Guelph-Eramosa council has approved a $38,458 expenditure to upgrade the computer server at the township office.
Finance manager Linda Cheyne told council on Jan. 17 the two servers currently owned by the township are six years old and not meeting the needs of the municipality. Plus, the public works department requires a dedicated server to run water and wastewater software, she added.
HLB System Solutions, the township’s information technology services provider, has recommended “the township replace the aging equipment with a single new server” that can “run as many as seven to eight virtual servers,” said Cheyne.
She explained that using a single server with “multiple virtualized servers” means replacing just one server every five years, instead of replacing three, and will also reduce energy consumption (every server “virtualized” can save about 7,000kWh per year).
Staff planned to include the new server costs in the 2011 budget process, but given “critical storage space issues” and the need for a dedicated water/wastewater server, Cheyne said she would like to proceed with the purchase immediately.
She said HLB System Solutions works with three distributors to get the lowest possible price for the township.
The total cost of the server upgrade is $38,458 plus taxes and Cheyne said the entire amount will come from reserves – $12,000 from the public works department and the remainder from the “general administration computer reserves” – so there will be no impact on the township’s tax levy.
Council unanimously approved the purchase.
