PORT OF SEATTLE
MEMORANDUM
COMMISSION AGENDA
Item No.
6f
Date of Meeting
June 23, 2009
DATE: June 17, 2009
TO: Tay Yoshitani, Chief Executive Officer
FROM: Peter Garlock, Chief Information Officer
SUBJECT: Funding to purchase and deploy an online data archive system.
REQUESTED ACTION: Request for authorization for the Chief Executive Officer to approve
all work, purchases and contracts including: advertise, award, administer, prepare, execute and
amend any and all necessary service agreements for the Data Archive Project in an amount not to
exceed $560,000.
SYNOPSIS: Acquire new software and hardware to implement an online data archival system
that is separate from the backup data storage infrastructure and process.
BACKGROUND
The Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Department operates and maintains
nearly 180 application systems that are needed to conduct Port business and operations. These
systems vary in size and complexity, and the Port would have great difficulty operating without
them. Some of these systems are used to improve staff productivity, while others manage
financial transactions, inventory, maintenance, labor hours, flight information, etc.
The information and transactional data generated and used by these systems must be regularly
backed up and stored in order to recover from a massive system failure event or natural disaster
such as fire, earthquake, etc. In addition to backup and recovery processes, public records
statutes require that certain types of information be archived and retrievable on demand.
Until now, backup data and archive data has been collected, combined, and stored on magnetic
tape using the same process and storage infrastructure. Because of rapid growth in data storage
and archived records, it is no longer possible to continue this approach. Over the past 3 years,
the amount of data backed up on a regular basis has increased more than 30% per year, more
than doubling since the end of 2005. The amount of time it takes to perform our data backups
has increased to the extent that the process often fails to finish in time to begin the next backup
interval. Tape has also proven unreliable as an archival medium. Tapes requested for retrieval
are often unreadable, resulting in a loss of archival data. In addition, it is becoming increasing
difficult to search for and retrieve archived records that are stored on backup tapes, which can
take up to several weeks.
To resolve these issues, ICT needs to acquire new software and hardware to implement an online
data archiving system that is separate from the tape storage infrastructure used for our backup
data.
COMMISSION AGENDA
T. Yoshitani, Chief Executive Officer
June 17, 2009
Page 2 of 4
PROJECT DESCRIPTION AND SCOPE OF WORK
Project Statement
Deploy an online hardware and software based data archive system for storing the Port’s archive
data. This system will be redundant to ensure the data archive environment is completely fault
tolerant and is not vulnerable to a single point of failure.
Project Objectives
Separate archive data from disaster recovery processes to:
Shorten backup windows.
Decrease data restoration times.
Apply appropriate retention periods to disaster recovery and archive data.
Reduce disaster recovery costs.
Maintain archive data on an accessible and searchable platform.
Improve responsiveness to data discovery and information requests.
Scope of Work
Deploy data archive storage appliances at the SeaTac International Airport and Fisher
Plaza data centers to host archived data.
Deploy hardware and software to manage and apply retention polices on the Port’s
archive data.
Utilize contract (vendor) resources for the implementation and integration of hardware
and software system components.
Provide technical training for ICT support staff.
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES
This project aligns with the following Port strategies:
Strategy
Alignment
Exhibit environmental stewardship through
our actions
Reduction of tape storage media
supports the Port’s environmental
goals.
Be a high performance organization
Improves access to archive
information increasing productivity
and the Port’s ability to respond to
data discovery and information
requests.
COMMISSION AGENDA
T. Yoshitani, Chief Executive Officer
June 17, 2009
Page 3 of 4
ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED/RECOMMENDED ACTION
1. Recommended: Create a data archive system to host data as well as apply and manage
retention polices. This solution will provide the Port with an online data archive system
that is sufficiently redundant to remove from the tape backup process; significantly
lowering costs by reducing the amount of data stored on the Port’s high-speed primary
storage disks.
2. Not Recommended: Continue the current data archive process by expanding the existing
backup platform. While this would meet some project objectives in the near-term, this
platform is designed for disaster recovery processes, is less fault tolerant and impractical.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
Budget/Authorization Summary
Original Budget
$560,000
Budget Transfers
$0
Revised Budget
$560,000
Previous Authorizations
$0
Current request for authorization
$560,000
Total Authorizations, including this request
$560,000
Remaining budget to be authorized
$0
Project Cost Breakdown
Hardware and Software
$388,000
Outside Professional Development Services
$20,500
Port of Seattle Labor
$64,500
Tax (9.5%)
$36,000
Contingency (10%)
$51,000
Total
$560,000
Source of Funds
This project was included in the 2009 capital budget and plan of finance within business plan
prospective CIP C800326 Business Continuity. The project’s budget will fit within ICTs 2009
approved capital budget due to deferred spending on other projects. The source of funds is 64%
Airport Development Fund and 36% General Fund.
COMMISSION AGENDA
T. Yoshitani, Chief Executive Officer
June 17, 2009
Page 4 of 4
Financial Analysis Summary:
CIP Category
Project Type
Risk adjusted Discount rate
Key risk factors
Project cost for analysis
Business Unit (BU)
Effect on business performance
IRR/NPV
CPE Impact
ECONOMIC IMPACTS
This project provides no immediate economic advantage but does improve the security and
management of the Port’s key information assets as well as the Port’s responsiveness to both
internal and external information requests.
PROJECT SCHEDULE
Commission Approval
June 2009
Order hardware/software
July 2009
Install and configure hardware and software
November 2009
Pilot SharePoint Records Center Archiving
March 2010
Complete Deployment
April 2010