Hosting and Storage

MNIT provides physical and virtual dedicated servers hosted from MNIT data centers to provide a reliable computing platform for agency applications. These service offerings include:

Hardware

• Procurement, installation, and connection of all server hardware.
• Network connectivity for servers including:
  • Network administration.
  • Network equipment (e.g., routers, switches, firewalls).
  • Network cabling provided by MNIT.
• Standard physical server configurations.
• If an agency needs additional resources for a physical server that exceed the standard physical server configurations above, MNIT will evaluate the requirements and procure, install, and support the required configuration. The additional cost associated with the required configuration is charged using the Hosting – Server Miscellaneous rate. 

Software

• Operating systems to meet application and vendor requirements. The following operating systems and server platforms are supported in both dedicated physical servers and virtual servers:
  • Windows on x86 servers
  • Linux on x86 servers
• Virtualization technology to provide Windows-based and Linux-based Virtual Servers. Virtual Servers can be custom configured to meet the needs of the application. Virtual Servers are charged based on the number of CPUs and GB of RAM allocated to each virtual server.

Support

All system administration and support for physical and virtual servers in MNIT Enterprise data centers, including:

• 24/7 monitoring with identification and resolution of incidents based on defined priority levels.
• Performing ongoing security monitoring and management:
  • Security event monitoring, detection, and notification.
  • Periodic vulnerability scanning and reporting.
  • Security Compliance audit and reporting.
• Coordinating the repair or replacement of failing hardware components with vendor service personnel.
• Load balancing, firewall configuration and anti-virus protection are all components built into the service at the customer request.
• All patches (operating system, hypervisor, and security). MNIT adheres to a rigorous change-control process ensuring sufficient lead time, coordination with application owners, and approval by relevant stakeholders for all patching and other change activity.
• System configuration changes.
• Firewall configuration and changes.

Data Center Facilities Management

• Physical security.
• Environmental controls.
• Facilities monitoring for power or environmental control failures.
• Data center management systems.
• Redundant power sources.
• Redundant power distribution units provided by MNIT.
• Network connectivity for servers including:
  • Network administration.
  • Network equipment (e.g., routers, switches, firewalls).
  • Network cabling provided by MNIT.

MNIT offers two types of storage:

• Disk storage for physical and virtual devices located in MNIT data centers. Storage is charged based on the GB configured for each physical or virtual server.
• Network Attached Storage (NAS) for use in remote locations or where large volumes of storage are needed. NAS storage is charged on a per device basis. 

The Storage and Backup service offering includes the following for both types of storage.

Storage

• Storage hardware hosted in MNIT data centers. 
• Storage software.
• Capacity monitoring, planning, and expansion.
• Replication of storage between MNIT Enterprise data centers. 
• Monitoring, alerts, and incident resolution.
• Ongoing maintenance and support of hardware and software.

Backup

• User account administration for Enterprise backup environment.
• Assisting agency staff in determining retention period for backed up data.
• Assisting agency staff with installation of backup software.
• Providing guidance and assisting agency staff with recovery operations being performed by the agency. 
• Configuring alerts for backup jobs for agencies as needed.
• Configuring daily job status reports emailed to agency staff.
• Backup of all storage to disk.
  • The standard backup schedule is a full backup every 14 days, daily incremental backups, and 28-day retention. 
  • Custom retention periods can be requested and will be supported and charged separately from the standard Storage and Backup rate. 

MNIT maintains contracts with public cloud providers. Under these contracts, MNIT agency partners can subscribe to compute and storage resources, which can be self-provisioned by the agency or provisioned by MNIT at an agency’s request. Charges for this service are based on actual cost plus MNIT cloud infrastructure costs for the resources subscribed to by the customer.

In addition to access to the public cloud hosted compute and storage resources, the Cloud Hosting and Storage service offerings include the following:

• Access to the selected public cloud hosted compute and storage resources.
• Public cloud provider support services.
• Vendor and contract management to maintain contracts for use by agencies.
• Connection to MNET for subscribed public cloud servers.
• Dashboard tool to assist in customer budget and cost management.

This service provides rack space per RU (rack unit) for customer-owned equipment in secure, monitored data center environments managed by MNIT. Because state data centers are primarily meant to house MNIT enterprise-owned equipment, colocation for agency-owned equipment is provided when data center space is available. These environments are designed and operated to protect state IT resources and to improve reliability and availability for applications and network connectivity. 

The Colocation service offering includes the following.

Rack Space

• A single rack unit measuring 1.75” high.

Data Center Facilities Management

• Physical security
  • Badge access to the colocation area of the data center is provided to authorized customers. 
• Environmental controls
• Facilities monitoring for power or environmental control failures.
• Data Center management systems.
• Equipment racks provided by MNIT.
• Redundant power sources.
• Redundant power distribution units provided by MNIT.
• Network connectivity for servers, including:
  • Network administration.
  • Network equipment (e.g., routers, switches, firewalls).
  • Network cabling provided by MNIT.

Support

• MNIT installs hardware into racks per MNIT standards.
• Hands-on support on an hourly professional services basis.
• 24/7 support through the MNIT Enterprise Service Desk.

Secure File Transfer allows agencies to securely exchange files over the Internet with external parties (e.g., counties, hospitals, and vendors) with this SaaS Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) solution. MNIT’s SFTP service meets State of Minnesota security standards. The SFTP solution uses data encryption, hashing, and user authentication to ensure the integrity and security of the transferred data. The SFTP service offering is charged by user account using the Enterprise Secure File Transfer rate. 

The Secure File Transfer service offering includes the following:

• User Account.
• Ability to assign external parties non-billed accounts to initiate and receive files.
• User training materials.
• Support for file transfers.

MNIT may provide support charged separately at hourly professional services rates when the work effort required is beyond the normal service support due to the size, scope, timing, or complexity of the requirements.

Physical and Virtual Servers

• Hosting services are provided in compliance with MNIT security standards, policies, and governance requirements.
• Disaster recovery is not included with this service offering. 
• MNIT attempts to build redundancy into the data center environment (e.g., power, network connectivity) to avoid single points of failure, but the Physical Server hosting services do not include physical server redundancy. Agencies can subscribe to redundant physical server capacity if required, and design and implement a highly available environment for their applications.
• Shared hosting environments (for Virtual Servers) are designed to provide redundancy within the data center for high availability, but are not redundant between data center sites.
• MNIT does not maintain specific service levels regarding the availability of applications running on physical or virtual machines hosted in MNIT data centers or otherwise supported by MNIT.
• In certain situations, MNIT also provides physical servers in agency locations outside of a MNIT data center. All support activities are the same as for MNIT-owned servers hosted in a MNIT data center, except the Data Center Facilities Management service offering is not provided. The rate charged for this service is the Hosting – Remote Server rate.

Cloud Hosting and Storage

• MNIT provides architectural support and guidance on cloud usage and consumption. See Customer Responsibilities for more details. 
• The rate for AWS storage includes backups. For the Microsoft Azure Native environment, backup is charged separately.  

Colocation

• By request, MNIT can provide limited hands-on support on an hourly professional services basis. See Customer Responsibilities for details.  Visitor access to the data center is available during service hours. Visitor access must be requested through the MN Service Hub, and visitors will be escorted.

For all service offerings

• Disaster recovery and business continuity planning and implementation. 
• Provide and maintain primary and secondary point of contact information.
• Work with MNIT staff on Incident Management, Problem Management, Request Fulfillment, and Change Management.
• Product lifecycle management and planning for updates before the underlying operating system reaches end of life.
• Maintain separate development, test, and production environments.

For Backup service offering

• Review backup status reports.
• Resolve issues with client systems when backup jobs fail. 
• Submit MN Service Hub requests for changes to existing backup client configurations. (ex. Add/delete content to backup, change backup schedule, change retention policy, add server-backup, and/or remove server from backup).

For Cloud Hosting and Storage service offering

• MNIT provides architectural support and guidance on cloud usage and consumption. However, the customer is responsible for managing applications and data running on a cloud platform. 
• The customer is also responsible for administering the compute resources they utilize in the cloud environment. The customer has autonomy in controlling their cloud resources and spending.

For Colocation service offering

• The customer is responsible for system administration for agency-owned servers. By request, MNIT can provide limited hands-on support on an hourly professional services basis.