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City moves forward with phased IT infrastructure upgrade; cloud hosting transition tabled
Summary
The commission approved a phased plan to upgrade cabling, switches and network hardware using cooperative purchasing, and approved a vendor for infrastructure work; a separate request to transition to cloud hosting (Rackspace US Inc.) was tabled after discussion and a 3–2 vote to delay.
San Benito commissioners approved a phased plan to upgrade the city’s digital infrastructure—replacement of old cabling (CAT‑5/CAT‑3), switches and networking hardware—and to employ managed hosting services, while shelving immediate approval of a cloud-hosting transition pending additional information.
City staff and IT consultants said many city buildings still use decades‑old cabling and hardware that impede Wi‑Fi, camera feeds and cloud connectivity. An IT consultant (identified as Richard) described the project as foundational: installing CAT‑6 cabling to create a reliable wired backbone to support faster network speeds, cameras, Voice-over-IP phones and redundancy.
Commission discussion emphasized removing old wiring during installation, securing administrative control and password management, and ensuring redundancy and off‑site backups. Staff described using a cooperative purchasing contract (TIPS) to avoid a separate competitive bid for certain vendors and noted that cloud-hosting and Rackspace costs can be paid monthly to spread budget impact.
A separate motion to approve a transition of the city’s servers to Rackspace US Inc. for cloud hosting, implementation and related funding was brought forward but tabled. The motion to table passed 3–2 (transcript records three yays and two nays). Commissioners asked for clearer price comparisons and scope details before finalizing the hosting contract.
