Cook County commissioners approved a service agreement with Northeast Service Cooperative to install high-speed fiber lines between Cook County Law Enforcement, the courthouse, and the Community Center.
Approval came at the commissioners’ May 16 board meeting.
Construction and installation of the new lines will be provided at no cost to the county, said Cook County IT Director Rena Rogers.
“By providing dark fiber between the Law Enforcement Center and Community Center we will have a fiber loop which will dramatically improve business continuity,” Rogers said.
The new lines will allow the county to create a backup server room at the Community Center, said Rogers, which will provide the county with a redundant network and eventually a solid, redundant backup of applications of data.
“Additionally, this will allow us to construct a highly functional Emergency Operations Center at the Community Center.”
Some costs will be incurred in the transaction. The county signed a 60-month (five-year) lease at $250 per month with Northeast Service Cooperative. Rogers said the six-month ($1,500) cost for 2017 would be absorbed by savings in other areas of the IT department.
Plans are to have the highspeed fiber installed sometime this June.
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