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Reference table

Network requirements

Sets out the ports, addresses and bandwidth Pensieve interfaces need, with the direction of each connection and its expected volume.

Pensieve reaches a hospital's existing systems through orophin, the bridge installed on the hospital network. This page sets out the ports each interface uses, the addresses the bridge reaches, the direction every connection runs, and the volume each one carries.

The connection model

The bridge opens one connection outward to Pensieve, and every hospital system reaches the bridge across the local network. The bridge carries their messages out through that single connection, which is mutually authenticated, encrypted in transit, and shared by many interfaces at once.

Figure 1.Diagram showing hospital systems reaching the bridge on the local network, the bridge's one outbound connection to the Pensieve service, and imaging travelling direct to the imaging store.

One outbound path

Every connection to Pensieve begins at the bridge and travels outward, so the hospital firewall opens for outbound traffic while its listening ports stay on the local network.

Inbound interfaces

Each hospital system connects to the bridge on the hospital network. These listeners are reachable within the hospital and closed to the public internet.

InterfaceDirectionPort or pathBinds on
HL7 v2 messagingInto the bridgePort 2575The hospital network
Lab analyser feedInto the bridgePort 2576The hospital network
File dropInto the bridgeA watched folderThe hospital network

The outbound path

The bridge reaches two destinations, both over HTTPS on port 443. The Pensieve service carries every framed message. The Pensieve imaging store receives imaging studies directly from the hospital's imaging source, so the pixel data travels its own path apart from the framed connection. The exact addresses are supplied at installation, for the region the organisation's deployment runs in.

PathDirectionDestinationPort
Platform linkOut to PensieveThe Pensieve service endpoint443
ImagingOut to the imaging storeThe Pensieve imaging store endpoint443

Firewall rules

A site opens the rules below. The outbound rules let the bridge and the imaging source reach Pensieve; the local rule lets hospital systems reach the bridge.

RuleSourceDestinationPort
Allow outboundThe bridge hostThe Pensieve service endpoint443
Allow outboundThe imaging sourceThe imaging store endpoint443
Allow on the local networkHospital systemsThe bridge host2575 and 2576

Bandwidth and volume

Message volume is modest for clinical messaging and concentrated in imaging. Result and order messages are kilobyte scale and frequent through the day. A batch load carries many results in one exchange. A large file drop switches to a direct upload to the store, so the framed connection stays light. Imaging studies are the largest item, and they travel their own path straight to the imaging store.

InterfaceMessage sizeFrequency
Results and ordersKilobyte scaleFrequent through the day
Batch result loadsMany results in one exchangePeriodic
File dropsSmall to large filesOn a schedule the site sets
Imaging studiesThe largest itemWith each study, direct to the imaging store

Network preconditions

A site provides the following for the bridge to run.

  • A host on the hospital network for the bridge, reachable by the systems it serves.
  • Outbound HTTPS on port 443 from that host to the Pensieve service.
  • Outbound HTTPS on port 443 from the imaging source to the imaging store.
  • Local-network reach from each hospital system to the bridge on its interface port.
  • A watched folder on a local share for any file-drop interface.

Read how the bridge is set up on a site in installing the bridge.