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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/09/06 Technologies MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE TECHNOLOGIES BOARD HELD ON May 9, 2006 I The Regular Session of the TECHNOLOGIES BOARD of The Colony, Texas was called to order at 6:30 P.M. on the 9th of May, 2006 at CITY HALL, in the City Manager's Conference Room, City Hall, 6800 MAIN STREET, THE COLONY, TEXAS, with the following Technologies Board members present: Michael Lynch John Marshall TeRon Lawrence Harshkumar Desai Jose Guia With five out of seven members present a quorum was established and the following items were addressed: 11.0 I Call Meeting to Order: 6:27 P.M. I 2.0 I DISPOSITION OF MINUTES Acceptance of Technologies Board minutes for meeting held on April 11, 2006. I I 3.0 I CITIZEN INPUT None I 4.0 I AGENDA ITEMS 4.1 Discussion of replacement of core switches. I Matthew Johnson, It Manager, explained reasons for replacing the core switches and the problems the city would experience if one of the systems went down. He presented three different quotes for new systems and explained the differences among the three. Mr. Johnson provided trade in values of the old system at approximately four thousand dollars. Mike Lynch asked questions about the life of the new systems as far as obsolescence. Mr. Johnson explained that the current systems were already at the end of their life when they were purchased. Mr. Lynch asked about backwards compatibility. Mr. Johnson explained that Cisco makes their new systems backward compatibility so you only have to replace the cards. Mr. Lynch asked if the chassis that we have is salvageable. Mr. Johnson said no. Mr. Lynch asked who would be doing the installation and Mr. Johnson answered that Bruce Maker, The Colony IT Specialist, would be doing it. Mr. Maker explained the benefits of the new system including the capability for security devices such as cameras for the lobby, Parks and Recreation, and various other facilities. Jose Guia asked about Dell switches and Mr. Maker explained the Dell switches are made by Cisco but they are lower end. Mr. Lynch asked about the maintenance of the new systems and Mr. Johnson explained that Cisco would be doing all of the maintenance. TeRon Lawrence wanted clarification on the estimate of four thousand dollars for the previous system and wanted to know if that would reduce what I we would be spending on the new system. Mr. Johnson said yes. Mr. Guia wanted to know if we already have Cat5E or Cat5 cable installed. Mr. Johnson said yes but he is not sure how old it is. John Marshall asked how Mr. Johnson plans to present this to council. Mr. Lawrence provided suggestions on how to present it. Mr. Marshall said the group needed to choose one of the options to be presented to council. Mr. Johnson gave his recommendation to the board. Mr. Guia asked if it would be too premature to go with fiber and Mr. Johnson said it was too expensive and the benefits are not there for the cost. Mike Lynch said that the board needed to make a recommendation for a quote to go to council. Mr. Lynch made a motion to approve the technical approach indicated in quote number CoTCl95706-Dual-45l0R-VlOGE-03R. Mr. Lawrence seconded the motion. Motion carried. 4.2 Discussion of data storage consolidation and upgrade I Mr. Johnson said that currently we are restricted with our data storage. The Planning department will soon require 1 Terabyte of data storage for the GIS system. Mr. Johnson explained how long the records will need to be kept and that is where we need the storage space. He recommended that we purchase before the need arises instead of on an as needed basis. Mr. Johnson explained how the system will work as far as backing up the data. Mr. Lawrence asked if the storage could be used for archiving council meetings. Mr. Johnson said that it could be because he is recommending a system that allows for growth for future needs. Mr. Lynch wanted to know if it could be used for offsite backup and Mr. Johnson said yes with some upgrades it could be used for disaster recovery. John Marshall wanted to know if the drives would physically be located in the building and Mr. Johnson said yes. Mr. Lynch wanted to know if the storage would give us the capability to have a better GIS map with the correct lot lines. Donna Bateman, Director of Planning explained to him that with the storage capacity that we have now we are unable to have a more detailed map. Mr. Lynch wanted to know about licensing with Microsoft. Mr. Guia explained that it will be a license for unlimited users. Mr. Guia commented that they sell systems of 1 Terabyte capacity for eight hundred to one thousand dollars at Fry's. Mr. Johnson and Mr. Maker explained that it will not be the same type of system and would have much slower speeds. Mr. Johnson said that Mr. Guia's suggestion is a little simplistic for our needs and those devices will not allow for the number of connections provided by the ones that he is recommending. He said the new system would allow for growth for the future. The board gave suggestions on how to propose the solution to council. Mr. Marshall asked for a motion to approve the recommendation. Mr. Guia made a motion to approve and Mr. Lawrence seconded the motion. Motion carried. 4.3 Discussion of connectivity stabilization between City Hall and 1 Harris Plaza I Mr. Johnson explained the current connectivity issues that we are experiencing at 1 Harris Plaza. Mr. Marshall asked for his solution to the problem. Mr. Johnson said he would like to put a tower up at City Hall and also one at the facility to provide wireless service to 1 Harris Plaza. Mr. Lynch asked about the current towers that are going up there and Mr. Johnson said that is an option they are checking into. Mr. Lynch was concerned there would be too many towers there and how it would look. Mr. Johnson said the benefits of the system would be seen by many departments and would save a great deal of money. It would also be a step toward opening up the option for providing wireless access for the citizens of the city. Mr. Johnson needed to get more information on the pricing for his recommendation. Mr. Marshall said the board would like to hear 2 more about what equipment is already there. Mr. Johnson will get more information and bring it back to the board in a future meeting. I I 5.0 I ADJOURNMENT With no further business, the meeting adjourned at 7: 40 p.m. APPROVED: 5l!~ t71~ John Marshall, Chairman j i j i \ I v I I 3