13406-20240906091034 JSU.pdf

INVITATION FOR BIDS

Bidders must comply with all rules, regulations and statutes relating to purchasing in the State of Mississippi in addition to the requirement of this form.

Sealed bids will be received in the Office of Purchasing and Travel, Jackson State University, H.P. Jacobs

Administration Tower, 4th Floor, 1400 John R. Lynch Street, Jackson, Mississippi for the purchase of items listed below. All bids must be received in the Office of Purchasing and Travel before the bid opening time given below.

Delivery of bids must occur within normal JSU working hours. These are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. CST/CDT, except for weekends and holidays when no delivery is possible. Additional bidding requirements and terms and conditions are contained in Attachment 1, entitled GENERAL CONDITIONS, to this form, which requirements, terms and conditions are incorporated herein by reference. JSU SPECIAL CONDITIONS, if any, are attached here to as Attachment 2 and incorporated herein by reference.

PLEASE MAIL TO:

OFFICE OF PURCHASING AND TRAVEL

JACKSON STATE UNIVERSITY

Bid File No: 25-02

1400 John R. Lynch Street

Jackson, MS 39217

RFX # 3160006870

BIDDERS SHALL SUBMIT THEIR BIDS, EITHER, IN A SEALED ENVELOPE OR

ELECTRONICALLY. SEALED BIDS SHALL INCLUDE THE BID NUMBER ON THE FACE OF THE

ENVELOPE, AS WELL AS THE NAME OF THE BIDDER. FOR ELECTRONIC BIDS, THE BIDDER

SHALL GO TO THE FOLLOWING SITE AND USE THE RFX NUMBER IN THE SEARCH FIELD

https://www.ms.gov/dfa/contract_bid_search

When using a delivery service or hand delivering, the address is: H.P. Jacobs Administration Tower, 4th

Floor, Office of Purchasing & Travel, Jackson State University, 1400 John R. Lynch Street, Jackson, MS

39217.

ALL QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS BID SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO Kimberly R. Harris at kimberly.r.harris@jsums.edu, 601-979-0978.

Invitation for Bid Issue Date: September 6, 2024

First Publication

Second Publication

September 6, 2024

September 13, 2024

Bidder Submission Deadline October 15, 2024

Opening Date and Time October 15, 2024 @ 11:00 a.m.

Intent to Award (anticipated) October 29, 2024

Submission date to obtain approval in MAGIC (if pending cost goes over $500,000 then approval is required by Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL)

November 13, 2024 (anticipated)

Requested Services

• Virtual Training & Certifications must be supported in all aspects of the system yearly throughout the 5 -year warranty and available to all members of administration team.

https://www.ms.gov/dfa/contract_bid_search mailto:kimberly.r.harris@jsums.edu

• Provide a shipping/lead detailed timeline if contract is awarded

• All vendors responding to the RFP must send a representative on site before the bid date to review the data center to make sure they understand what will be needed to get the equipment racks into the air cooled data center

• Quotes must be itemized

• All hardware must have 5-year labor and parts warranty with Next Business Day response time

• All equipment must be configured ant tested offsite and delivered and installed in our data center

• Both hardware and proposed virtual OS installed and configured

• Complete Solution must me NVIDIA DGX BasePOD certified

• Vendors must include a copy of the document from NVIDIA stating that their solution is NVIDIA DGX BasePOD certified and meets all requirements

• It is preferred that all server equipment be sourced by a single vendor and not a solution of multiple hardware vendors.

• All networking patch cables from new equipment to Jackson State University network equipment must be provided with proper manageable lengths properly installed

• All power must be redundant on all equipment

• All equipment plugged into APC AR3350 - 42U NetShelter SX Rack - Extra Wide/Deep -

750mm Wide x 1200mm Deep – Black

• All equipment powered by APC Metered Rack PDU AP8866 - 0U - 208V 3Phase IEC

309 60A 3P+PE Input / (6) C13 & (12) C19 Output

• Must be able to support NVIDIA InfiniBand Switching and Cabling

• Hardware must support NVIDIA UFM Licensing

• Implementation is to be handled by vendor turnkey with support from JSU technology department as needed

• Unified System Management for appliances, physical server’s single pane management console, monitor system health and performance, provide for rapid deployment of physical and virtual servers

• All equipment must be equal to or better than the specification outlined in the specification.

Option Name QTY

APC AR3350 - 42U NetShelter SX Rack - Extra Wide/Deep - 750mm Wide x 1200mm Deep - Black

APC Metered Rack PDU AP8866 - 0U - 208V 3Phase IEC 309 60A 3P+PE Input / (6) C13 & (12) C19 Output

Option Name Qty

NVIDIA UFM 3.0 APPLIANCE FOR UFM TELEMETRY OR

UFM ENT 1U SERVER

NVIDIA UFM ENT SUBSCRIPTION SW WITH BUSINESS CRI 1

Option Name Qty

NVIDIA QM9700 NDR InfiniBand Switch, 64 NDR ports, 32 OSFP ports, 2 Pwr Sup (AC),Std. depth, Mgd, P2C airflow, Rail Kit

NVIDIA ENT Business Standard Support Services for QM9700, 5 Years

NVIDIA InfiniBand - 800GBase direct attach splitter - OSFP to OSFP - 10 ft - passive

NVIDIA - 800GBase direct attach splitter - OSFP to OSFP -

16.4 ft - active

NVIDIA - Network cable - OSFP to OSFP - 10 ft - active

NVIDIA EXTENDED WARRANTY FOR COPPER CABLES, 5 YE

Server + Switch Requirements

AI Compute Requirements

• Increase efficiency and accelerate operations with an autonomous infrastructure o centralized management under a single pain of glass o Must be an NVIDIA-Certified System

• Cyber Resilient Architecture for Zero Trust IT environment & operations o Capable of Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and role-based access controls ensure trusted operations

• Accelerated I/O throughput o Capably of - deploying latest generation technologies including DDR5, PCIe Gen

5.0, and NVMe SSDs o Must have 10 front-facing PCIe Gen 5 slots and up to 16 drive slots available o Can support 8 NVIDIA H100 700W SXM5 fully interconnected with NVIDIA

NVLink technology o Can support 900GB/s bandwidth o Able to Host multi-tenant environments using virtualization options like NVIDIA Multi- Instance GPU (MIG) capability o Must support NVIDIA GDS o Must support NVIDIA AI Enterprise Essentials Software & Licensing

• High-performance server designed and optimized for AI training & HPC use cases like:

o Large language Models o Recommendation engines o Molecular Dynamics and Genome Sequencing

Management Compute Requirements

• Must support 32 DDR5 RDIMMS up to 4400 MT/sec (2DPC) or 4800 MT/sec for 1DPC

• Must support up to 8 x 2.5” drives and 2 x 350 watt processors.

• Must have the following NVMe SSD capability

• Capable of Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and role-based access controls ensure trusted operations

• Must be able to support the following workloads:

o High Density Virtualization o Dense Database Analytics o Mixed Workload Standardization

Switch Requirements

• 1RU switches with up to 48 line-rate 1G/2.5G/ 5G/10GbE copper ports with four integrated 25GbE SFP28 ports

• Available with dual 80PLUS Platinum certified hot swappable internal power supplies

• Must have USB auto-configuration

• Must have Private VLAN extensions and Private VLAN Edge support

• Must have Management via an intuitive and familiar CLI, embedded web server (GUI), SNMP- based management console application

• Must have AAA authorization, TACACS+ accounting and RADIUS support for comprehensive secure access support

Product Qty Option Name SKUs Qty

PowerEdge XE9680 [210-BFXH] 1

Chassis with up to 8x2.5" Drives [379-BDTF] 1 Trusted Platform Module 2.0 V3 [461-AAIG] 1 XE9680 6U Chassis with 8 GPU 8 x 2.5

NVMe Only

[321-BIEK]

Intel® Xeon® Platinum 8468 2.1G, 48C/96T, 16GT/s, 105M Cache, Turbo, HT

(350W) DDR5-4800

[338-CHTB]

Intel® Xeon® Platinum 8468 2.1G, 48C/96T, 16GT/s, 105M Cache, Turbo, HT

(350W) DDR5-4800

[338-CHTB],

[379-BDCO]

Riser Config 2 [330-BCHH] 1 Heatsink for 2 CPU Configuration [412-BBCN] 1

Performance Optimized [370-AAIP] 1 4800MT/s RDIMMs [370-AHCL] 1

128GB RDIMM, 4800MT/s Quad Rank [370-AGZM] 16 C30, No RAID for NVME chassis [780-BCDO] 1 No Controller [405-AACD] 1

3.2TB Enterprise NVMe Mixed Use AG Drive U.2 Gen4 with carrier

[400-BKGD]

Performance BIOS Setting [384-BBBL] 1 UEFI BIOS Boot Mode with GPT Partition [800-BBDM] 1 Very High Performance Fan x6 [750-ADGJ] 1

3+3 FTR (GPU Power Brake Enabled), Hot- Plug PSU, 2800W MM HLAC (200-240Vac) Titanium, C22 Connector

[450-

AMMN]

C20 to C21, PDU Style, 16 AMP, 8 Feet, Power Cord

[450-AGXK]

XE9680 System Motherboard, WW [384-BDHL] 1 PowerEdge 2U LCD Bezel [325-BETK] 1

NVIDIA HGX H100 8-GPU SXM 80GB

700W GPUs Assembly

[489-BBGD]

Broadcom 5720 Dual Port 1GbE LOM [540-BDKD] 1

Nvidia ConnectX-7 Single Port NDR OSFP PCIe, No Crypto, Full Height

[540-BDNQ]

BOSS-N1 controller card + with 1 M.2

480GB (RAID 0)

[403-BCRR],

[470-AFNO]

No OCP 3.0 mezzanine NIC card, Blank Filler Only

[412-AASK]

No Operating System [611-BBBF] 1 iDRAC9, Enterprise 16G [528-CTIC] 1 iDRAC,Legacy Password [379-BCSG] 1 iDRAC Service Module (ISM), NOT Installed

[379-BCQX]

iDRAC Group Manager, Enabled [379-BCQV] 1 XE9680 Sliding Ready Rail [770-BEPC] 1 PowerEdge XE9680, Shipping [340-DDBX] 1

PowerEdge XE9680 CE Marking, No CCC Marking

[389-EFKE]

XE9680 Shipping Material [343-BBXC] 1 NOT NAC eligible 5A992.c [340-DMRJ] 1

5 Years ProSupport with Next Business Day Onsite Service

[887-0837], [887-0863], [887-0891], [989-3439]

ProSupport Add-on for HPC, 5 Years (Requires ProSupport or ProSupport Plus)

[817-8555]

ProDeploy Plus PowerEdge XE Series 5U6U [897-8977] 1

NVIDIA AI Enterprise Essentials Subscription per NVIDIA GPU 5 Years

[AC566093]

N3248TE-ON, 48x1G, 4x10G SFP+, 2x100G QSFP28, 32GB, 1xAC PSU, PS/IO, OS10

[210-AWZQ]

Power Supply, 550W AC, PSU to IO airflow, Hot Swap, N2224X, N2248X, N3224T, N3224F, N3248TE, N3248X

[450-AJIL]

Power Cord, 250V, 12A, 2 Meters, C13/C14 [450-AASX] 2

ReadyRails, Full set, 2x outer and 2x inner rail, 2 or 4 post racks, for select Dell Networking 1U

[770-BDRL]

Dell EMC N3200 User guide [343-BBNX] 1

OS10 Enterprise, N3248TE-ON [634-BWZJ] 1

N3248P-TE 5 Years ProSupport with Next Business Day Onsite Service

[828-9522], [828-9523], [828-9528], [828-9544], ProDeploy Plus Networking N-E Series 3xxx Switch

[892-3068]

5 Years ProSupport OS10 Enterprise Software Support-Maintenance

[848-8545]

PowerEdge R660 Server [210-BEQQ] 1

Trusted Platform Module 2.0 V3 [461-AAIG] 1

2.5" Chassis with up to 10 Hard Drives

(SAS/SATA), 2CPU, PERC11

[321-BHRW]

Intel® Xeon® Gold 6426Y 2.5G, 16C/32T, 16GT/s, 38M Cache, Turbo, HT (185W)

DDR5-4800

[338-CHTG]

Intel® Xeon® Gold 6426Y 2.5G, 16C/32T, 16GT/s, 38M Cache, Turbo, HT (185W)

DDR5-4800

[338-CHTG],

[379-BDCO]

No HBM [379-BFFD] 1

Performance Heatsink for 2 CPU configuration (CPU more than or equal to 250W)

[412-ABCG]

Performance Optimized [370-AAIP] 1

4800MT/s RDIMMs [370-AHCL] 1

16GB RDIMM, 4800MT/s Single Rank [370-AGZO] 8

C3, RAID 1 for 2 HDDs or SSDs (Matching Type/Speed/Capacity)

[780-BCDN]

PERC H755 with rear load Brackets

[405-AAZB],

[750-ADRI]

480GB SSD SATA Read Intensive 6Gbps 512 2.5in Hot-plug AG Drive, 1 DWPD

[400-AXTV]

Power Saving Dell Active Power Controller [750-AABF] 1

UEFI BIOS Boot Mode with GPT Partition [800-BBDM] 1

No Energy Star [387-BBEY] 1

4 Very High Performance Fans [384-BCUJ] 1

Dual, Fully Redundant(1+1), Hot-Plug Power Supply,1100W MM(100-240Vac) Titanium

[450-AKLF]

Jumper Cord - C13/C14, 0.6M, 250V, 13A (North American, Guam, North Marianas, Philippines, Samoa)

[492-BBDH]

Riser Config 3, Full Height, 2x16 FH Slots (Gen5)

[330-BBYZ]

Motherboard supports ONLY CPUs below 250W. Cannot upgrade to CPUs 250W and above

[329-BJJY]

iDRAC9, Enterprise 16G [528-CTIC] 1

Broadcom 57414 Dual Port 10/25GbE

SFP28, OCP NIC 3.0

[540-BCOC]

Broadcom 5720 Dual Port 1GbE LOM [540-BDKD] 1

Nvidia ConnectX-7 Single Port NDR200 OSFP PCIe, No Crypto, Full Height

[540-BDNF]

Standard Bezel

[325-BEVE],

[350-BCKC]

No BOSS Card [403-BCID] 1

No Quick Sync [350-BBXM] 1 iDRAC,Legacy Password [379-BCSG] 1 iDRAC Service Module (ISM), NOT Installed [379-BCQX] 1 iDRAC Group Manager, Disabled [379-BCQY] 1

No Operating System [611-BBBF] 1

No Media Required [605-BBFN] 1

ReadyRails Sliding Rails Without Cable Management Arm or Strain Relief Bar

[770-BECD]

No Systems Documentation, No OpenManage DVD Kit

[631-AACK]

PowerEdge R660 Shipping [340-DBXZ] 1

PowerEdge R660 Shipping Material, 10x2.5", 8x2.5" Smart Flow or 16xEDSFF

[340-DBYC]

PowerEdge R660 CE, CCC and BIS Marking on 2.5" Chassis

[343-BBTS],

[343-BBUB]

Decline Selection [817-BBBP] 1

5 Years Prosupport Next Business Day Onsite Service

[887-1064], [887-1073], [887-1076], ProSupport Add-on for HPC, 5 Years (Requires ProSupport or ProSupport Plus)

[817-8555]

ProDeploy Plus HPC Rack and Stack per Node 1u2u (Requires PDP for HPC Base)

[710-3239]

1. Storage Requirements

• Must have multiprotocol support including NFS, SMB, HDFS, S3, REST, HTTP, NDMP, and FTP all under the same management interface

• Completely symmetric and highly distributed file system

• Be able to linearly scale with performance and capacity to ensure high-performant workloads are always supported

• Must have WORM File Protection

• Must have automated policy based file locking

• Must have legal hold functionality

• Must have RBAC and MFA capability

• Must have data-at-rest encryption

• Must have in-line compression and deduplication capability

• Intra-node communication in a cluster is performed across a dedicated backend network, consisting of either 10 Gb, 40 Gb, or 100 Gb Ethernet, or low-latency

QDR InfiniBand (IB)

• Back-end network uses Internet Protocol (IP) for node-to-node communication.

• full integration with both IPv4 and IPv6 environments

• BSD-based UNIX operating system

• Must be able to auto-balance free space in the cluster

• Must be able to run anti-virus scans

• Archives data out to a cloud provider according to a file pool policy.

• Data and metadata are striped across the nodes for redundancy and availability

• Completely virtualized for the users and administrator

• The file tree can grow organically without requiring planning or oversight about how the tree grows or how users use it

• Automatically parallelizes the transfer of the file tree to one or more alternate clusters, without regard to the shape or depth of the file tree

• No namespace aggregation

• Uses physical pointers and extents for metadata and stores file and directory metadata in- nodes

• The file system inherently allows for any structure to use all blocks on any nodes in the cluster

• All metadata within the cluster is multiply mirrored for data protection, at least to the level of redundancy of the associated file

• Embedded file system controls the placement of files directly, down to the sector-level on any drive anywhere in the cluster

• Must be able to scale to 7.7PBs of NVMe SSD capacity and scale up to 252 nodes in a cluster

PowerScale F210 [210-BKGK] 1

New Cluster [800-BBQV] 1

16TB (3.84GBx4) SSD AG

[345-BJGV],

[345-BJHC]

FE 2x25GbE w/o Optics - F210 [406-BBVC] 1

BE 2x100GbE w/o Optics - F210

[540-BDXY],

[540-BDYB]

2.0 GHz Processor [338-CMWM] 1

128GB 4800 MT/s DIMM Memory [370-BBMG] 1

PowerScale F210 Memory Components [370-BBMC] 1

PowerScale F210 Bezel [350-BCWP] 1

Rack Rails with CMA [770-BFHJ] 1

Dual PSU 800W RDNT [450-BCGS] 1

C13/C14 US (2M) x2 [450-AJNP] 1

F210 Node Hardware

[149-BBXX],

[149-BBXY],

[149-BBXZ],

[149-BBYB],

[750-BBHS],

[750-BBHV]

Motherboard F210/F710 [329-BKML] 1

Production Factory Install - F210 [631-BBYH] 1

Trusted Module Platform [461-BBBH] 1

IDRAC Random Password [623-BBDX] 1

PowerScale F210 SDPM [370-BBMJ] 1

OneFS Base License F210 16-31TB [149-BBXL] 1

OneFS Capacity License F210 [149-BBXS] 16

Enterprise Bundle F210

[151-BBZD],

[151-BCBV],

[151-BCCC],

[151-BCDJ]

Enterprise Bundle Capacity F210

[151-BCCK],

[151-BCCN],

[151-BCCT],

[151-BCCZ]

SmartDedupe Base License F210 [151-BCDC] 1

HDFS for OneFS ($0.00) [151-BBEH] 1

SmartDedupe Capacity License F210 [151-BBZV] 16

PowerScale F210 Shipping [340-DMCV] 1

Info F210 ISG Product [379-BFHY] 1

[705-1471], [705-1472], [705-1474], [705-1477], [975-3461], 5 Years ProSupport OneFS Base Tier 2 F210 Sftwr Spt-Maint [706-9244] 1

5 Years ProSupport Next Business Day OneFS Capacity F210 Sftwr Spt-Maint

[706-8925]

Enterprise Bundle Base F210 Sftwr Spt- Maint

[706-0017]

Enterprise Bundle Capacity F210 Sftwr Spt-Maint

[706-9151]

5 Years ProSupport Additional Base Sftwr Spt-Maint [706-8772] 1

Additional Base Sftwr Spt-Maint

[706-8775]

Onsite Addon [705-2326] 16

ProDeploy Plus PowerScale Node [886-5545] 1

Storage Dell Fulfilled Info [626-BBBI] 1

S5232F Dell Networking Switch [210-BCVB] 1

S5232 Series User Guide [343-BBSQ] 1

Dell Switch Field Installation Kit for

S5232 [750-ACVZ] 1

OS10 Enterprise Software, S5232F [528-CSYU] 1

[877-7775], [877-7776], [877-7778], [877-7781], [975-3461], PowerScale Accessories Base [210-AXWW] 1

100GbE QSFP28 to QSFP28, Active Optical (Optics included) Cable, 3 Meter

[470-AEVV]

25GbE SFP28, SR, 85C, Node Side QTY1 [407-BCUC] 6

No Service

[929-3709], [935-6720]

PowerScale Services [210-AYWM] 1

Dell Learning-Dell Tech PowerScale Administration Classroom Training with Exam Voucher Expires 1YR

[844-6861], [844-7852]

Dell Learning-Dell Tech PowerScale Advanced Administration Classroom Training Expires 1YR

[844-6864]

Education Services Training Credits 1000 - Redeem at education.dellemc.com Expires 1yr from order

[812-4033]

ProDeploy Plus Add-On for PowerScale Advanced Bundle [829-3028] 1

Jackson State University THIS IS NOT AN ORDER Office of Purchasing & Travel Telephone: 601-979-0978

Vendor Name

Authorized Signature:

Terms

Vendor Address

Print Name

Bid Required to be FOB Destination

Telephone No Company Bid No.

Method of Shipment

Date Offer Firm for ____ Days

Delivery can be made in ___ Days

General Bid Conditions Updated 05/02/2022

Bidders must comply with all rules, regulations, and statutes relating to purchasing in the State of Mississippi as well as the requirements contained herein.

All bids submitted must follow the conditions outlined next. All vendors are responsible for reading, understanding and agreeing to these conditions when submitting a bid for that bid to be considered responsive.

2. PREPARATION OF BIDS

1.1 Failure to examine any aspects of the Invitation for Bids documentation will be at bidder’s risk.

1.2 All prices and notations must be printed in ink or typewritten. No erasures permitted.

1.3 Errors may be crossed out and corrections printed in ink or typewritten adjacent to the error, and must be initialed in ink by person signing bid.

1.4 Pricing must be quoted on a “per unit” basis, extended as indicated. Any trade discounts included must be itemized and deducted from extended prices. Bidder guarantees product or service offered will meet or exceed specifications included as part of this Invitation for Bids. Bid prices must be net. In case of error in the extension of prices in the bid, the unit price will govern. No bid shall be altered or amended after the specified time of the bid closing.

1.5 Brand Names: Any reference to brand names in the Invitation for Bids is descriptive but not restrictive unless otherwise stated. Bids on equivalent items meeting the standards of quality thereby indicated will be considered, unless otherwise specified, providing the bid clearly describes the article and how it differs from the referenced brands. If equipment or supplies of another brand or of other construction than specified herein is offered by the bidder, such bidder shall set forth in their bid a detailed statement indicating wherein each item offered deviates from these specifications. Unless the bidder specifies otherwise in their bid, it is understood that the bidder is offering a referenced brand item as specified in the Invitation for Bids. Jackson State University reserves the right the determine whether a substitute offer is equivalent to and meets the standard of quality indicated by the brand name referenced, and JSU may require a bidder offering a substitute to supply additional descriptive material and a sample. When merchandise received from a successful bidder is not considered an equal by the requisitioner, it will be returned to the vendor, shipping charges collect.

1.6 Specification: It is understood that reference to available specifications shall be sufficient to make the terms of such specifications binding on the vendor.

1.7 Bidders must provide all information requested on the bid form. Also, as may be applicable, bidders must submit for evaluation sketches, models, technical specifications, and descriptive literature covering the product offered. Reference to any materials submitted for a non‐related bid will not be considered.

1.7.1 Samples of items, when called for, must be furnished free of cost, and if not destroyed in testing, will upon request, be returned at the bidder’s expense.

Request for the return of samples must be made within ten (10) days following the opening bids. Each individual sample must be labeled with bidder’s name, manufacturer’s brand name and number and bid number.

1.7.2 Expense Incurred in Preparing Bid: JSU accepts no responsibility for expense incurred by the bidder in preparation and presentation of a bid.

1.8 All vendor communications regarding the bid must be directed to the email and phone number listed on the Invitation for Bids document. Unauthorized contact may result in the bidder’s disqualification.

1.9 Time of Performance: The number of calendar days in which delivery will be made after receipt of purchase order shall be stated in the bid. Bid should show number of days required to place material in receiver’s designated location under normal conditions. Failure to state delivery time obligates supplier to complete delivery in 14 calendar days from receipt of purchase order. Unrealistically short or long delivery promises may cause bid to be disregarded. If delay is foreseen, supplier shall give written notice to JSU. JSU has the right to extend delivery date if reasons appear valid. Default in promised delivery (without accepted reasons) or failure to meet specifications authorizes JSU to purchase supplies elsewhere and charge full increase, if any, in cost and handling to defaulting supplier. No substitutions or cancellation permitted without written approval of the JSU Office of Purchasing and Travel. Delivery shall be made during normal working hours only, unless prior approval for delivery at other times has been obtained from JSU.

3. SUBMISSION OF BIDS

2.1 Bids must be signed and sealed with bidder’s name and address on outside of envelope, and the time and date of the bid opening and the RFX number shown on the outside of the envelope. Bids submitted by fax or email are not accepted.

2.2 Any modification or correction to bids received after the closing time will not be considered.

2.3 Only bids submitted on bid forms furnished by JSU or copies thereof, or bids submitted via MAGIC, will be considered.

2.4 Bids shall be submitted ‘FOB Destination’. Bids not submitted with this shipping method will not be considered.

2.5 Unless otherwise specified, the bidder shall define any warranty service and replacements that will be provided. Bidders must explain, as necessary, on an attached sheet to what extent warranty and service facilities are provided.

4. ACCEPTANCE OF BIDS

JSU reserves the right to accept or reject all or any part of any bid, waive minor technicalities and award the bid to best serve the interests of the State. If a bidder fails to state the time within which a bid must be accepted, JSU shall have 90 days from bid opening date to accept.

5. DISCOUNT PERIOD

Time in connection with discount offered will be computed from date of delivery at destination, or from the date correct invoices are received, if the latter date is later than the date of delivery. Cash discounts will not be considered in the award process.

6. AWARD

5.1 A response to an IFB is an offer to contract with JSU based upon the terms, conditions and specifications contained in the IFB. Bids do not become contracts until they are accepted and an authorized purchase order is issued. The contract shall be governed, construed and interpreted under the laws of the State of Mississippi excluding its choice of law provisions. Contracts and purchases will be made or entered into with the lowest responsible bidder meeting specifications, except as otherwise specified in the IFB. Where more than one item is specified in the IFB, JSU reserves the right to determine the low bidder either on the basis of the individual items or on the basis of all items included in the IFB.

5.2 Unless the bidder specified otherwise in the bid, JSU may accept any item or group of items of any kind. JSU reserves the right to modify or cancel in whole or in part it’s Invitations for Bids.

5.3 A written purchase order or contract award furnished to the successful bidder within the time of acceptance specified in the IFB results in a binding contract without further action by either party and without modification of JSU’s terms and conditions. The contract shall not be assignable by the vendor in whole or in part without the written consent of Jackson State University.

7. INSPECTION

Final inspection and acceptance or rejection may be made at the delivery destination, but all materials and workmanship shall be subject to inspection and test at all times and places, when practicable. During manufacture, the right is reserved to reject articles which contain defective material and workmanship. Rejected material shall be removed by and at the expense of the vendor promptly after notification or rejection. Final inspection and acceptance or rejection of the materials or supplies shall be made as promptly as practicable but failure to inspect and accept or reject shall not impose liability on the State of Mississippi or any subdivision thereof as such materials or supplies are not in accordance with the specification. In the event necessity requires the use of materials not conforming to the specification, payment therefore may be made at a proper reduction in price. All goods will be subject to inspection and testing by JSU to the extent practicable at all times and places. Authorized JSU personnel shall have access to any supplier’s place of business for the purpose of inspecting merchandise.

Tests shall be performed on samples submitted with the bid or on samples taken from regular shipment. In the event products tested fail to meet or exceed all conditions and requirements of the specifications, the cost of the sample used and the cost of the testing shall be borne by the supplier. Goods which have been delivered and rejected in whole or in part may at JSU’s option, be returned to the supplier or held for disposition at the vendor’s risk and expense. Latent defects may result in revocation of acceptance.

8. TAXES

Jackson State University is exempt from Federal excise taxes and state sales or use taxes and bidders must quote prices which do not include such taxes. Exemption certificates will be furnished upon request. Vendors making improvements to, additions to or repair work on real property on behalf of JSU are liable for any applicable sale and use tax on purchase of tangible personal property for use in connection with the work. Vendors are likewise liable for any applicable use tax on tangible personal property furnished to them by JSU for use in connection with their contracts.

9. GIFTS, REBATES, GRATUITIES

8.1 Acceptance of gifts from vendors is prohibited. No officer or employee of the Office of Purchasing and Travel, nor any head of any state department, institution or agency, nor any employee of any state department, institution or agency charged with initiating requisitions, shall accept or receive, directly or indirectly, from any person, firm or corporation to whom any contract for the purchase of materials, supplies or equipment for the State of Mississippi may be awarded by rebate, gifts, or otherwise, any money or anything of value whatsoever, or any promise, obligation or contract for future rewards or compensation.

8.2 Bidding by state employees is prohibited. It is unlawful for any state official or employee to bid on, or sell, or offer for sale, any merchandise, equipment or materials, or similar commodity to the State of Mississippi during the tenure of their office or employment, or for the period prescribed by law thereafter, or to have any interest in the selling of the same to the State.

10. BID INFORMATION

Bid files may be examined during normal working hours by bid participants.

Nonparticipants will be prohibited from obtaining any information relative to the bid until after the official award has been made.

11. CONDITIONS

Should a conflict exist between the General Conditions and any Special Conditions, the Special Conditions shall prevail if applicable.

12. WAIVER

The Office of Purchasing and Travel reserves the right to waive any General Condition, Special Condition, or minor deviation from specifications when considered to be in the best interest of JSU, so long as such waiver is not given so as to deliberately favor any single vendor and would have the same effect on all vendors.

13. CANCELLATION

Any Contract or item awarded may be canceled for cause by either party with the giving of 30 days written notice of intent to cancel. Cause for JSU to cancel shall include, but is not limited to, convenience; cost exceeding current market prices for comparable purchase; request for increase in prices during the Contract period; or failure to perform to Contract conditions. The vendor will be required to honor all purchase orders that were prepared and dated prior to the expiration or cancellation if received by the vendor within a period of 30 days following the date of expiration or cancellation.

Cancellation by JSU does not relieve the vendor of any liability arising out of a default or nonperformance. Cause for the vendor to cancel shall include, but is not limited to, the item(s) being discontinued and unavailable from the manufacturer.

14. SUBSTITUTIONS DURING CONTRACT

During the term of a contract if adequate documentation is provided that supports the claim that the contract item(s) are not available, then items which meet the minimum specifications may be substituted if approved by JSU.

15. APPLICATION

14.1 It is understood and agreed by the vendor that this contract is entered into solely for the convenience of Jackson State University and all purchases made by JSU for products included under the provisions of this contract shall be purchased from the vendor receiving the award unless exempt by special authorization from JSU. JSU employees have acted exclusively as employees of JSU for the award, consummation, administration and all other matters related to this contract and are not liable for any performance or nonperformance by JSU.

14.2 The vendor agrees to protect JSU from claims involving infringement of patents or copyrights.

14.3 Any terms and conditions attached to the IFB response will not be considered unless the bidder specifically refers to them on the front of the bid form.

Warning: Such terms and conditions may result in disqualification of the bid.

14.4 Vendor hereby assigns to JSU any and all claims for overcharges associated with this contract which arise under the antitrust laws of the United States 15 U.S.C.A. Section 1, et seq. (1973), and which arise under the antitrust laws of the State of Mississippi.

14.5 Information, documentation, and other material in connection with this IFB or any resulting contract may be subject to public disclosure pursuant to the Mississippi Public Records Act.

14.6 Signing this bid with a false statement is a material violation and shall void the submitted bid or any resulting contracts, and the bidder shall be removed from all bid lists. By signature hereon affixed, the bidder hereby certifies that:

14.6.1 The bidder has not given, offered to give, no intends to give at any time hereafter economic opportunity, future employment, gift, loan, gratuity, special discount, trip, favor, or service to a public servant in connection with the submitted bid.

14.6.2 The bidder is not currently delinquent in the payment of franchise tax owed the State of Mississippi.

14.6.3 The bidder certifies that the individual or business entity name listed in the bid is not ineligible to receive the specified contract and acknowledges that this contract may be terminated and/or payment withheld if this certification is inaccurate. Neither the bidder nor the firm, corporation, partnership or institution represented by the bidder, or anyone acting for such firm, has violated the antitrust laws of this State, or the Federal Antitrust Laws, nor communicated directly or indirectly the bid made to any competitor or any other person engaged in such line of business.

14.6.4 The bidder has not received compensation for participation in the preparation of the specifications for this IFB.

14.6.5 The vendor shall indemnify, defend and hold harmless the State of Mississippi and all its officers, agents and employees from and against all claims, actions, suits, demands, proceedings costs, damages and liabilities, from any acts or omissions of supplier or any agent, employee, subcontractor, or supplier of supplier in the execution or performance of the purchase order resulting from the IFB award.

16. ADDENDA

Addenda modifying plans and/or specifications may be issued if time permits. Should it become necessary to issue an addendum with the three‐day period prior to the bid opening, the bid date will be reset giving bidders ample time to answer the addendum.

When replying to a bid request on which an addendum has been issued, the bid shall indicate that provisions of the addendum have been noted and that the bid is being offered in compliance therewith. Failure to make this statement may result in the bid’s disqualification as not being in accordance with the revised specifications.

17. ALTERNATE BIDS

Alternate bids unless specifically requested will not be considered. An alternate is considered to be a bid that does not comply with the minimum provisions of the specification.

18. SPECIFICATION CLARIFICATION

Inquiries pertaining to IFBs must include the RFX number and opening date. It shall be incumbent upon all bidders to understand the provisions of the specification and to obtain clarification from the IFB contact prior to the bid closing date. Such clarification will only be answered in a response to a written request. No clarification will be offered as a response to a telephone request.

19. BID OPENINGS

Bid openings will be conducted as a public meeting. They will serve to open, read and tabulate the bid price on each bid. No discussion will be entered into with any vendor as to the quality or provisions of the specifications and no award will be made either stated or implied at the bid opening.

20. PAYMENT

Supplier shall submit one copy of an itemized invoice showing order number and JSU purchase order number. JSU will incur no penalty for late payment if payment is made in 45 days or fewer from receipt of the goods or services and an uncontested invoice.

21. FIRM BID PRICE

Prices quoted shall be firm for the term of the contract except that Jackson State University shall receive the benefit of any price decrease in excess of five percent (5).

Vendor must provide written price reduction information within ten (10) days of its effective date.

22. LIABILITY

Vendor shall hold Jackson State University, its officers, agents, and employees harmless against claims by third parties resulting from vendor’s breach of this contract or vendor’s negligence.

23. AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS

It is expressly understood and agreed that the obligation of JSU to proceed under this contract is conditioned upon the appropriation of funds by the Mississippi State Legislature and the receipt of state and/or federal funds. If the funds anticipated for the continuing fulfillment of the contract are, at any time, not forthcoming or insufficient, either through the failure of the federal government to provide funds or of the State of Mississippi to appropriate funds or the discontinuance or material alteration of the program under which funds were provided or if funds are not otherwise available to JSU, JSU shall have the right up ten (10) working days written notice to Contractor, to terminate this contract without damage, penalty, cost or expenses to JSU of any kind whatsoever. The effective date of termination shall be as specified in the notice of termination.

24. EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

23.1 This purchase will be subject to the provisions of Executive Order 11246 if it is not otherwise exempt. Except in contracts exempted in accordance with Section 204 of the Executive Order 11246, As Amended, all Government contracting agencies shall include in every Government contract hereafter entered into the following provisions. During the performance of this contract, the vendor agrees to the following:

23.1.1 The vendor will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, religion, gender, or national origin. The vendor will take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment without regard to their race, religion, gender or national origin. Such action shall include, but not be limited to the following: employment, upgrading, demotion, or transfer;

recruitment or recruitment advertising, layoff or termination; rates of pay or other forms of compensation; and selection for training, including apprenticeship. The vendor agrees to post in conspicuous places, available to employees and applicants for employment, notices to be provided to the contracting officer setting forth the provisions of this nondiscrimination clause.

23.1.2 The vendor will, in all solicitations or advancements for employees placed by or on behalf of the vendor, state that all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, gender or national origin.

23.1.3 The vendor will send to each labor union or representative of workers with which they have a collective bargaining agreement or other contract or understanding, a notice, to be provided by the agency contracting officer, advising the labor union or workers’ representative of the vendor’s commitments under Section 202 of Executive Order No. 11246 of September 24, 1965, and shall post copies of the notice in conspicuous places available to employees and applicants for employment.

23.1.4 The vendor shall comply with all provisions of Executive Order No. 11246 of the September 24, 1965, and of the rules, regulations, and relevant orders of the Secretary of Labor.

23.1.5 The vendor will furnish all information and reports required by Executive Order No. 11246, and by the rules, regulations, and orders of the Secretary of Labor, or pursuant thereto, and will permit access to their books, records and accounts by JSU and the Secretary of Labor for the purposes of investigation to ascertain compliance with such rules, regulations and orders.

23.1.6 In the event of the vendor’s noncompliance with the nondiscrimination clauses of this contract or with any of such rules, regulations or orders, this contract may be cancelled, terminated or suspended in whole or in part and the vendor may be declared ineligible for further Government contracts in accordance with procedures authorized in Executive Order No. 11246 or as otherwise provided by law.

23.1.7 The vendor will include provisions of paragraphs (1) through (7) in every subcontract or purchase order unless exempted by rules, regulations, or orders of the Secretary of Labor issued pursuant to Section 204 of Executive Order No. 11246 so that such provisions will be binding upon each subcontractor or vendor. The contractor will take such action with respect to any subcontract or purchase order as may be directed by the Secretary of Labor as a means of enforcing such provisions including sanctions for noncompliance, provided, however, that in the event the contractor becomes involved in, or is threatened with, litigation with a subcontractor or vendor as a result of such direction, the contractor may request the United States to enter into such litigation to protect the interests of the United States. [Sec. 202 amended by EO 11375 of Oct. 13, 1967, 32 FR 14303, 3 CFR, 1966‐1970 Comp., p. 684, EO 12086 of Oct. 5, 1978, 43 FR 46501, 3 CFR, 1978, Comp., p. 230]