Bone & Joint

Background

Bone & Joint, a premier orthopedic and surgery provider across Central Wisconsin, serves thousands of patients annually with critical orthopedic surgeries, physical therapy, and walk-in care services. Each facility—including their flagship Rib Mountain center—handles hundreds of daily visits. With patient care, surgeries, and rehabilitation services reliant on stable connectivity, any network downtime isn't just costly—it's disruptive to patient care.

Historically, Bone & Joint managed a complex, multi-vendor IT setup. Their main data center at Rib Mountain interconnected multiple locations through Layer 2 circuits provided by a single ISP, using FortiGate firewalls, Aruba switches, and Aruba APs. The existing infrastructure was overly complex, poorly documented, and challenging to manage, creating multiple single points of failure.

Recognizing these challenges, Justin Graff, IT Director at Bone & Joint, turned to Unified IT an with a vision:

Previous Network Hardware

Bone & Joint previously utilized a multi-vendor network infrastructure comprised primarily of FortiGate firewalls for upstream security and Aruba switches and access points across their seven locations. The main Rib Mountain data center served as the central hub, with each remote site connected through Layer 2 circuits provided exclusively by their ISP. This setup, while functional, presented significant challenges related to reliability and redundancy due to its dependency on a single service provider.

Additionally, the fragmented nature of their infrastructure led to administrative inefficiencies and complicated troubleshooting processes. With different hardware vendors in place, configuration management and maintenance tasks were cumbersome, lacking uniformity. Documentation was sparse, resulting in a substantial burden on the IT team whenever issues arose, thus highlighting the urgent need for a more streamlined, reliable solution.

Why UniFi

Initially intrigued by UniFi’s reputation, Justin Graff was cautiously optimistic but uncertain if it could fully address Bone & Joint’s complex requirements. To address these concerns, Unified IT collaborated closely with Bone & Joint over several months, meticulously documenting their existing network and clearly outlining how UniFi’s comprehensive solution could resolve their ongoing challenges.

UniFi’s solution offered distinct advantages:

License-Free Cost Model:
Eliminating recurring licensing fees significantly reduced the total cost of ownership compared to traditional enterprise vendors. Single-Pane-of-Glass Management: The unified management interface drastically simplified administration and troubleshooting tasks, enabling proactive rather than reactive IT management.

Advanced SD-WAN Capabilities (Site Magic):
UniFi’s Site Magic provided robust, flexible connectivity options, freeing Bone & Joint from reliance on a single ISP and enabling diverse, redundant connections (fiber, cellular, Starlink).

Simplified and Robust Network Architecture:
UniFi’s cohesive stack greatly reduced complexity, resulting in increased network reliability and easier future scalability.

These compelling factors convinced Bone & Joint that UniFi was the ideal solution, perfectly aligning with their goals to delete complexity, simplify operations, and enhance reliability.

Deployment Planning:

Given the critical nature of Bone & Joint’s healthcare operations, meticulous planning was essential to ensure a smooth, rapid deployment with minimal downtime. Devin Jacobs, Network Administrator, worked closely with Bone & Joint’s IT Director and their engineering partner to lead the deployment efforts. Devin helped oversee detailed as-built documentation, off-site staging, and comprehensive burn-in testing, proactively addressing potential issues. This rigorous preparation minimized deployment risks and greatly expedited the on-site installation process, ensuring critical patient services remained uninterrupted.

Rib Mountain Overview

Rib Mountain is Bone & Joint’s busiest medical facility, serving the highest patient volume and housing the central data center supporting all seven locations. Due to its critical operational role, Rib Mountain required a robust, high-capacity network designed for maximum reliability, redundancy, and scalability.

UXG Enterprise for Gateway
UniFi’s UXG Enterprise gateways were selected at Rib Mountain specifically for their higher throughput capabilities and additional overhead compared to the standard UDM-Pro. These gateways provided essential routing, firewall management, and static route configuration, acting as the critical hub for the future SD-WAN deployment across all Bone & Joint locations. The redundant gateways ensured continuous, uninterrupted internet connectivity and optimal network performance.

MC-LAG at the Core
At the network core, Bone & Joint implemented Multi-Chassis Link Aggregation (MC-LAG) utilizing two UniFi ECS Aggregation switches. This setup provided robust redundancy, seamless connectivity to the UXG Enterprises, VMware servers, and top-of-rack aggregation switches. The MC-LAG architecture eliminated single points of failure, significantly enhancing overall network reliability and performance.

Top-of-Rack Aggregation
Each rack utilized UniFi Pro Aggregation switches as top-of-rack solutions, designed to streamline connectivity and manage growth efficiently. While direct connections from access switches to the core could have been established, Bone & Joint strategically chose top-of-rack aggregation for scalability and simplified future expansion.

Access Layer and Wi-Fi
At the access layer, Bone & Joint deployed fifteen UniFi Pro48 PoE MAX switches throughout the MDF and multiple IDFs to deliver robust, high-density connectivity to clinical endpoints, VoIP phones, printers, and other critical devices. Comprehensive wireless coverage was provided by strategically placed UniFi U7 Pro MAX access points, replacing legacy Aruba units, ensuring seamless, high-capacity Wi-Fi access throughout the facility, essential for both staff productivity and patient services.

Deployment Experience

The Rib Mountain deployment was intense and fast-paced, beginning Friday at 7 PM after the last patient left, with a strict deadline of 6 AM Monday morning. Supported by Stewart Networks, the small, dedicated team worked tirelessly to update patch panels, replace switches, and reconnect hundreds of cables, all within a tight timeframe. The physical demands were significant, and team camaraderie kept spirits high throughout the process.

Migrations are inherently stressful and rarely go perfectly. However, this deployment proceeded smoothly overall, with only minor, quickly-resolved issues—including a faulty SFP replaced promptly. The success of this deployment highlighted the effectiveness of thorough planning and teamwork, underscoring the value and rewards of meticulous execution.

SD-WAN Strategy and Implementation

Bone & Joint plans to leverage UniFi’s SD-WAN technology (Site Magic) across all locations, employing a robust hub-and-spoke topology centered around Rib Mountain. This topology provides redundant VPN tunnels, ensuring continuous connectivity even if one link fails at either the central hub or a remote location.

Cost Efficiency
Traditional dedicated WAN connections through a single provider are costly and may not be available in all areas. SD-WAN enables Bone & Joint to select diverse, competitively priced internet connections, significantly reducing operational expenses without compromising reliability or performance.

Diverse Connectivity
UniFi SD-WAN facilitates using various connection types, including fiber, cellular, and satellite (Starlink). This flexibility allows Bone & Joint to choose optimal solutions based on local availability, ensuring robust connectivity in every region they serve. It also positions them for seamless national expansion, if desired.

Optimal Traffic Flow
Previously, all traffic routed through Rib Mountain, creating a single critical point of failure. With SD-WAN, only necessary traffic routes to Rib Mountain, while general internet traffic exits locally at each site. This significantly enhances redundancy, ensuring remote sites remain operational even if Rib Mountain experiences downtime.

Moving forward, Bone & Joint will first upgrade each remote site with UniFi gateways (EFGs), switches, and access points, subsequently enabling a seamless transition to the SD-WAN solution.