Healthcare Telepractice PC

[qtc333]

Hello,

I'm in the process of researching setting up a telepractice as a Speech Language Pathologist. I'm not sure if I need 2 PCs, I'd like advice on that as well as advice on a build. I have only built 1 PC, so I am a rank beginner.

The first PC will be the actual service providing PC, which needs to connect to a telehealth server in Canada which will host all the software. It needs to offer minimum 15FPS video (webcam), headset w/ mic, and excellent networking. Are all network cards about the same? I will be providing services between North American and SE Asia and I don't have a lot of room for latency or bandwidth inefficiencies. It does not need to have any capacity for gaming or other non-work related activities. I will connect through a web browser to the server which will host all software needed (basically if I have a web browser I am done).

The second PC I am not sure about: essentially I need an extremely reliable, very secure file backup system. I need to store notes on treatment and I need to save them for 7 - 10 years (depending on age, under 18 requires 10 years). I will need to store text and possibly a small amount of video and/or audio. If this can be done reasonably with an online service, that's fine, but it must offer good security (at least PGP quality is the basic benchmark my lawyer gave me) and excellent reliability in terms of not losing my data. I cannot stress reliability and security enough, the repercussions of having my client records exposed or not having my records if I am ever called in to court would be disastrous. I might feel more comfortable if this storage system is physically in my possession and not connected to the internet.


1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.

Telepractice. I will be connecting from a location in Taipei City, Taiwan to a server in Saskatoon, Canada via internet browser. I will need minimum 15FPS video, <200ms ping and >200KBPS up and down. The sole program I will be running will be a web browser.

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread

Whatever is reasonable. I'd prefer to spend less, but this will be my income source so let's consider $5000.00 USD as a soft upper limit (a few grand over is ok if absolutely necessary).

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.

USA

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.

No preference.

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.

No, I'd like a completely fresh PC for maximum reliability.

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.

I looked a few pages back, but I didn't see what I needed.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.

Default.

8. What resolution YOU plan on gaming with.

None. As for what resolution I will use, I have no preference as long as it allows me to do the tasks mentioned above.

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?

Undecided, I am still in the research phase of the project. Let's assume within about a year. Please keep in mind that reliability is FAR more important to me than latest and greatest.

Thank you for any information.

 

[mfenn]

You won't need anything fancy AT ALL. In fact, I would probably go with a PC from a major OEM since this in fact a work machine and the a warranty with next business day support could come in handy.

Your actually network card doesn't really matter at all. The Gigabit NIC that comes onboard on any modern PC will be more than sufficient. What is important is that you get the fastest, highest-quality Internet service plan that you can afford. I would be concerned with whether or not ANY ISP could get you less than 200ms latency from Taiwan to Canada (darn that pesky speed of light!).

As for backup, A Windows Home Server box will be sufficient. For example, you could get this HP and another 1.5TB drive to enable redundancy. Of course, make sure to actually install the WHS automatic backup client on the main PC!

 

[qtc333]

You won't need anything fancy AT ALL. In fact, I would probably go with a PC from a major OEM since this in fact a work machine and the a warranty with next business day support could come in handy.

Your actually network card doesn't really matter at all. The Gigabit NIC that comes onboard on any modern PC will be more than sufficient. What is important is that you get the fastest, highest-quality Internet service plan that you can afford. I would be concerned with whether or not ANY ISP could get you less than 200ms latency from Taiwan to Canada (darn that pesky speed of light!).

As for backup, A Windows Home Server box will be sufficient. For example, you could get this HP and another 1.5TB drive to enable redundancy. Of course, make sure to actually install the WHS automatic backup client on the main PC!

Thanks! Yeah, I was concerned about the connection as well, so I had someone in Taipei connect to the server I need to connect to and these are the results of the server's connection test:

Privacy Status:
Access to camera, microphone allowed
Network Status:
out: 358 kbps
in: 358 kbps
delay: 143 msec
Your connection supports good quality DSL speed and should support video and audio communications.
Microphone Status:
Name: Realtek HD Audio Input
Gain: 50
Rate: 8 kHz
Suppress Echo: true
Camera Status:
Name: Hava Video Device
Size: 160x120 pixels
Rate: 15 fps

It's not ideal, but it's within the parameters required (test was performed during the time I'd be using it, and it looks like I have about 50ms of wiggle room if traffic spikes). This is a home ADSL line from Hinet. I figure I'll get a Hinet FTTB 10mb down 2mb up fiber account for a bit better up and down, but the ping probably won't improve much if at all (damned physics :biggrin, though Hinet has a good rep for changing routing tables to meet customer needs. Worst case scenario is I pay more for a direct fiber line to the Trans-Pacific Asian hub and just call it the cost of doing business.

So a basic business class OEM prebuilt with Windows 7 (any version) is my plan at about $800, and a Windows home server with a 2nd drive (write the same info to both, I imagine) for about $600. Throw in some basic peripherals and it should still be under $2K I figure. Great, this sounds a lot cheaper than I thought.

 

[Spikesoldier]

I will be connecting from a location in Taipei City, Taiwan to a server in Saskatoon, Canada via internet browser. I will need minimum 15FPS video, <200ms ping and >200KBPS up and down. The sole program I will be running will be a web browser.

from my experience overseas in south korea, i ping about 450ms to the pacific us. i would imagine the ping from taipei would make your goal of 200ms hard to obtain.

 

[mfenn]

So a basic business class OEM prebuilt with Windows 7 (any version) is my plan at about $800, and a Windows home server with a 2nd drive (write the same info to both, I imagine) for about $600. Throw in some basic peripherals and it should still be under $2K I figure. Great, this sounds a lot cheaper than I thought.

Yep, that looks like a good plan to me!

With WHS, you can enable redundancy at the share level (WHS gurus correct me if I'm wrong), that will automatically put the data on multiple drives. It's pretty painless, as far as I know.

 

[BlueSilver]

For the backup, perhaps you would want to write a CD every month or so and get a safety deposit box, in addition to the Windows home server? Then you're covered in the event of fire, flood, or direct lightning strike. Of course, this wouldn't have any bearing on your projected costs!

 

[shortylickens]

For the backup, perhaps you would want to write a CD every month or so and get a safety deposit box, in addition to the Windows home server? Then you're covered in the event of fire, flood, or direct lightning strike. Of course, this wouldn't have any bearing on your projected costs!

Nowadays thats not really considered a great system for work related backups. Its probably better to have some sort of LAN or internet based backup system to an off-site computer designed for such things.

For personal stuff thats a great way to do it.