NHSmail - Largest Exchange 2007 Server in the World

[SexyGreyFox]

Naughty

I'm not surprised your account is still open either, I would expect that to be the case for the majority of leavers. It shouldn't be of course but thats just another failing of the system.

Come to think of it I did a course while redundant at the NHS and Admin told me my account would stop on March 17th.
One month later I was given a full time job, tried my account and it was still on.

 

[EvilGrin]

People thought the same thing about the optical and the sff forum, look at them now...

Server hardware and software is a much broader subject than both of those two niche topics put together tbh. I'm sure it'd be fairly well discussed on here.

 

[Vanilla]

Server hardware and software is a much broader subject than both of those two niche topics put together tbh. I'm sure it'd be fairly well discussed on here.

Expecially if you add more than just servers - applications, storage, virtualisation, Corporate AV. Basically everything Enterprise IT.

There are a lot of IT peeps on this forum. I don't think it would be the busiest forum but I think it would be welcomed.

 

[Hitman_Leon]

Wonder who they will get to do support, I had my sister in law phone me once when the system went down in the sterile services department she was working in and they were expected to wait 24 hours for a bod to come and start their systems up. Bearing in mind this was a set of systems to keep track of surgical instruments essential to everyday operations, I talked her through it over the phone and she got the whole department up in half an hour, I think they employ ex drugtesting monkeys for support.

 

[Duke]

Someone sneak Folding@home on there

 

[Gilly]

We have a shiny new forum

 

[Beansprout]

We have a shiny new forum

Yeah but is it the largest in the world?

 

[Gilly]

It contains the largest Exchange 2007 server in the world

 

[Skeeter]

Ok, multi quote isnt working well for me, so ill answer from memory:

Most accounts are innactive because in theory everyone in the NHS should have one, and they should be listed on the NHSmail Directory, but this does not mean they use it as a main account. Most NHS organisations have their own Exchange or other solution with an nhs.uk address. I worked for Devon PCT and we were the first county in the country to roll out NHSmail fully to all GP practices. HQ and locality buildings are still using a mix. Thats why a lot of accounts are empty.

NHSmail inboxes are 200mb atm, but there is the option to quota them between 50 and 500.

The email system is encrypted and eventually will be used for electronic transmission of all sorts of patient information. It must be secure and resilient, somethign is currently isnt.

Wasting money in the NHS is nothing new

The people in charge dont know what they are doing. Often when rolling out NHSmail in GP practices we would phone them to tell them which servers were down, they wouldnt have noticed themselves (the system is administered by Cable and Wireless).

They have set a target of continued continuity, but there is a major issue as far as I can see. All users currently using Outlook for NHSmail are using IMAP, which as far as I know, doesnt work with a link to an exchange? I assume there will be some 'link' server in the middle to avoid having to reconfigure every machine (Devon PCT, 107 practices, average 30 users a practice, average 20 machines, often a users on many machines = a LOT!)

NHSmail is crud, very crud, but I dont think this will fix it.

Most NHSmail projects are late, under performing, or just simply buggered.

A shiny new forum... cool!

 

[richieboy]

I assume that's the nhs.uk accounts. What about all the exchange implementations at the local level. I know Portsmouth NHS/PCT and NHS Direct have Exchange 2003 implementations. But this to me just sounds like doubling up and chaos.

It's nhs.net accounts, any local Exchange setups (nhs.uk) stay the same, but the plan is generally to migrate everybody in the NHS to one email system (nhs.net) and get rid of the local ones...which should mean over 1.3million people on Exchange.

 

[Peace]

now i know why they are closing so many wards...

 

[Gilly]

They have set a target of continued continuity, but there is a major issue as far as I can see. All users currently using Outlook for NHSmail are using IMAP, which as far as I know, doesnt work with a link to an exchange?

I'm not entirely sure what you mean here. Exchange is aware of and allows IMAP connections. It has done for years

 

[Schnippzle]

I work as an IT admin for the Liverpool PCT and unfortunently we all have a max 50mb mailbox size. I can also say though that for the Liverpool PCT we do have over 10k mailboxes set up, that includes all contractors and 3rd party members.

And yes, Skeeter is 100% correct, which is why Im looking for work elsewhere

 

[Ev0]

One of my friends is a contractor and worked on the old nhsmail rollout years ago and he's just left my current place to go back to HP to do some more NHS stuff for the 2007 rollout iirc, will have to tap him up for info to see what he's doing this time round

My other half works for the NHS and she says it's a bit naff having the choice of either the web front end or an imap outlook connection, much prefers a boggo standard exchange server connection.

 

[bigredshark]

I work as an IT admin for the Liverpool PCT and unfortunently we all have a max 50mb mailbox size. I can also say though that for the Liverpool PCT we do have over 10k mailboxes set up, that includes all contractors and 3rd party members.

And yes, Skeeter is 100% correct, which is why Im looking for work elsewhere

God, how do they enforce that. One of our major clients IT departments asked the business to consider archiving email every now and again (they were a little upset the average mailbox size was 1.2GB) and got their heads bitten off for the trouble. So we sold them an enormous SAN, everyone's a winner in the end...

 

[paul@]

A lot of misunderstanding here regarding NHSmail. Lots of people saying the server equipment is a huge overkill etc etc.

Keys to understand.

1) The NHSMail servers are not "just" for exchange 2007.
2) Cerner/Fujitsu project is to be merged with NHSMail in the future to have the email and health records centralized in one location.
3) Nationwide email access from 1 point to get rid of local PCT email systems.

 

[a1ex2001]

Keys to understand.

Is that the NHS splooges money like it's going out of fashion on all sorts of things from the biggest HR departments I've ever seen to rooms full of unused desktop PC's purchased just to spend end of year budget!

NHS mail is like almost every other IT project the NHS has ever been involved in ie late and over budget, massively so on both counts. Yes it's a fine idea and I'm sure one day it will be used as you have said but it's not going to happen any time soon it just one component of the stalled and failing NPFiT scheme.

I left the NHS IT as I couldn't stand working in such a wastefull environment, to think patients go without treatment to pay for the obscene wastage of NHS managment and infrastructure makes me both sad and mad in pretty even measures.

 

[Schnippzle]

I left the NHS IT as I couldn't stand working in such a wastefull environment, to think patients go without treatment to pay for the obscene wastage of NHS managment and infrastructure makes me both sad and mad in pretty even measures.

Im heading the same way. If any1 is looking for a second line techie with plenty of project management support gimme a call

 

[Ev0]

My other half is always telling me how bad it is getting simple IT problems fixed. I understand having central support for such a large organisation is going to be a nightmare, but it really does seem a joke sometimes.

 

[Nikumba]

While yes it seems a lot, however that will take into account growth over a period of 5 - 7 years which tends to be the norm for server replacements.

Kimbie