The Neuchâtel IT infrastructure is completing its update. The IT department of the Neuchâtel entity (SIEN) inaugurated its new building on Monday at Avenue des Cadolles 9 in Neuchâtel. A data center was notably created there to replace three dilapidated installations.
This project, launched in 2016 following the adoption of a credit of 15 million francs intended to sustainably secure the IT production tool of Neuchâtel communities and public and parapublic entities, was validated by the Grand Council. The objective was to create two data centers. The first has been in operation for several years in La Chaux-de-Fonds. For the State Councilor in charge of digitalization, Crystel Graf, this update was a necessity to be able to secure the IT tool.
“It is important to have data centers on Neuchâtel soil, with a view to guaranteeing the flow of data. The possibility of having two systems (in La Chaux-de-Fonds and Neuchâtel) ensures redundancy of information, which avoids data loss,” she explains.
Basically, all stored data will be duplicated between the two cantonal installations to prevent data from being lost in the event of an outage.
Main public user entities
Most of what will be recorded on these enormous servers concerns public entities. Andrea Rizzo, head of the information systems operations center, specifies: “We will host the data of the State of Neuchâtel and all of the Neuchâtel municipalities, but also those of other public and parapublic institutions such as the fund of the AVS, the automobile service, the unemployment insurance fund, the entire social sector and the hospital sector. »
A partnership to finance the project
This project is the result of a partnership with the Cantonal Insurance and Prevention Establishment (ECAP). This partnership made it possible to finance the purchase of the Cadolles 7 site as well as the construction of the Cadolles 9 data center. At the same time, it made it possible to physically bring together the IT department of the Neuchâtel entity (SIEN), formed in 2019 and so far scattered over several sites. The new building in fact has a dual function: it houses both servers and offices dedicated to SIEN activities.
1 million kilowatt hours
The energy-intensive installation has led SIEN to undertake in-depth discussions to limit its consumption as much as possible. This data center, connected to the public network powered by Viteos, will consume between one and one and a half million kilowatt hours per year, the equivalent of what approximately 300 households use in the same period of time. “To limit consumption, we worked with a federal agency to review the different consumers with the aim of optimizing them,” explains Andrea Rizzo.
Diesel generators are also installed to compensate for untimely power outages. These can also be used to supply the network in the event of an energy shortage.
SIEN plans for all data present in the old data centers to be transferred to that of Avenue des Cadolles 9 by 2027. /yca
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