On 24 Nov 2006 23:49:25 -0800, [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Timothy Sipples) wrote: >Does a state government, even one as big as Texas, actually need 31 data >centers and 7,000 servers scattered around 1,300 locations? If I were a >taxpayer in that state I'd be at least curious. What are all those data >centers and servers doing? Does anybody on IBM-MAIN work for an >organization with 31 (or more) data centers, to provide some context? It >seems most odd to me, even for state government.
Does my car need a couple of dozen computers? The state needs to process the data it needs to process. How many roads does it need? One trouble with data processing around the world is that many people ask the wrong questions. Are you asking - should Texas consolidate its data centers to fewer? I would think hurricanes would remind people that that can leave one vulnerable. What happens in real life is some department or location finds it easier, cheaper, and/or better (for that department's job), to have its own computer rather than work through the bureaucracy. Centralized planning has its downsides (look at collectivism examples). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
