Westminster City Council
SUBJECT
Title
Purchase of Information Technology Data Center Equipment for the Off-site Data Center.
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From: Adolfo Ozaeta, Assistant City Manager
Requested by: Administration
Prepared by: Karla Santillan, Business Services Manager
____________________________________________________________
RECOMMENDED ACTION
Recommendation
Approve a Purchase Order with Switchovr, LLC for information data center technology hardware and software for the City’s off-site data center in the amount of $466,431.60.
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BACKGROUND
The City of Westminster was awarded the 2024 COPS Technology and Equipment Grant to develop a secondary (backup) off-site data center. The City relies on its primary data center to support essential municipal services, including virtual desktops, public safety systems, enterprise applications, financial platforms, permitting software, and telecommunications. The lack of redundancy poses operational and public-facing risks if primary systems become unavailable. The grant funding allows the City to proactively address infrastructure weaknesses and establish a recovery plan in the event the primary data center is compromised.
A secondary data center will allow the City to replicate critical systems so that essential services remain accessible even if the primary site experiences an outage. By establishing system redundancy, the City can ensure continuous operations for public safety, financial applications, public records, payroll, permitting, and communication services, reducing the risk of service interruptions and strengthening overall continuity-of-operations. The backup data center will utilize modern, resilient infrastructure, including high-availability server clusters, redundant storage systems, and technologies capable of real-time or near-real-time data replication.
The design phase has already been completed. It incorporates dual network paths, independent power and cooling systems, and both physical and cybersecurity safeguards to protect City assets. Modern platforms such as Nutanix and Cisco, already part of the City’s primary data center modernization, offer robust multi-site redundancy features and are included in the final system design for the backup data center. Outstanding items include procurement of equipment and services, installation at the secondary site, replication setup between data centers, and thorough testing to validate full failover capabilities.
The IT Division conducted a thorough review of the IT infrastructure, analyzed the City’s existing infrastructure, and evaluated various solutions and cost proposals. Staff recommends the selection of Switchovr, LLC as the preferred vendor because they specialize in this system solution utilizing the Nutanix hardware and software system, which the City currently utilizes for the primary data center. Switchovr, LLC has been positively recommended by the City’s IT Consultant as a high-quality hardware vendor.
The breakdown of costs is as follows:
|
Quote Item |
Price |
|
Nutanix Hardware |
$ 244,815.27 |
|
Nutanix DR Software & Services |
$ 125,879.64 |
|
Nutanix Production Software Upgrade |
$ 15,164.64 |
|
Cisco Nexus Switching |
$ 76,256.06 |
|
Mellanox SFP Transceivers |
$ 4,315.99 |
|
|
|
|
Total |
$ 466,431.60 |
The City has selected Switchovr, LLC as the vendor to provide the necessary hardware and software for the off-site data center pursuant to Westminster Municipal Code Section 3.44.080, which allows the City to procure goods and services leveraging federal or state contracts that provide best pricing lieu of conducting its own formal bidding process. Switchovr, LLC has a National Cooperative Purchasing Alliance Agreement (NCPA) #01-170 that guarantees the City receives the best negotiated price under the agreement. NCPA assists public agencies (including local government, schools, and non-profits) to leverage collective buying power to obtain competitive pricing on a wide range of goods and services.
FISCAL IMPACT
Funds in the amount of $323,915 are available in the 2024 COPS Technology and Equipment Grant (account no. 39251-44000) and $142,516.60 are available in the ARPA Infrastructure Technology Grant (account no. 21500-212305-48000) totaling $466,431.60. No additional appropriation is required for this action.
LEGAL REVIEW
The City Attorney’s Office has reviewed as to form.
CONCLUSION
The establishment of a secondary (backup) off-site data center is essential to ensure reliable, secure, and uninterrupted city operations. The project is grant funded and has an estimated completion date of October 2026. This project strengthens the City’s technology infrastructure, enhances cybersecurity, and protects the continuity of critical public services. The approval of the purchase of data center IT equipment and software with Switchovr, LLC will increase the operational efficiency of city employees in their daily computing work tasks, while improving the cybersecurity status of the city.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Switchovr Quote - Nutanix Hardware
2. Switchovr Quote - DR Software
3. Switchovr Quote - Production Software
4. Switchovr Quote - SFPs for NICs
5. Switchovr Quote - Switching N9K
REVIEWED BY
Erin Backs, Finance Director
City Attorney’s Office
Christine Cordon, City Manager