Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Information Technology topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee approves $550,000 to replace aging city data storage system
Summary
City IT told the finance committee the storage area network that holds about 70 servers is six to seven years old and at manufacturer end of life; the committee approved $550,000 from free cash to replace the system after staff said third‑party support would cost roughly $200,000 and continuity of security patches could be at risk.
The Newton City Finance Committee on June 8 approved a $550,000 appropriation from free cash to replace the city’s storage area network after the chief information officer told the committee manufacturer support for the current system has ended.
CIO Greg Unsali said the storage system maintains roughly 70 servers that hold the city’s financial systems, school systems, GIS data and phone system servers and that the manufacturer has declared the hardware end of life. "There's no guarantee that we will be able to maintain support for hardware... part of that support is also system patches, security flaws," Unsali said, adding third‑party support for hardware and software would be "extremely expensive — close to $200,000." He recommended replacing the system now rather than pay rising support costs for an end‑of‑life product.
Councillors asked whether secondhand or third‑party hardware options had been explored. Unsali said prior attempts to buy secondhand equipment had not succeeded and that the manufacturer declaration was the critical factor. The committee noted that programs and services previously approved the item and voted 7–0 to appropriate the requested funds.
Next steps: procurement to replace the storage area network and to plan migration to supported hardware and software with continuity of security patches.
