City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends the City Council approve an agreement with Hewlett-Packard
Company (Oak Park, CA) for the purchase of servers and related installation
services to consolidate servers and support implementation of the Information
Technology Department’s Green IT Initiative in the City’s Data Center.
BACKGROUND:
Over the last ten years the City’s use of technology and the supporting technology
infrastructure has grown dramatically. Many departments have deployed specialized
applications to support business processes and increase productivity. One major
effect has been the increase in the number of servers needed to support these client
side applications and processes. Approximately seventy physical servers are
located in our Data Center, (Attachment 1). The increase in servers has resulted in
the second effect of our growth. As currently configured, our Data Center has
reached near its physical space limit, and our need for more servers continues to
grow (Attachment 2). The third effect, directly linked to the increase in servers, is
the continual increase in energy, cooling, and backup power necessary to support
the Data Center.
Culver City is not unique in this challenge. All organizations of any size have the
same experience as we continue to move toward a digital world. In December 2006,
the United States Congress passed Public Law 109-431, (Attachment 3), instructing
the Environmental Protection Agency to submit the results of a study analyzing the
rapid growth and energy consumption of computer data centers.
Meeting Date: 12/10/2007 Item Number: A-9
AGENDA ITEM: Approval of an Agreement with Hewlett-Packard Company (Oak
Park, CA) for the Purchase of Servers and Related Installation Services to
Consolidate Servers and Support Implementation of the Information Technology
Department’s Green IT Initiative in the City’s Data Center.
Contact Person/Dept.: John Richo Phone Number: 310-253-5950
Fiscal Impact: Yes [X] No [] General Fund: Yes [X] No []
Public Hearing: [] Action Item: [X] Attachments: [X]
Public Notification: E-Mail Master Notification List on 12/05/07, Hewlett Packard
representatives on 12/05/07.
Department Approval:
John Richo (12/05/07)
City Attorney Approval:
Carol Schwab (by H. Iker) (12/05/07)
Fiscal Impact Review:
Marlee Chang (12/05/07)
City Manager Approval:
Jerry B. Fulwood (12/05/07) City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
DISCUSSION:
Server Consolidation (Virtualization)
Server consolidation or virtualization is not complicated in its conception,
(Attachment 4). Simply put, one physical server is configured with virtualization
server software, so that by its sharing physical resources, (hard drive memory, CPU,
power supply, footprint, etc.), it can host a number of “virtual” servers, which are
isolated from each other. These virtual servers can host any application or process,
and perform equal to the performance provided by one physical server. Assuming
that we were to consolidate at a conservative ratio of 7:1, (seven virtual serves to
one physical server), using consolidation/virtualization we could reduce our current
number of servers from seventy physical servers down to ten physical servers.
Consolidation Cost Savings
The replacement cost for the seventy servers listed on Attachment 1 is
approximately $394.5K. The table below is a breakdown of these servers by their
processing power, (number of CPUs). Fifty of these servers are currently out of
warranty, and have been for some time. Due to budgetary constraints IT has
extended the life of these servers beyond “best business practice”. Based on the
attached quotes, (Attachment 5), received from Hewlett Packard, by utilizing
consolidation we can reduce the server replacement cost to approximately $155K.
Number of
Servers
CPUs* Cost per Server Total
39 1 $4,000 $156,000
29 2 $6,500 $188,500
2 4 $25,000 $50,000
Total Cost $394,500
*Number of CPUs varies as needed to provide processing power for applications
We will realize a cost saving of approximately $239.5K by server consolidation. This
saving may be reduced by approximately $25K to pay for additional server software
licenses from Microsoft.
Consolidation Space Savings
The photos of our Data Center, (Attachment 2) provide visuals of the floor space
limitation that we have reached. Due to the cramped space around server racks we
have experienced situations where wires have inadvertently been dislodged, City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
resulting in application failures. The department had a preliminary assessment done
by a vendor to address our space and wiring issues and were quoted a cost of
approximately $50K. Even if we were to proceed with this configuration, in the end
we would not significantly increase our available floor space. With consolidation, we
will be able to reduce our current three rack footprint to one rack.
Vendor Selection
We compared server products from Hewlett Packard, IBM, and Dell. These are the
three industry leaders, and the three vendors with whom we have had considerable
positive experience with over the last ten years. All three visited us and discussed
their products that would fit in our consolidation project. All three submitted quotes,
(Attachments 5, 6, 7).
Dell $132,091
Hewlett Packard $154,570
IBM $234,398
The quotes are not exact apples to apples comparisons, as they involve slightly
different technology approaches. We also did not look at the quotes based on cost,
since we would not make our choice based on lowest bid. Our selection criteria
were:
• Manageability and administration features that fit best with the skills
composition of IT staff.
• Product reliability.
• Product lifecycle… i.e. when was the product release to market. A key factor
relative to how long the vendor would be supporting the product under
warranty.
• Our experience with the vendor’s products and support.
• References from cities that implemented consolidation.
• Environmental impact.
Referring back to Attachment 1, (Data Center Servers), you will note that Hewlett
Packard servers currently run our most mission critical application, JDE. When that
choice was made we replaced IBM servers that were previously used. That decision
was based on manageability and administration, and we have been pleased with
that choice. Additionally, the reliability of those servers has been outstanding. The
server products that Hewlett Packard is recommending were released to market
within the last year, with a projected lifecycle of five years. Our neighboring city,
Santa Monica, has implemented their server consolidation project on Hewlett City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
Packard servers, and is very satisfied with their performance. The environmental
impact is similar among the three choices. All have implemented power saving, and
energy efficient components.
Based on the above, staff recommends the purchase of servers from Hewlett
Packard.
Green Information Technology Initiative
Southern California Edison offers a financial incentive to its business customers who
implement a variety of energy saving measures. Within their Standard Performance
Contract program, (Attachment 8), implementing server virtualization qualifies. We
have already begun discussions with Edison staff that provided us with the
necessary steps that we must take to qualify for the Incentive (rebate). To move
forward we will need an onsite assessment done of our Data Center by Edison
engineers so that a baseline of usage can be established before our implementation.
Preliminary estimates indicate that on an annual basis, our Data Center uses 18.5%
of the electricity in City Hall.
Our incentive will be based on the direct savings from virtualization. Preliminary
estimates indicate that our current servers use 251,464 kilowatt hours of electricity
annually. After virtualization, our usage should be 171,029 kilowatt hours annually.
We will also have indirect savings principally due to the reduced need for air
conditioning. We estimate that currently we use 92,261 kilowatt hours annually for
air conditioning. After virtualization that usage would drop to 62,750 kilowatt hours.
After the onsite visit by Edison the department will report back to the Council the
actual baseline usage, with translation into dollar savings, (direct and indirect), as
well as our rebate.
This staff report relates to servers in our Data Center. It is one of several
interdependent actions that are part of our comprehensive Green Information
Technology Initiative, (Attachment 9).
FISCAL ANALYSIS:
Adequate funding is available in the Computer Replacement Fund, account number
30724100, to cover this purchase. However, under funding of the Computer
Replacement Fund is one of the issues that has been identified as being part of the
city’s structural deficit. This expenditure will reduce the Computer Replacement Fund
to a level that will negatively impact our ability to replace old desktop computers. City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
Additionally, funding is also needed to upgrade and increase our data storage
capability, which is approaching a critical need.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Data Center Servers
2. Data Center Photos
3. US Congress PL 109-431
4. Virtualization Diagram
5. HP Server Quote
6. Dell Server Quote
7. IBM Server Quote
8. SoCal Edison Standard Performance Contract
9. Green Information Technology Initiative
MOTION:
That the City Council:
1. Approve an agreement with Hewlett Packard Company for the purchase of
servers and related installation services to support virtualization in the City’s
Data Center, for an amount not to exceed $154,570;
2. Authorize the City Attorney to review/prepare the necessary documents and
authorize the City Manager to execute said documents on behalf of the City.