Douglas County to consider $1.24 million in server and data-center cooling purchases

Douglas County commissioners are scheduled to consider two technology purchase requests totaling up to $1,242,613.40 on Oct. 20: up to $650,000 for servers for the county’s virtual desktop system and $592,613.40 to replace cooling equipment at the Philip S. Miller Building data center. The meeting agenda packet lists both items for consideration. The board had not acted as of Oct. 17.

For the server purchase, county staff recommend buying Dell servers and NVIDIA licenses from CDW Government using the 18300 Infrastructure fund. The staff recommendation cites a $535,462.55 vendor quote and says the proposed $650,000 cap would allow for an anticipated 20% hardware price increase before the order is placed. The CDW quote, dated Aug. 25, lists five Dell PowerEdge servers, NVIDIA licenses and support. The system supports virtual desktops.

The cooling request would replace three 28-year-old computer-room air-conditioning units serving the building’s third-floor data center. County staff describe the work as Phase II of a planned third-floor remodel and assign its funding to IT budget unit 18950, according to the staff recommendation.

The proposed work includes temporary cooling during construction, two precision-cooling systems and a wall-mounted mini-split system. The proposed contract sets a maximum of $592,613.40, including a 15% contingency. It calls for work to start within 10 days after the county issues a Notice to Proceed and reach substantial completion by June 1, 2027.