To: Board of Supervisors
From: Lewis Broschard, Chief, Contra Costa County Fire Protection District
Report Title: Server Room IT Equipment Acquisition
☒Recommendation of the County Administrator ☐ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Acting as the governing board of the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District, APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Fire Chief, or designee, to execute a purchase contract with CDW-G, LLC in an amount not to exceed $4,855,500 for the procurement of materials necessary for the remodel of the server room as part of the ongoing communication building remodel project. This procurement will utilize a participating addendum with NASPO contract # 7-20-70-47-01 through the Department of General Services (DGS), and will be conducted via CDW-G, an approved reseller of the required materials.
FISCAL IMPACT:
100% EMS Transport Fund
BACKGROUND:
Since its formation on December 29, 1964, the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District (CCCFPD) has evolved into one of California’s largest fire agencies. Serving a diverse geographic area of nearly 900 square miles, the District provides emergency services to approximately 1.1 million residents across various occupancy types. Over the years, CCCFPD has continuously expanded through mergers, annexations, and contracted fire service agreements. A key upcoming annexation involves the integration of two fire stations from the Rodeo-Hercules Fire Protection District into CCCFPD, set to take place on July 1, 2025.
This ongoing growth has been primarily focused on increasing field personnel to ensure the delivery of vital fire, emergency medical, hazardous materials, rescue, and other emergency services. While these efforts have strengthened CCCFPD’s operational capabilities, two critical infrastructure projects are currently underway to address long-overdue needs for support staff, facilities, and systems.
The first of these initiatives is the construction of a new $12.3 million fire communications center. The existing center, which is almost sixty years old, serves as a secondary public safety answering point for 1.1 million residents. Due to outdated technology, cramped workspaces, and an insufficient capacity to handle modern call volumes, the current center is no longer fit for purpose. Additionally, the center lacks proper protections against natural disasters, such as earthquakes, and does not meet essential services building standards. The new facility will address these issues, providing the necessary space, functionality, and technology to better serve the community. It is projected to be completed before January 1, 2026.
In tandem with the communications center, the Fire District is also constructing a new Information Technology (IT) services and data center within the same facility. The District’s current IT infrastructure is critically outdated, with equipment that is nearly 25 years old and spread across three separate locations. This fragmented system is fragile, lacks redundancy, and poses serious security and reliability concerns. For example, one of the server room’s heating and ventilation systems has been nonfunctional for three years, leading to a temporary solution involving rented air conditioning units. Furthermore, the radio and 911 phone systems are not protected by fire suppression systems, creating a major risk of catastrophic damage in the event of a fire.
For the past three years, a collaborative effort between the fire district’s IT staff, the County Department of Information Technology, and an external IT consultant has focused on engineering a new data center and IT network. The implementation of this project involves the installation of new hardware, servers, a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone system, cloud services, storage solutions, security enhancements, and failover systems. This IT overhaul is vital for the fire district’s operations, including the future dispatch capabilities at the new communications center. Additionally, the upgraded infrastructure will ensure reliable and secure operations across the district’s fifty facilities, which include fire stations, training centers, fleet services, and other critical sites.
The overall project, which includes the acquisition of new hardware, software, services, and security measures, represents an investment of approximately $4.7 million. This funding will cover the one-time cost of acquiring new equipment, software, services and warranties. The requested dollar amount in this board includes a contingency for potential tariffs and other unforeseen project costs. The project is highly time-sensitive, as its successful implementation is integral to the fire district’s ability to fully operationalize the new communications center and ensure the long-term security and efficiency of the district’s IT services.
The information technology equipment, software and services for this upgrade project will be obtained via a nationally awarded NASPO’s nationally awarded ValuePoint Data Communications Contract #AR3227. The approved and selected vendor for the equipment, software, services and warranties is Computer Discount Warehouse Government (CDWG). The major manufacturers of the equipment, software, services and warranties identified for this project include CISCO, Dell, Pure Storage, Broadcom and Amulet Hotkey.
The specifics of this project have been thoroughly researched and developed through the collaborative efforts of the Fire District’s IT staff, the County Department of Information Technology, and the District’s IT consultant, 03 Inc. All parties are in agreement that the new informational technology network and data center have been well designed and will serve the needs of the Fire District and citizens for many years.
Specifically, this project involves a comprehensive upgrade to the District’s Information Technology infrastructure to support current and future needs. The upgrades include a high-bandwidth, secure, and scalable data center network fabric utilizing 400 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) Cisco technologies. This network infrastructure is designed to support a multi-cluster Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) environment, which will host containers, virtual machines, and advanced AI workloads such as large language models and AI agents. The project also includes specific phases for integrating Cisco Catalyst wireless and Voice over IP (VoIP) solutions.
This project encompasses a comprehensive upgrade across several key technology areas. The following outlines the specific scope for each area:
● Compute: Focuses on the Hyper-Converged Infrastructure deployment and management.
● Data Center Network Fabric: Implements a 400GbE mesh architecture optimized for AI workloads, supporting advanced interconnects and high-performance storage via NVMe-oF over RoCEv2, with a Zero Trust security model.
● Storage: To ensure alignment with the District’s data management strategy, which includes an emphasis on long-term sustainability, and provide a platform that will support the new modern Hyper-Converged Infrastructure (HCI) environment, the District will leverage a Pure Storage solution. The Pure Storage solution meets the District’s need for high performance, high availability, and mission-critical data storage.
● Campus Network: Addresses interfaculty switching requirements and connectivity.
● Wireless Network: Deploys a Cisco Catalyst Wireless solution, integrated with the data center network and ensuring robust security and compliance.
● Telephony: Implements a Cisco WebEx Calling VoIP solution, including call control, IP phones, and voice gateways, with a focus on high availability, call quality, and security.
● Security: The network design follows a zero-trust architecture, ensuring strong security across all network segments and resources. Furthermore, the implementation will be guided by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication 800-53 compliance framework, and Cisco security deployments will significantly enhance the overall security posture.
● Other Supporting Technologies: Includes audio-visual systems, system management solutions, monitoring tools, and other infrastructure components required for complete system integration.
Conclusion:
This project is essential for CCCFPD to support current and future operational requirements, ensuring reliable and secure communication. The modernized data center network, along with integrated wireless and VoIP solutions, will significantly enhance efficiency, performance, and security, directly supporting the District's mission to provide exceptional emergency services to the community.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
If this Agreement is not approved, the District may face significant delays in the remodel of the server room, which would impact the overall project timeline. These delays will also result in increased costs due to inflation or changes in supplier pricing, tariffs, and ultimately exceed the current budget. Additionally, operational disruptions could occur if existing systems remain outdated or inadequate, negatively affecting communication and efficiency. Furthermore, if the remodel is tied to regulatory requirements, failing to proceed could lead to compliance risks and potential penalties.