Background
There is a growing need to ensure that campus data and data services are maintained in secure, reliable, and safe facilities while campus server room space is at an all-time premium. Creating local server rooms requires not only substantial one-time costs, but very significant on-going costs for associated electrical and cooling systems. And these costs continue to rise.
In December 2007, Interim Provost Horwitz formed the Strategic Approach to Investments in Computing Facilities (SAICF), co-chaired by Peter M. Siegel, vice provost and CIO for Information and Educational Technology and John Meyer, vice chancellor for the Office of Resource Management and Planning. Representation includes the UC Davis Health System. The Provost has asked this committee to draft a sound campus-wide (i.e., Davis and Sacramento) strategy that will guide and inform investments in computing facilities.
Charge
In April 2008, Vice Provost Siegel appointed the Server Room Space Evaluation Committee, charging them to:
- Propose, review, and evaluate requests for space or space renovations, and make recommendations
- Recommend a decision matrix and selection criteria to guide allocation of space
- Develop an expedient but thoughtful process for proposal review
- Develop and maintain a detailed inventory, including relevant environmental and functional details, of server room space throughout the campus
- Develop a per-service rate structure that reflects “fully-loaded” costs for server room space
- Advise the Strategic Investments group on opportunities to leverage projects and capacity planning