Report for March 2022

Report Date
March 2022

Achievements in Last Period

  • Implementation dates for Eleanor/Eddie nodes moved from May/June to July/August due to higher priority work for RSS team
  • Project plan and timeline revised
  • A clearer picture is now evolving on orders and delivery status, but some work is still required to finalise some delivery dates
  • Finalise matching PO/Dell orders
  • Confirm what orders are at Syncreon or still to be shipped by Dell
  • Eddie/Eleanor nodes (14 x C6400 chassis) have been delivered to OCF
  • Initial planning session held with OCF on 31/03/2022 for Eddie/Eleanor compute nodes
  • DataStore upgrades (2 x 2 x ME4084, 15 x R640) onsite are on site at JCMB
  • Eddie storage servers (4 x R640) to be shipped directly to ACF
  • TSM storage arrays will be shipped direct to ACF
  • Lenovo and Dell storage to be shipped direct to ACF– awaiting delivery status
  • Orders for TSM servers and DR flash arrays still to be placed
    • PO to be raised for TSM servers
    • Awaiting another revised quote for 2 x flash array quote
  • Finance have been informed of risk to GRNs but it is likely that all kit will be onsite before end-July
  • ACF planned power outage will not impact installation or upgrade dates
  • Racking and power requirements within limits confirmed at JCMB/AT data centres

Risks/Issues

  • Information on Dell order status from Esteem not complete (-)

    • Key orders now shipped to JCMB and OCF (+)

  • Replacement needed for servers and storage approaching EoL (plus need for additional processing capacity) (-/+)

    • Tentative schedule for all installations agreed; EoS dates to be checked (+)
  • RSS resource capacity is at risk as project (P1) will run in parallel with RSS401 GPU Refresh (P2) and RSS405 Tape Library (P1) (-)
    • Revised planning has identified dates that avoid other critical work
    • Eddie/Eleanor upgrade dates rescheduled to July/August, a 2-month slippage (-)
  • Current allocated budget is £2.258M and all equipment must be received by June 2022 (-)
    • Low risk that deliveries will not meet GRN deadline (+)
    • £7K project overspend approved (+)
  • Exceed DCs’ power budget - review server/storage ratings against limit (-)
    • Confirmed within limits at JCMB/AT (+)
    • Estimated as a reduction in ACF (+)
  • Delivery and installation must be carefully coordinated with ACF (RFCs) and ISG (GoCAB) (+/-)
    • Planning ongoing with both data centre managers (+)
  • Delivery must be coordinated with appointed installation teams (+/-)
    • Initial meeting held with OCF on 31/03/2022 to agree delivery dates for Eddie/Eleanor nodes (+)
  • OCF, StackHPC and IBM resources may not be available for installation and configuration dates (-)
    • Planning in progress with OCF for Eddie/Eleanor nodes (+)
  • Storage areas at ACF and JCMB need to be agreed and storage time minimised (-)
    • JCMB storage capacity space available; holding DataStore kit at present (+)
    • ACF storage currently holding Tape Library kit; due for installation week 25/04/2022 (-)
  • No space in racks at ACF for additional kit; swaps out/in will mean reduced service during upgrades (-)
    • Awaiting power densities information from ACF to allow additional space in racks; cooling dependent; considered low risk (+)
  • COVID restrictions at ACF and JCMB/AT may restrict access and so impact dates (-)
    • Awaiting update on ACF/JCMB/AT regulations (-)
  • UCU industrial action may impact project progress (-)
    • Limited impact to date; another vote on further action imminent (-)
  • Potential manufacturer price increases could reduce scope of purchasing (-)
    • No increases noted on orders placed; monitor quotes for remaining orders (+)
    • Place all final orders, where possible, by 15/04/2022 (+)

Next Steps

  • Clarify status of remaining critical orders with Esteem/Dell/IBM - TSM storage arrays, Eddie Lenovo/Dell storage
  • TSM array installation planned week 04/04/2022; at risk
  • Installation (only) of DataStore upgrades planned for week 11/04/2022 and confirmed with JCMB/AT data centre manager
  • Planned installation dates for Eddie Dell/Lenovo storage at ACF week 02/05/2022
    • Arrange meeting with IBM to plan Lenovo storage installation when delivery date is known
  • Installation planning for Eddie and Eleanor upgrades in progress with ACF data centre manager; next meeting 29/04/2022
    • Eddie/Eleanor nodes to be shipped from OCF to ACF after configuration/burn-in
  • Awaiting another revised quote for DR flash arrays received; then raise PO
  • Quote received for TSM servers; raise; TSM licences to come from revenue budget
  • Check power requirements for upgrades at ACF; review with data centre manager (AT)
    • Estimated as a reduction in ACF, confirm when RFC is raised (AT)
  • Update revised plan with detailed RSS resourcing requirements

Milestones

Date Milestone Phase Complete
26/11/2021 Project brief and project plan drafted Plan Yes
10/12/2021 Project brief and plan reviewed and approved Plan Yes
10/12/2021 End of planning Plan Yes
17/12/2021 Requirements and priorities completed Analyse Yes
24/12/2021 Time critical orders raised Procure Yes
28/03/2022 Eddie/Eleanor nodes delivered to OCF for configuration/burn-in Build Yes
31/03/2022 JCMB/AT Data Centre planning complete Design Yes
11/04/2022 DataStore servers/storage installed at JCMB/AT Build No
29/04/2022 ACF Data Centre planning complete Design No
05/05/2022 Eddie Lenovo/Dell storage installed at ACF Build No
24/06/2022 DataStore upgrades configured and commissioned at JCMB/AT Integrate No
08/07/2022 DR upgrades installed at AT Build No
18/07/2022 Eleanor upgrades installed and commissioned at ACF Integrate No
22/07/2022 Eddie upgrades installed and commissioned at ACF Integrate No
05/08/2022 TSM servers upgraded at ACF Integrate No
26/08/2022 Other DataStore upgrades completed

Deliver

No
02/09/2022 All ECDF service documents updated Deliver No
30/09/2022 Project closed Close No

 

 

 

Project Status
RAG Status
Time
GREEN
Cost
GREEN
Scope
GREEN
Overall
GREEN
Change Status
Time
Moderate
Cost
No Change
Scope
No Change
Overall
Moderate
Has formal escalation taken place?
No
Change Commentary
DataStore, Eddie and Eleanor upgrades moved to start at end-June from May; plan revised and agreed
Activity
Approved budget
80.0 days
Activity this month
7.0 days
Activity this year
35.0 days
Activity to date
35.0 days
Estimate to complete current year
25.0 days
Estimate to complete future years
20.0 days

Project Info

Project
Infrastructure Refresh 21/22
Code
RSS402
Programme
ITI - Research Services (RSS)
Management Office
ISG PMO
Project Manager
Lawrence Stevenson
Project Sponsor
David Fergusson
Current Stage
Close
Status
Closed
Project Classification
Run
Start Date
21-Oct-2021
Planning Date
10-Dec-2021
Delivery Date
07-Apr-2023
Close Date
28-Apr-2023
Programme Priority
1
Overall Priority
Highest
Category
Discretionary

Documentation