About the Town's Computer Infrastructure

The impending warnings about data loss and the need for computer modernization which accompanied the commencement of the year 2000 (Y2K) caused Essex to thoroughly review its future computer infrastructure needs. A comprehensive computer needs assessment was performed in 1999 and recommendations generated by that assessment were implemented.

Over the past two decades, the Town has continuously replaced computer systems which would not be compatible with today’s operating systems or networking standards. Today, all user data and Windows desktops reside on virtual servers that users connect to using PC's or zero-client devices.

In fiscal year 2001 the Town approved funding for the networking of all of the computer systems in the Fire, Police, and Emergency Dispatch Departments. This network now consists of PC's that are available to run software necessary for our participation in the Regional Dispatch Center and which are capable of connecting to virtual servers in Town Hall for user data and Windows desktops (virtual host installed in 2017). In fiscal year 2002, the Town approved funding for the networking of all of the computer systems in the Town Hall. This network now consists of zero-client devices which are capable of connecting to virtual servers within the building for user data and Windows desktops.  The primary domain controller and the Assessors' application server also existing within Town Hall (both replaced in 2016). Severe budget constraints in fiscal years 2003-05 did not allow for network funding in the Town’s other major building, the Water Filtration Plant. However, a full local area network was funded and added to the Filtration Plant in early 2006.  Users in the Plant now also connect to the same virtual servers in Town Hall using PC's and zero-client devices.  Networks in the Town Hall, the Fire/Police Station, and the Water Filtration Plant were intially connected using a free, low-speed network provided by Comcast as part of its cable franchise agreement.  Later, when this antiquated connection proved to be insufficient for our needs, the three buidings were conntected via secure VPN tunnels over commercial Internet connections.

 

The Town worked with the City of Melrose to migrate all major IT functions to the City's datacenter. In conjunction with moves to cloud-based, vendor-hosted software for some of the Town's functions, the connection to Melrose offered an economy of scale that translated to lower costs for more sophisticated technolgies offered by a professional IT department.  Later, the Town installed its own virtual server host for live computing (as opposed to computing on the Melrose servers) and Melrose became a secondary live instance of the Town's infrastructure, for a solid disaster recovery solution.  In 2018, the Town migrated that solution to the Town of Danvers' datacenter.

The Town had operated a rudimentary website from 1999 to early 2008. The Town retained the services of a third party vendor to host a new website that allows each department to manage its own content.  The new site offered a must more robust combination of information and resources. Using the same vendor, the website's platform was upgraded to Drupal and this latest iteration was rolled out in October of 2018.  Almost all network users connect to the virtual servers in Town Hall for computing needs.     

By the end of 2018, the VPN connections among Town buildings will be abandoned in favor of a new Fiber Optic Municipal Network (FMAN) that was completed in October of 2018.  This network was funded with grants from Comcast included in the 2017 cable contract renewal and includes the three original buildings, plus the school and the Senior Center.  Building interconnection will now have much-improved speed and the Town will save money on invidiual Internent connections.