A wireless way to work

General Article
October 16, 2003

No longer tethered by cables, researchers have room to roam with wireless access to the center's high-speed network

Dr. Cassian Yee and Deborah Hendrick use a laptop computer to analyze post-infusion blood samples away from the lab. Photo by Todd McNaught

By MATT BRIGGS

In the basement of the Weintraub Building, Dr. Christopher Raymond is isolated in the mouse barrier facility. In this pathogen-free animal facility, all must enter without traces of bacteria, viruses and parasites that can cause disease in laboratory animals.

Because of these restrictions, Raymond, a postdoctoral researcher in the Soriano lab, has spent hours working in the mouse facility without access to the center's high-speed network. The installation of a new wireless Ethernet system in the Day Campus buildings ended his seclusion. "I noticed the access points on the walls and started using it when I learned that the system was up and running," Raymond said. Now he can move freely through the research area with access to the network.

"Wireless gives me access to e-mail, files on the lab computers and database and literature searches-really anything I'd normally have at my desk." About the performance, Raymond said, "I barely notice that the wireless network is slower."

To meet the needs of investigators who require portable access to research data and network applications as well as Fred Hutchinson's requirement for a secure and dependable network, the Information Technology Department has installed 96 wireless-access points around the center. Wireless devices can find the network from anywhere on the main floors of the primary buildings at South Lake Union including the new Public Health Sciences building.

Information waves

Instead of the thick Ethernet cable that tether computers to a data outlet in the wall, a wireless network uses radio frequencies to transmit information. The radio connection allows a device to access e-mail, files stored on shared drives, network printers and network applications such as Web-based databases. Because the information travels over radio waves, the device can communicate even if it lacks a direct line to the transceiver.

Although the wireless network allows Raymond to connect to the center's network from within a specific pathogen-free lab, it could also allow intruders to connect to our network from outside center buildings. To safeguard the center's system against this kind of digital intrusion, IT has established a line of defense between the wireless access points and the network. This line of defense requires an appropriate HutchNet ID and password to connect, then sets up an encrypted session to protect against electronic eavesdropping.

Center savings

The safeguarded wireless network already has enabled researchers to use their laptops in new ways. Scientists can tap dynamic data stores from laptops carried through a lab and investigators can provide patients with up-to-the-second information during consultations and reviews. Without wires to plug in and without burning a compact disc, a presenter can transfer documents in the middle of a presentation.

"From the lab we often need to access our Web-based cryolog," said Dr. Cassian Yee, an investigator in the Clinical Research Division. "This allows us to keep more accurate logs of what we have frozen - a critical database for all research and in particular for clinical research where patient samples are involved."

It also spares us from purchasing more computers at more locations, Yee said. "There are at least five labs on the third floor in which my lab members or I work. With a wireless connection and a laptop, technicians and post-docs can just move from one lab to another and carry their data with them," he said.

Dr. David Myerson, a pathologist in the Clinical Research Division, could find wireless useful in accessing pathology databases during patient care conferences. "In the old days, I brought as many as three large notebooks of pathology reports to a conference," he said, "and eventually they became too unwieldy." With a wireless connection, Myerson can bring a laptop and access the anatomic pathology information system during a conference, "when real time is important."

David Cowan, a systems administrator in the Reid lab, backs up presentations with the wireless network. "Wireless is great when I need to pull a slide," he said. He grabs the information and passes it on to the presenter's laptop without interrupting the meeting.

Way to go wireless

If your laptop is not already capable of a wireless connection, you will need to purchase a wireless Ethernet card. You will also need the wireless card and software client installed, as well as your operating system configured. Not all wireless equipment will work with our secure network, so users should get technical advice before purchasing wireless devices. Wireless access requires center users to have a valid HutchNet ID (their network logon and password). Staff in the Administration and Clinical Divisions can contact the IT Help Desk for assistance with this work. For other center divisions, contact your local network administrator. For more information, e-mail helpdesk@fhcrc.org or call 206-667-5700.

[Matt Briggs is a technical account coordinator for Information Technology]

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