Page 47 - Technology plan fy2023-27

SAN technology affords the District a simpler disaster recovery process allowing storage
replication of all critical server and application data from site to site. Over the next five years, the
District will look to enhance or replace subsystems to streamline the administration and
enhance performance by standardizing storage based on all application requirements.
Research and feasibility studies will also be done for leveraging cloud-based storage.

Disaster Recovery (DR)
The District maintains two remote alternate DR sites where critical business can be resumed in
the event of a disaster. The Northwest Regional Data Center (NWRDC) site in Tallahassee, FL
hosts mission critical systems such as ERP, EDW, and critical infrastructure systems for failover,
if necessary. The SITV site also hosts critical infrastructure such as the Internet, SIS, and the
School district portal in the event of a single site outage.

Over the next five years, the District will complete a Continuity of Operations Plan
(COOP) in compliance with state and federal guidelines. This effort will identify mission essential
functions which will, in turn, dictate the additional technology systems that must be
accommodated at the DR sites. These functions will then require continuity plans,
backup/recovery plans, and testing plans to ensure the survival of the District's business during
and after an emergency. Lastly, to ensure that backup systems are functional and available, the
District will finalize a full DR test plan cycle, so that DR facilities and systems are tested on a
recurring periodic basis.

Data Center Efficiencies
As new applications are implemented, there is an increased need for storage and servers.
However, installing servers without an overall strategy can quickly lead to inefficiencies related
to costs, server usage, power consumption, and the creation of multiple data silos. To help
improve power and storage efficiencies, the District's data center will move toward a more
flexible and scalable architecture, where servers, storage, and network bandwidth are not
permanently allocated to each application. Through virtualization, resources can dynamically be
allocated based on the need and priority of applications, with the highest priority applications
always having the necessary resources.

By leveraging new data center technologies, various requirements can be more efficiently
managed. An enterprise data center can incrementally increase storage, reduce overall
physical server hardware footprint, and reduce power consumption as demands increase. The
secondary data center will provide enhanced resiliency for critical Business Continuity in the
event of a planned or unplanned outage. This secondary location is important for uninterrupted
day-to-day operations and delivery of instructional content as well as assessments.

Leveraging Partnerships in Palm Beach County and the State of Florida
By partnering with local and state agencies, IT will investigate cost-effective opportunities to
leverage existing technologies, reduce operating and support costs, improve service delivery,
and lay the foundation for future demands. Additionally, IT will continue setting higher standards
of performance in technology infrastructure, support, systems, and to drive solutions to achieve
these standards.

Partnerships are established with Florida LambdaRail (FLR) and Crown Castle for internet
planning and we will continue to enhance our services as we move forward. Northwest
Regional Data Center in Tallahassee is another partner leveraged for Disaster Recovery needs.

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