Data center moving to new building on campus
A new data center for the university will be moved to a different spot on campus to help accommodate needed equipment.
The new building, approved by the board of trustees in December, will be located between the Combined Services Building and the Engineering and Technology Building, said Roger Rehm, vice president for Information Technology. The cost is not to exceed $5.4 million.
“The current space is not designed to be a data center,” Rehm said. “It is poorly designed for both electrical and climate control systems and has too much vulnerability to water damage.”
The data center is expected to be completed by June of 2013. The selection of the contractor should happen sometime in July, said Steve Lawrence, vice president of Facilities Management.
The current location is in Foust Hall and “evolved” into a data center shortly after the hall's opening, Rehm said.
“The new facility will be better, because it is designed from the ground up to serve as a data center,” he said.
One of its main purposes will be to store the equipment with space for more to be added in the future.
“As such, it will be situated at a higher elevation than the present facility,” Rehm said. “And it is designed to provide better and highly flexible power and climate control systems.”
The data center is expected to hold servers and contain a large electrical service room with a backup generator.
“It’s really just a utility building; people will only go there for maintenance,” said Steve Lawrence, vice president of Facilities Management.
Most of the time, the building is expected to be empty. As of now, the only thing finished is the design. When the rest of the design is done, a contractor will be found, Lawrence said.
The location for the new data center was chosen in case an addition was needed, along with any extra equipment.
“It’s good to plan ahead,” Lawrence said. “Plus, it’s a good location.”
Construction is planned to commence in August, after the design is finished, Lawrence said.
“We (just) want a more secure and reliable place,” Lawrence said.
