SEOUL NATIONAL UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL

Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH) has successfully completed Korea’s first full-scale migration of hospital core systems to an external Internet Data Center (IDC), establishing a Software Defined Data Center (SDDC)-based private cloud. This groundbreaking initiative marks a pivotal transformation in healthcare IT infrastructure and positions the hospital at the forefront of digital healthcare innovation.
This initiative goes far beyond the physical relocation of IT infrastructure. It represents a structural shift designed to overcome inherent limitations in traditional data center models while enabling scalable adoption of next-generation technologies such as AI and big data. Approximately 30 core systems—including the Hospital Information System (HIS) and Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS)—were migrated and virtualized, setting a national precedent.

Building a Future-Oriented Infrastructure
In response to rising clinical demand and increasingly complex care environments, SNUH launched this transformation to secure more agile and scalable IT operations. The relocation of the hospital’s in-house data center to an external IDC enabled the repurposing of high-value physical space into four new operating rooms, maximizing clinical utility while addressing growing capacity needs.

A range of factors—including rising maintenance costs from aging infrastructure, increased risk of system failure, and the need to adopt big data-driven care environments—collectively informed the decision to transition to a more agile and flexible SDDC-based IT infrastructure.

Seamless Migration and Stable Operation
The migration was executed in three structured phases—basic design (3 months), implementation (8 months), and stabilization (5 months). A combination of methods, including Unix-to-Linux (U2L), physical-to-virtual (P2V), and virtual-to-virtual (V2V) transitions, was applied. Major systems were migrated sequentially without changes to physical IP addresses, enabling a smooth and stable transition with minimal service disruption.
A dual-redundant dedicated line was established between the hospital and IDC, ensuring access speeds and reliability on par with the original on-site systems.

Laying the Foundation for Next-Generation Hospital Models
The transformation has already delivered tangible results. With server and rack counts reduced by 80%, energy consumption dropped significantly. Logical reconfiguration of infrastructure has enhanced system availability and fault tolerance, while enabling rapid resource scalability on demand.
Most importantly, this project lays the strategic groundwork for future developments such as integrated hospital infrastructure, centralized Clinical Data Warehouse (CDW) systems, and personalized care services based on MyData platforms.

Through this pioneering initiative, SNUH has not only redefined its IT backbone but also taken a decisive step toward becoming a model for next-generation, digitally enabled hospitals in the global healthcare landscape.