Maui County recently completed a nearly $1 million upgrade of its information systems computing center which will provide more reliable and secure operations during power outages and other emergencies.

The project, which doubles the size of the computing center, included the installation of a specialized air conditioning system and backup generator and the complete rewiring of the center's electrical and data network infrastructure. The center provides essential support for over 60 servers and the county's extensive network, which covers Maui, Moloka'i and Lana'i.

"This expansion represents an important advancement for the county in terms of protecting our vital communications and computer systems from loss of data, especially when we experience a loss of power or face other emergency operating conditions," said Managing Director Sheri Morrison.

Morrison added, "It is just one step toward our ultimate goal of being able to provide a true backup for county network systems — including our emergency communications — in case of a crisis."

Plans are also under way to develop a secondary off-site backup computing and data center at the proposed Emergency Operating Center, so that county communications and computer systems would continue to function even if the county building itself was not operational.