DATE: April 15, 2024
TO: Mayor and Members of the City Council
VIA: Stefan Chatwin, City Manager
FROM: Diane Pitman, Administrative Services Director
Rob Lasky, IT Manager
DEPARTMENT: Administrative Services
SUBJECT: AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF A REQUEST FOR
PROPOSALS FOR A NUTANIX HYPERCONVERGED SERVER
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council of the City of Foster City adopt the attached resolution authorizing staff to issue the attached Request for Proposals (RFP) for a Nutanix Hyperconverged Server.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The City’s current Nutanix Hyperconverged Server was purchased in 2020 and is due for replacement. A replacement system will provide a redundant and reliable infrastructure to support the City’s server requirements. The necessary funding is available within the Information Technology (IT) Internal Services Fund budget for Fiscal Year 2023-2024.
BACKGROUND/ANALYSIS
Foster City has used server virtualization since 2006 as a way to provide reliability and flexibility while also shrinking data center hardware requirements. Virtualization enables the City to run over 100 virtual Windows server installs on a handful of actual physical servers. This equates to 90% of the City’s server-based applications.
The City has used Nutanix hardware and software for its virtualization hosts since
2016. Nutanix is a hyperconverged system, meaning it places the storage on the same hardware as the CPU and memory, allowing staff to use a single vendor for support.
The existing server was purchased in January 2020 and its replacement was deferred for one (1) year.
In lieu of recycling the current server hardware, staff plans to reuse it to create a disaster recovery site. Staff would replicate a copy of the City’s active server data to this disaster recovery site, allowing the City to bring this server back into production quickly in the event that the main data center were to be damaged or destroyed.
A replacement system will provide a redundant and reliable infrastructure to support the City’s server requirements.
California Environmental Quality Act
Not Applicable
FISCAL IMPACT
There are no costs associated with the issuance of the RFP. Once the proposals have been reviewed and a recommended reseller is chosen, the purchase will come back to City Council for approval. The estimated cost for the replacement server and software is $75,000 and is included in the Information Technology (IT) Internal Services Fund budget for Fiscal Year 2023-2024.
CITY COUNCIL VISION, MISSION, AND VALUE/PRIORITY AREA
Innovation and Sustainability
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment 1 - Resolution
Attachment 2 - Request for Proposals