Water Resources Discipline ITAC Activities

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All, Sorry, I though I had sent this out to you for your review. Please provide comments in email. This was an ITAC concern and I think this memo will accomplish the goal of providing the SUN replacement advice asked for originally from DIS.

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Katherine Lins
Chief, Office of Water Information, WRD
U.S. Geological Survey
440 National Center
Reston, VA 20192
703-648-5014
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Katherine,

Included below is a memo that we (Sun TAC, NWIS) would like yourself and the ITAC to review and send out to WRD DCs, DBAs, and SAs. The memo addresses Sun hardware in the WRD (mainly NWIS). A few sites have purchased new Sun hardware to serve NWIS and addtional sites may consider new hardware purchases. This memo provides the current end of support dates for the Sun hardware we are currently using for NWIS and provides some guidance so sites can plan for a future Sun hardware purchase for NWIS purposes. The memo was drafted by the Sun TAC with review from NWIS and the RCS'ers. Let me know if you have any questions.

Shawn Noble
Chair, Sun TAC
scnoble@usgs.gov
(319) 358-3640

To: All WRD District Chiefs (GS-W DC)
cc: All WRD System Administrators (GS-W SA All)
cc: All NWIS DBAs (GS-W NWIS DBAs)
From: Katherine Lins, Office of Water Information
Subject: Future Sun Hardware Considerations

The purpose of this memo is to provide sites with a heads-up on information regarding Sun hardware used for NWIS. Detailed below is information on the last support date of Sun hardware and information on maintenance and new purchase costs that sites can utilize to plan for future Sun hardware purchases for NWIS.

• End of Support Dates for Sun Hardware

  The following is a list of Sun Hardware and the End of Support dates associated with each model. The End of Support date indicates the last date Sun will support a platform with respect to hardware maintenance and software support. To ensure the uninterrupted use of NWIS, these dates should be considered the last date with which NWIS or other production software should be run on these models.

  Sun Model#	End of Support
  E450	11/22/2007	NWIS Server Model
  E250	11/30/2008
  Ultra 5	05/17/2007
  Ultra 10	11/8/2007

• Current Enterprise 450 Maintenance Costs

  Maintenance for the Enterprise 450s for FY 03 was $2,590. Sun/GTSI has indicated maintenance for the E450s will increase yearly by 8%.

• Replacement Timeframe for E450s

  Sites are encouraged to continue using the Enterprise 450s as their NWIS server. If sites are having performance issues on their NWIS server and are contemplating the purchase of a replacement server, email GS-W Sun TAC. The Sun TAC can help determine if a performance problem is related to a lack of hardware resources and if a replacement server is needed can help with the selection and purchase.

• New Hardware Costs

  Sun Microsysytems recommends E450s be replaced with the Sun Fire V880.

  http://sunflash.sun.com/52/1/server/index.shtml#6729

  The current cost of replacing a quad Enterprise 450 with a quad Sun Fire V880 is $41,712 from GTSI. Sites can also receive $2,699 off that price if they trade in their E450.

  The purchase of new hardware comes with a 3-year warranty, though the support is next day service. To maintain the 4-hour response Silver Support maintenance for a quad V880 a 3-year maintenance period can be purchased for $4,473. Maintenance for the quad V880 is $2,172 in FY 2004.

• Working Capital Fund

  It is suggested that sites use the information above to plan for the future purchase of a new Sun server to be used as an NWIS server. A working capital fund is an effective means to spread out the cost of purchasing the new server. Funds can be directed yearly into a working capital fund and used to purchase the new server before the 11/22/2007 end of support date.