Download Report to Lead Member on the Proposed Network Upgrade and

Report to Lead Member on the Proposed Network
Upgrade and Replacement Storage Area Network
This report provides an overview of the proposed upgrade to the Council’s core
Network and the replacement of the Council’s Storage Area Networks.
Core IP Network
The Network provides communications services for Data, Video and Voice
across the Council. The current network, implemented in 1999 was specifically
installed to meet the year 2000 compliance and support new Corporate systems
such as SAP and Email. The Network that was implemented used the latest
technology available at that time which allowed the transportation of differing
types of traffic over a single infrastructure i.e. Voice, Video and Data.
Storage Area Network
Storage Area Networks (hereafter SANs) are a highly available centralised
storage solution, which improves applications performance allowing virtually
uninterruptible access to data. Server backups and restores can be performed
quickly and additional Disaster Recovery solutions. SANs allow the Council’s
Server storage to be managed more efficiently and effectively across the
Council’s Data Centres.
The Council currently has Six SANs located in each of the Council’s Data
Centres. There are two Data Centres located on the Civic Centre campus and
one at each of the four Network Nodal Sites strategically located across the City.
These were initially implemented as part of the Education ICT Infrastructure
project, however the number of applications using the SANs for the storage of
Data has increased significantly to include the following: 
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Email
File Storage
CRM
ICLipse Document Imaging
Obtree Web Site Content Management System
Caching Service for Internet Access
Business Rates System
Norwell Legal System
Education Management System
All Windows based servers are now using the SANs for the purpose of backing
up data to tape for Disaster Recovery and Audit purposes. Most medium to large
scale Windows based Server Applications utilise the SANs for the storage of
data, the SAN is therefore classified as a Business Critical Service.
The Case for Change
This section sets out the reasons why these two critical technologies need to be
considered for replacement.
Core IP Network
The current core network is mainly leased on an operating lease, which expires
in December this year and all equipment on the lease will be returned. Network
technology has developed significantly during this period, combined networks
were just being developed in 1999 and therefore the solution that has been
implemented at the Council is complex, proprietary and difficult to upgrade. With
the end of the lease of the equipment this year it is proposed that the Council
replace the core network with a new design, which will give the Council more
flexibility, availability and capacity.
Storage Area Network
All six SANs were implemented during November 2001. The SANs had a
combined Storage capacity of 4.6TeraBytes (4,600 GigaBytes) of Hard Disk
space, this has grown in less than two years to 11TB (11,000GB). The SAN also
has up to 86.4TB (86,400GB) of offline Storage using tapes for backing up
servers.
Unfortunately shortly after the SANs were deployed by Dell within the Council
they announced that they would be ceasing production of their own SAN
equipment within 12 months. Dell signed a joint partnership agreement with EMC
to develop and manufacture SAN equipment, EMC are the market leader for
SAN equipment and software.
There are two major implications for the Council, development and support of the
SAN. The Storage requirements of the Council are currently increasing by 50%
each year, the current Dell SAN has exhausted its capacity. A small Dell EMC
SAN has been purchase to allow continued growth. It is not possible for an
existing Dell SAN to integrate with a new Dell EMC SAN, therefore separate
SANs have been implemented. The support agreement with Dell will expire in
November 2004, it will be costly to extend this support for future years and will be
impossible to have support beyond 2006.
Proposals
This section sets out the proposed changes to the Network and SANs
Core IP Network
The Council’s preferred Network supplier has been approached to provide a
design, which meets the Council’s current requirements for Network services and
those likely requirements for the next five years. The supplier has provided the
Council with a network design and kit list, which in our opinion meets these
requirements whilst reducing the financial impact on the Council. The Core of
the Network will be changed to a different technology, which is also capable of
transmitting Voice, Video and Data over the same Infrastructure. The new
network includes greater resilience and manageability through the simplification
of the design and the use of industry standard protocols.
Storage Area Network
It is proposed to replace the current Dell SANs with a new Dell EMC SAN located
at the Civic Centre incorporating the equipment already purchased. Desktop
Services are currently designing this replacement SAN with Dell and EMC.
The main advantages of new Dell EMC Storage Area Networks are: 
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Enterprise Class Products from industry leader
Guaranteed minimum 5 year development life of equipment
Improved performance
Increased Saleability
Improved Disaster Recovery facilities
Reduction in medium to long term costs
Existing products which have been developed for the last ten years
The improved performance will have a direct reflection on the speed of access to
data held on the SANs. This will improve the speed of the applications listed
above which will allow users to work more efficiently. The new disaster recovery
facilities will provide increased protection from disasters allowing data to be
recovered quickly and from reduced time intervals. The EMC solution will give
increased flexibility allowing capacity to be moved from one system to another
allowing increased management and reducing ongoing costs by limiting the
amount of spare redundant capacity.
Financial Information
The current lease payments for the Network are £195K per annum.
The cost of the equipment for the Network upgrade will be £300K
The cost of the equipment for the SAN replacement will be no more than £300K
The cost of this equipment on a lease for five years will be no more than £145K
per annum, a reduction of £50K per year from the current lease payments
The expected installation costs for both projects are no more than £75K.
Maintenance charges and circuit charges will be no more than the current
budgets, details on these costs are still being evaluated.
Recommendations
Lead Members are asked to approve these proposals, for the equipment to be
purchased through the Framework Agreements that the Authority has with each
of the suppliers and for the orders to be raised ASAP to allow the equipment to
be installed before the December deadline.