread quickly across the networked devices because of the interconnectivity. For this reason, robust antivirus measures are required to safeguard the network.