CONTRACTOR QUESTIONS AGENCY RESPONSES.docx

Contractor Questions and Agency Responses Solicitation 28321319R00000017 Amendment 0005

Contractor Question 1 -What type of data are they storing (Structured/Unstructured) Agency Response 1 – SSA will store both Structured and Unstructured data on the storage purchased with this Contract.

Contractor Question 2 - What is the typical size of the files?

Agency Response 2 - File sizes can range between 80 bytes to over 1 terabyte.

Contractor Question 3 - How much storage space are they expecting (Terabytes/Petabytes)?

Agency Response 3 - SSA requires Petabytes of Storage.

Contractor Question 4 - Is their plan to store data on spinning disks indefinitely? Or do they have a strategy to push cold data to tape or cloud?

Agency Response 4 - Please refer to Sections 2.3 and 2.4 of the Statement of Work (SOW) for the storage requirements for this Contract.

SSA does not have a requirement to push cold data to tape or the cloud in this Contract. SOW Sections 1.1 and 2.8.3 are revised to remove tape and virtual tape from the SOW.

Contractor Question 5 - What are their software requirements?

Agency Response 5 - The Software requirements are defined in the following Sections of the SOW.

1) Sections 2.3.2.10 to 2.3.2.18 – Storage Subsystem software

2) Section 2.3.5 – Additional SAN and NAS Subsystem Software

3) Section 2.36 - Software Define Storage (SDS)

4) Sections 2.4.2.6 and 2.4.2.7 - De-duplication Appliance Software

Contractor Question 6 - Are they currently using a software, and just looking to expand their licensing on it?

Agency Response 6 - The Software requirements are defined in the following Sections of the SOW.

1. Sections 2.3.2.10 to 2.3.2.18 – Storage Subsystem software

2. Section 2.3.5 – Additional SAN and NAS Subsystem Software

3. Section 2.36 - Software Define Storage (SDS)

4. Sections 2.4.2.6 and 2.4.2.7 - De-duplication Appliance Software

SSA will not use this Contract to expand the software that is currently being used at SSA.

Contractor Question 7 - Are they only looking for the software to manage the disk storage?

Agency Response 7 - SSA’s requirement for this Contract is to use software to manage Storage Subsystems, Software Define Storage and De-duplication Appliances. The Software requirements are defined in the following Sections of the SOW.

Contractor Question 8 – We would like to know if this will impact in any way the Puerto Rico office and if we can quote for that portion of the business. Please advise

Agency Response 8 – No, this Contract will not impact the Puerto Rico office. Offerors submitting Proposals for partial requirements of the solicitation will receive a “Fail” rating in Phase 1 and their proposal will be rated not technically acceptable and will not be considered further for award. Only offerors receiving a “Pass” technical rating for all requirements will be considered for award and further evaluated under the remaining non-price factors.

Per Section E-4 Addendum to FAR 52.212-2, Evaluation-Commercial Items (1) Evaluation Methodology and Relative Importance of Factors, Phase 1: Technical Requirements:

SSA will evaluate offers, considering the offeror’s compliance with each requirement stated in each Section and Subsection in Section B – SOW, except those in Section 2.11.1 Section 508 Conformance, which will be evaluated separately at Phase 2, and make a determination of technical acceptability.

Phase 1 is a “Pass/Fail” evaluation. If an offeror receives a “Fail” rating in any part of this phase, the proposal is not technically acceptable, and will not be considered further for award. Only offerors receiving a “Pass” technical rating for all requirements will be considered for award and further evaluated under the remaining non-price factors.

Only offerors receiving a “Pass” technical rating for all requirements will be considered for award.

Contractor Question 9 - Section 2.3.8.2. The Contractor shall provide a quantity of two 64-port 32 Gbps blades for SAN Type OS-3. The Contractor shall configure each blade with 64 short wave ports with a minimum speed of 32 Gbps fiber optic (not metallic) small form factor GBICs.

We respectfully ask that this requirement be modified from a “64 port blade” to “a minimum 48-port blade”. The 64 port blade is in essence proprietary, as only one vendor can meet this requirement – thus discouraging competition. We would also ask that this requirement be changed wherever the SAN Type OS-3 is referenced for 64 ports.

Agency Response 9 - SSA has added SOW Section 2.3.8.4 to replace the 64 port blade with “The Contractor shall provide a quantity of 32 ports of 128 GBps for SAN Type OS-3. The Contractor shall install 16 ports in one director and 16 ports in a second director. Each port must connect one 128 GBps Multi-fiber Push On (MPO) native cable or one Multi-fiber Termination Push-on MTP Breakout Fan out cable.” SOW Sections 2.3.8.2, 2.3.7.4, 2.3.7.4.1, and 2.3.7.4.2 have also been revised to remove the 64 port blade requirement.

SSA revised “Attachment 1 Pricing Tables - - Equipment Price Worksheet to add CLIN 104-OS-SAN-3-B-3 “32 ports 128 Gbps for SAN Type OS-3”.

Attachment 1 Pricing Tables - Equipment Price Worksheet is revised to change the Description of CLIN 104-OS-SAN-3-B-2, from 2 "64 port" 32 Gbps Blades for SAN Type OS-3 to 2 "48 port" 32 Gbps Blades for SAN Type OS-3.

Attachment 1 Pricing Tables - Maintenance Price Worksheet is revised to change the Description of CLIN 104-OS-SAN-3-B-2-M, from 2 "64 port" 32 Gbps Blades for SAN Type OS-3 to 2 "48 port" 32 Gbps Blades for SAN Type OS-3.

SSA revised “Attachment 1 Pricing Tables - Maintenance Price Worksheet to add CLIN 104-OS-SAN-3-B-3-M.

SSA revised “Attachment 2 Inventory Config Listing Table - Inventory Configuration Table Worksheet to change the Description of CLIN 104-OS-SAN-3-B-2-, from 2 "64 port" 32 Gbps Blades for SAN Type OS-3 to 2 "48 port" 32 Gbps Blades for SAN Type OS-3.

SSA revised “Attachment 2 Inventory Config Listing Table - Inventory Configuration Table Worksheet” to add CLIN 104-OS-SAN-3-B-3.

Contractor Question 10 - Section 2.3.8.3. The Contractor shall provide the following Inter-Chassis Links (ICLs)cables.

And Sections 2.3.8.3.1. 2.3.8.3.2. 2.3.8.3.3.

We respectfully ask that these sections be removed for the SOW. These cables are proprietary, and the requirement doesn’t allow for competition.

Agency Response 10- SOW Sections 2.3.8.3, 2.3.8.3.1, 2.3.8.3.2 and 2.3.8.3.3 are removed from the SOW.

Attachment 1 Pricing Tables - Equipment Price Worksheet is revised to remove CLINS 104-OS-SAN-ICL-01, 104-OS-SAN-ICL-02, and 104-OS-SAN-ICL-03.

Attachment 1 Pricing Tables - Maintenance Price Worksheet is revised to remove CLINS 104-OS-SAN-ICL-01-M, 104-OS-SAN-ICL-02-M, and 104-OS-SAN-ICL-03-M.

Attachment 2 Inventory Config Listing Table - Inventory Configuration Table Worksheet is revised to remove CLINS 104-OS-SAN-ICL-01, 104-OS-SAN-ICL-02, and 104-OS-SAN-ICL-03.

Contractor Question 11 - Subject: Attachment 5- Past Performance Questionnaire (1) Can I change the date on this when I send it to my references to match the RFP due date of October 4th? It currently shows August 28th.

Agency Response 11- Amendment 0005 revised the due date for submission of the Past Performance Questionnaire to the due date of 3:00 p.m. ET, December 16, 2019.

Contractor Question 12 - If you could provide any information regarding the incumbent contract? Specifically the contractor name and contract number?

Agency Response 12 – The incumbent contractor is EMC Corporation, contract number SS00-14-61028.

Contractor Question 13 - The PAST AND PRESENT PERFORMANCE QUESTIONNAIRE portion of the above solicitation states, “The Government must receive responses by 3PM ET AUGUST 23, 2019.” We have yet to provide the questionnaire information. However, if we provide the information are we still eligible to respond to the solicitation since the response due date is 10/04/2019?

Agency Response 13 – Please see SSA Response 11.

Contractor Question 14- Who is the incumbent for the present contract?

Agency Response 14 – Please see Response 12.

Contractor Question 15 - May you please identify whom the current incumbent prime and subcontractors are?

Agency Response 15 - The incumbent contractor is EMC Corporation. The subcontractor’s information, if any, is not relevant to submitting a proposal in response to this solicitation.

Contractor Question 16 - Can you clarify if 65 systems/locations exist throughout the Continental United States?

Agency Response 16 - The locations of SSA’s current storage hardware are the same as the delivery locations defined in Section 2.10.8. The locations for all of the hardware are listed in the worksheets in “Attachment 4 - Open Systems Storage Infrastructure – (Primary Storage Isilon Nodes and Deduplication Appliances) worksheets”. All the abbreviations for the locations in “Attachment 4 - Open Systems Storage Infrastructure” are revised with the complete site name defined in Section 2.10.8.

Contractor Question 17 - Can the “Architecture Plan” and associated milestones over the IDIQ period of performance be provided or posted for reference?

Agency Response 17- Any proposed, internal SSA Plans are not relevant for an Offeror to respond to this Solicitation. Section 1.1 has been revised to remove SSA internal SSA Plans.

Contractor Question 18 - The past performance questionnaires are due by 3pm on 23 August 2019 yet the solicitation release is today, 9/9/2019, please advise or amend past performance response suspense date?

Agency Response 18 – Please see Response 11.

Contractor Question 19 - Please clarify if two relevant past performances are required and if within 3 or 5-years of performance end date(s) apply?

Agency Response 19 – Per Section E-4(1) Phase 3 Best Value Trade-Off Analysis, Number 2 Past Performance, each Offeror shall provide a Reference List containing no more than three references. The solicitation does not specify when the performance must occur.

Contractor Question 20 - Would you accept Bids to provide Maintenance only (No Hardware provisioning nor SW Support)?

Agency Response 20 – Offerors submitting Proposals for Maintenance only will receive a “Fail” rating in Phase 1 and their proposal will be rated not technically acceptable and will not be considered further for award. Only offerors receiving a “Pass” technical rating for all requirements will be considered for award and further evaluated under the remaining non-price factors.

Per Section E-4 Addendum to FAR 52.212-2, Evaluation-Commercial Items (1) Evaluation Methodology and Relative Importance of Factors, Phase 1: Technical Requirements:

SSA will evaluate offers, considering the offeror’s compliance with each requirement stated in each Section and Subsection in Section B – SOW, except those in Section 2.11.1 Section 508 Conformance, which will be evaluated separately at Phase 2, and make a determination of technical acceptability.

Phase 1 is a “Pass/Fail” evaluation. If an offeror receives a “Fail” rating in any part of this phase, the proposal is not technically acceptable, and will not be considered further for award. Only offerors receiving a “Pass” technical rating for all requirements will be considered for award and further evaluated under the remaining non-price factors.

Only offerors receiving a “Pass” technical rating for all requirements will be considered for award.

Contractor Question 21 - Can you let me know who the current incumbent is on this contract?

Agency Response 21 – Please see Agency Response 12.

Contractor Question 22 - If there is a Set-aside piece to this effort?

Agency Response 22 – This solicitation is a competitive acquisition conducted in accordance with FAR part 15. This is a Full and Open Acquisition with no Set-Aside.

Contractor Question 23 - Looking at your opportunity that just came out can you give me an idea when it will come out and how, MBE, SDVOSB, etc. also, it is stating re-compete can you tell me why?

Agency Response 23 – This solicitation is an active, competitive acquisition conducted in accordance with FAR part 15. This is a Full and Open Acquisition with no Set-Aside. This is a recompete, Please see Response 12.

Contractor Question 24 - If there is an incumbent to this task already Agency Response 24 – Please see Response 12.

Contractor Question 25 - Really trying to find out if this Opportunity is real Agency Response 25 – This is an active solicitation.

Contractor Question 26 - Trying to find out the status of your opportunity.

Agency Response 26 - This is an active solicitation.

Contractor Question 27 - Can I get the incumbent info and prior dollars spent?

Agency Response 27 - The incumbent contractor is EMC Corporation. Prior dollars spent amounts will not be provided through this Solicitation. A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request may provide this information, but it is the contractor’s responsibility to submit a FOIA request and to research what information can be obtained through a FOIA request.

Contractor Question 28 - Is this Opp still in the Pre-solicitations stage?

Agency Response 28 – This is an active solicitation.

Contractor Question 29 - This pre-solicitation are you looking for a formal proposal as we are available to support the SSA.

Agency Response 29 – This is an active solicitation and the requirements to submit a proposal are clearly defined within the solicitation.

Contractor Question 30 - Wanted to inquire as to whether you may consider a small business set aside requirement on this solicitation.

Agency Response 30 – This solicitation is a competitive acquisition conducted in accordance with FAR part 15. This is a Full and Open Acquisition with no Set-Aside.

Contractor Question 31 - For this Solicitation, is there any way to incorporate our Small Business concern into the Request?

Agency Response 31 - This solicitation is a competitive acquisition conducted in accordance with FAR part 15. This is a Full and Open Acquisition with no Set-Aside. In addition, Attachment 6 Small Business Subcontracting Plan is provided to the contractors. Per Section E-11.2 2352.219-1 Submission of Small Business Subcontracting Plan (AUG 2017), (a) The small business subcontracting plan required by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.219-9, Small Business Subcontracting Plan, may be requested from all offerors, except those considered as small businesses under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code identified in this solicitation, determined to be in the competitive range for negotiation with the apparent successful offeror. In addition, Section C-20 2352.219-4 Subcontracting Plan (SEP 2013) (a) The Small Business Subcontracting Plan, is attached in the solicitation and made a part of this contract in Section D, Attachment 6 Small Business Subcontracting Plan.

Contractor Question 32 - A couple of questions from my Engineering section below, Number of deployments of each Storage Subsystems?

Agency Response 32- The estimated number of deployments for each type of Storage Subsystems are listed in the “Attachment 1 Pricing Tables - Equipment Price Worksheet”.

Contractor Question 33 - Number of sites for each?

Agency Response 33 - SSA estimates that 50 percent of the new storage capacity will be installed in Frederick Maryland, 40 percent of the new storage capacity will be installed in Durham, North Carolina and the remaining 10 percent installed between the other sites defined in SOW Section 2.10.8.

Contractor Question 34- Section 2.3.2.18.6: Is the expectation that there will only be 8ms of latency between Data Centers? If so, the maximum distance cannot be 3000 miles.

Agency Response 34- SOW Section 2.3.2.18.6 is revised to clarify SSA replication network latency requirements between the following sites:

1) NSC in Fredrick MD and the SSC in Durham NC the average network latency is 10 milliseconds.

2) Kansas City MO and Richmond CA the average network latency is 55 milliseconds.

Contractor Question 35 - What is the expected block size to be used with the storage?

Agency Response 35 - The average block size is one megabyte.

Contractor Question 36 - Are there any requirements needed for physical or virtual tape libraries?

Agency Response 36 – SSA does not have requirements for physical or virtual tape libraries. SOW Sections 1.1 and 2.8.3 is revised to remove any physical or virtual tape libraries requirements. In addition, SSA has revised form SF1449 to remove virtual tape libraries requirements.

Contractor Question 37 - Section 1.7, Page 12, the requirements appear to be describing clustering of storage resources over an undefined distance. Please confirm that metro-clustered storage satisfies this requirement?

Agency Response 37 – SOW Section 1.7 is revised to add metro clusters in the same data center and removed clusters between sites.

Contractor Question 38 - Section 2.3.2.7, Page 22, Can multiple subsystems be used to fulfill aggregated fibre channel ports quantities? Example OS-1 Agency Response 38 – No, multiple subsystems can not be used to fulfill fibre channel ports quantities.

Contractor Question 39 - Section 2.1.2.1, Page 13, Please confirm that the bidder must provide four physical ethernet switches?

Please confirm that layer two, unmanaged switches meet this requirement?

Agency Response 39 – SOW Section 2.1.2 is revised to ‘For any storage subsystem that requires Ethernet TCP/IP switches to be included in the storage subsystem configuration, the Contractor shall configure the storage subsystem as defined in 2.1.2.1 or 2.1.2.2.

SOW Section 2.1.2.1 does require four physical Ethernet switches. SOW Section 2.1.2.1 is revised to add at “least four physical Ethernet switches”.

Layer two; unmanaged switches meet the requirement defined in SOW Section 2.1.2.2.

SOW Section 2.1.2.2 is revised to “The Contractor shall configure the switches without an internal network with routing disabled or the switches must be layer two unmanaged switches. At least two switches must be provided and configured with the storage subsystem.”

Contractor Question 40 -2.3.1.8, Page 20, Does a vendor provided preferred practices guide satisfy this requirement?

Agency Response 40- No, a vendor provided preferred practices guide will not meet this requirement. The utility must compare a server I/O configuration setup with the Contractor recommended server I/O configuration. The utility will be used for server I/O configuration setup and problem resolution. Section 2.3.1.8 is revised to clarify this requirement.

Contractor Question 41- Section 2.12: Should the offeror include the potential cost of Technology Substitution in its proposal?

Agency Response 41 – The offeror shall not include the potential cost of the Technology Substitution in the contractor’s proposal.

Contractor Question 42 - Section 2.13: Should the offeror include the potential cost of Technology Innovations in its proposal?

Agency Response 42 – The offeror shall not include the potential cost of the Technology Innovations in the contractor’s proposal.

Contractor Question 43 - Section 2.6 and Section C-19: Section 2.6 and Section C-19 appear to have differing numbers of Key Personnel required. Exactly how many persons of each Key Personnel labor category are required? Further, the statement in Section C-19 that reads, “To be identified at time of award” appears to contradict the statement in Section C-19 that reads, “Contractor to fill in contractor's Key Personnel information with proposal submission”.

Agency Response 43 – The estimated number of persons required for each Key Personnel are as follows.

- Customer Engineer (CE) – Determined by the Contractor

- Systems Engineer (SE) - Between one and four as listed in the “Attachment 1 Pricing Tables - Support Price Worksheet” CLIN 201-2.

- Support Account Manager (SAM) - One

Section C-19 is revised to remove the sentence, “Contractor to fill in contractor's key personnel information with proposal submission.”

Contractor Question 44 -Past Performance Questionnaire Cover Page and RFP Part 4: The Past Performance Questionnaire instructions state that the past customer must respond by 3PM ET AUGUST 23, 2019. This above due date conflicts with the due date stated on Page 127 of the RFP Part 4 which states, “references to submit completed questionnaires, no later than the closing date for receipt of proposals”. Please clarify.

Agency Response 44 – Please see Response 11.

Contractor Question 45 - Are offerors allowed to submit alternative proposals?

Agency Response 45 – Per Section E-4 ADDENDUM TO FAR 52.212-2, EVALUATION—COMMERCIAL ITEMS (1) Phase 3- Best Value Trade-Off Analysis, Basis of Award/Tradeoff Process, The Government intends to award a single Indefinite Delivery-Indefinite Quantity contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose proposal, conforming to the solicitation, represents the best value to the Government, price and other factors considered. The contractor’s proposal must conform to the solicitation.

Contractor Question 46 - The de-duplication table requirements table on page 19 in Section 2.2.11 doesn’t match the usable storage requirements listed in Section 2.4.1.2 on page 24. Should these two requirements match?

Agency Response 46 – The usable storage for the de-duplication appliances in SOW Section 2.4.2.1 is revised to match the usable storage for the de-duplication appliances in SOW Section 2.2.11 Table 2 “De-duplication Appliance Requirements Table” as follows:

1) The usable storage in Section 2.4.2.1.2 is changed from 700 TBs to 280. TBs

2) The usable storage in Section 2.4.2.1.3 is changed from 275 TBs to 140 TBs.

3) The usable storage in Section 2.4.2.1.4 is changed from 150 TBs to 55 TBs.

Contractor Question 47 - In Section 2.3.6.1 lists thin provisioning as a requirement. Some solutions can meet all the other needs listed in Section 2.3.6 with thin provisioning is not being required nor desirable. Will SSA consider solutions that meet and exceed other solutions that do not offer thin provisioning but able to meet all other requirements listed in section2.3.6?

Agency Response 47 – SOW Section 2.3.6.1.1 is revised to remove thin provisioning as a requirement.

Contractor Question 48 - In Section 1.4. OS Storage Subsystems Hardware and Software Requirements Summary - Do you currently use application side compression and/or encryption? If so, what compression/encryption software are you using and on which device (storage system)? How much of the usable capacity is using application encryption/compression? Please provide application/workload (ie. Oracle, SQL Server, Virtual Machine, etc.) breakdown that’s compressed/encrypted.

Agency Response 48 - SSA does not use application side encryption. SSA does use Oracle’s Advanced Compression for large data sets within Oracle databases and Splunk data is compressed. No other applications use application side compression.

Contractor Question 49 - In Section 2.2.8. Network Attached Storage (NAS) Access Requirements, Storage Virtualization Appliance Please provide the NFS and CIFS/SMB versions you run. Do the NAS appliances require security integration (ie. Kerberos, etc.)?

Agency Response 49 – SSA uses NFS versions 3 and 4 four Unix and Linux Servers. SSA uses SMB version 3 for Windows server. For NAS security, SSA uses account access with Control Minder NFS shares on Unix Servers, Active Directory for CIFS/SMB shares on Windows servers and Red Hat IPA for NFS shares on Linus servers. Section 2.2.8 is revised to include NFS and CIFS/SMB version requirements and NAS SSA’s security requirements. CIFS has also changed to CIFS/SMB throughout the SOW.

Contractor Question 50 - Section 2.2.11. Storage Subsystem, and De-Duplication Hardware and Software Summaries Table 1 – for storage subsystems OS1 – OS8 please providing the following:

a) Number of hosts connected to the subsystem

b) A list of applications (ie. VMware, HyperV, Oracle, SQL Server, file data, etc.) and their usable capacity supported by the subsystem

i. Performance characteristics of each application to include read/write IOPs, read/write block size and bandwidth

c) Will SSA consider storage subsystems that don’t require 64 – 128 ports to meet the capacity, performance and data reduction specifications for each OS tier? What is the need to scale to 128 ports per storage subsystem?

d) What is the annual growth rate for each storage subsystem?

e) Why is data reduction (Effective Storage Capacity Ratio) not a requirement for storage subsystems OS5 – OS8?

f) Why is deduplication not a requirement for storage subsystem OS3?

g) De-duplication Appliance Requirements Table – please clarify the need for 2 fibre channel ports in addition to the ethernet ports. Are the appliances supporting VTLs? If yes, what applications are backing up to VTL versus disk pools or database dumps?

Agency Response 50 –

a) Attachment 4 Open Systems Storage Infrastructure is revised to add the number of servers (hosts) connected to the subsystem in the Primary Storage Worksheet.

b) The list of applications that currently use SSA Open Systems storage are VMware, Oracle, SQL Server, file server data via VMware, Splunk, Red Hat Linux, Unix Solaris Share Point via VMware, VDI via VMware, Tivoli and Skype.

i. SOW Section 2.3.2 is revised to add Attachment 7 – Dell-EMC Unisphere Reports to the requirement. Section E-3.4 Additional Information Furnished to Offerors is deleted and removed from the solicitation. Per Section 2.3.2 SSA will provide Dell/EMC Unisphere Reports to Contractors, however, the Data Domain Scheduled Auto Support Reports will not be provided due to the removal of Section E-3.4.

c) For Storage Subsystem Type OS-1, Storage Subsystem Type OS-3, Storage Subsystem Type OS-5 and Storage Subsystem Type OS-6, SSA has reduced the total number of required front-end fiber channel ports to 64. Sections 2.2.11 Table 1 “Storage Subsystem Requirements Table”, 2.3.2.8.1, 2.3.2.8.3, 2.3.2.8.4 and 2.3.2.8.5 is revised to remove the upgrade requirement for front-end fiber channel requirement for Storage Subsystem Type OS-1, Storage Subsystem Type OS-3, Storage Subsystem Type OS-5 and Storage Subsystem Type OS-6.

Attachment 1 Pricing Tables - Equipment Price Worksheet is revised to remove CLINS 103-OS-1-64-FC-UPG, 103-OS-3-64-FC-UPG, 103-OS-5-64-FC-UPG, and 103-OS-6-64-FC-UPG.

Attachment 1 Pricing Tables - Maintenance Price Worksheet is revised to remove CLINS 103-OS-1-64-FC-UPG-M, 103-OS-3-64-FC-UPG-M, 103-OS-5-64-FC-UPG-M and 103-OS-6-64-FC-UPG-M.

Attachment 2 Inventory Config Listing Table - Inventory Configuration Table Worksheet is revised to remove CLINS 103-OS-1-64-FC-UPG, 103-OS-3-64-FC-UPG, 103-OS-5-64-FC-UPG, and 103-OS-6-64-FC-UPG.

d) The estimated annual growth rate for each storage subsystem does not change after the year the subsystem has been purchased.

e) Data reduction (Effective Storage Capacity Ratio) is not a requirement for storage subsystems Storage Subsystem Type OS-5, Storage Subsystem Type OS-6, Storage Subsystem Type OS-7 and Storage Subsystem Type OS-8 because these subsystems can be block level automated tiered subsystems. Please refer to SOW Sections 2.3.2.1.5, 2.3.2.1.6, 2.3.2.1.7, 2.3.2.1.8 and 2.3.2.16 on the block level automated tiering requirements.

f) The minimum data reduction requirement for Storage Subsystem Type OS3 is data compression. SOW Section 2.3.2.5.3 has been revised to clarify the data reduction requirements for Storage Subsystem Type OS-3.

g) SSA does not support or use VTLs. Section 2.8.3 has been revised to remove the reference to virtual tape subsystems. The two fiber channel ports will be used for testing SSA’s disaster recovery procedures using an isolated disaster recovery network. SSA will use the two fiber ports to connect the de-duplication appliance to the disaster recovery NetBackup master and media servers via the fiber channel ports while the data de-duplication appliances are still attached to the production messaging network via IP ports. Section 2.4.2.2 is revised to state:

“The de-duplication appliances must be configured with two 16-GBps Fiber channel interfaces. The de-duplication appliances must support being connected to two NetBackup servers at the same time. SSA will configure both NetBackup servers with the same server name and IP address on two separate networks: the first server must use Ethernet connection to access the backup data, and the second server must use fiber channel ports to access the backup data.”

Contractor Question 51 - Section 2.3.2. OS SAN Storage Subsystems; Please clarify the need for 2.5 inch form factor drives with a capacity less than 1.2 TBs.

Agency Response 51 – Section 2.3.2 is revised to remove the requirement for 2.5 inch form factor drives with a capacity less than 1.2 TBs.

Contractor Question 52 - Section 2.3.2. OS SAN Storage Subsystems; Would storage subsystems be considered that use Intel Skylake CPUs, instead of Intel Broadwell CPUs, that provide SSA greater scalability, performance and data reduction requiring less rack space and footprint in your data centers?

Agency Response 52 – The type of Central Processing Units (CPUs), used by the storage subsystems has not been defined in Section 2.3.2, however all hardware must meet the Supply Chain Risk requirements in Section 2.14.

Contractor Question 53 - Section 2.3.2.4 OS SAN Storage Subsystems; Please clarify why no capacity upgrades are needed for storage subsytems OS-2 Agency Response 53 – For Storage Subsystem Type OS-2 both the initial useable storage configured and the maximum useable storage configured is 600 TB. Section 2.3.2.3.2 states the requirement of 600 TBs of usable storage.

Contractor Question 54 -Section 2.3.2. 5 OS SAN Storage Subsystems; Please clarify why effective storage capacity ratios are 3:1/2:1 and not greater? Wouldn’t SSA want greater effective capacity ratios given the data types you specified in this document (VMware, Oracle, etc.)?

Agency Response 54 - The minimum effective storage capacity ratios are defined as follows:

1) The minimum effective storage capacity ratio is defined in Section 2.3.2.5.1 and are 3:1 for Storage Subsystem Type OS-1.

2) The minimum effective storage capacity ratio is defined in Section 2.3.2.5.2 and are 3:1 for Storage Subsystem Type OS-2.

3) The minimum effective storage capacity ratio is defined in Section 2.3.2.5.3 and are 2:1 for Storage Subsystem Type OS-3.

4) The minimum effective storage capacity ratio is defined in Section 2.3.2.5.4 and are 2:1 for Storage Subsystem Type OS-4.

Contractor Question 55 - Section 2.3.2.8 OS SAN Storage Subsystems; If a storage subsystem was able to satisfy the performance requirements without needing to upgrade in the port increments referred to in Section 2.3.2.8, would that satisfy the requirement?

Agency Response 55 – For Storage Subsystem Type OS-1, Storage Subsystem Type OS-3, Storage Subsystem Type OS-5 and Storage Subsystem Type OS-6, SSA has reduced the total number of required front-end fiber channel ports to 64. Sections 2.2.11 Table 1 “Storage Subsystem Requirements Table”, 2.3.2.8.1, 2.3.2.8.3, 2.3.2.8.4 and 2.3.2.8.5 have been revised remove the upgrade requirement for front-end fiber channel requirement for Storage Subsystem Type OS-1, Storage Subsystem Type OS-3, Storage Subsystem Type OS-5 and Storage Subsystem Type OS-6.

Attachment 1 Pricing Tables - Equipment Price Worksheet is revised to remove CLINS 103-OS-1-64-FC-UPG, 103-OS-3-64-FC-UPG, 103-OS-5-64-FC-UPG, and 103-OS-6-64-FC-UPG.

Attachment 1 Pricing Tables - Maintenance Price Worksheet is revised to remove CLINS 103-OS-1-64-FC-UPG-M, 103-OS-3-64-FC-UPG-M, 103-OS-5-64-FC-UPG-M and 103-OS-6-64-FC-UPG-M.

Attachment 2 Inventory Config Listing Table - Inventory Configuration Table Worksheet is revised to remove CLINS 103-OS-1-64-FC-UPG, 103-OS-3-64-FC-UPG, 103-OS-5-64-FC-UPG, and 103-OS-6-64-FC-UPG.

Contractor Question 56 - Section 2.3.2.11 – 2.3.2.18 OS SAN Storage Subsystems; Please clarify your need of individual licenses for all of the functions described in these sections. Would SSA benefit from a reduction in functionality specific licensing by employing storage subsystems that provided all-inclusive licensing?

Agency Response 56 – Yes, for Sections 2.3.2.11 to 2.3.2.18, SSA will accept “bundled” licensing, however, all the required software must be included in any “bundled” licensing model. SOW Section 2.3.2 is revised to “The Contractor shall configure the subsystems with the required storage subsystem individual software licenses outlined below or the Contractor shall bundle all the required software licenses into one software package.”

Contractor Question 57 - Section 2.3.2.12 OS SAN Storage Subsystems; Can you elaborate on the definition of a “split-mirror”? Is this a clone of a snapshot or remote replica on another subsystem?

Agency Response 57 – SOW Section 2.3.2.12 is revised to remove the requirement for “Split Mirror” and revise to “Create a Cloned Volume Copy”

Contractor Question 58 - Section 2.3.2.17 OS SAN Storage Subsystems; Why does SSA require additional server-based path fail-over licenses when operating systems and hypervisors include this functionality natively? What operating systems or hypervisors require this functionality?

Agency Response 58 – SSA has realized a benefit in the past when path failover software provided by the storage hardware was used over native multi-pathing software of the hypervisor or Operating System (OS). It is the intention of the SSA to offer a storage hardware based path failover software solution to the server administrators for the benefit of having one Point of Contact (POC) for problem resolution when it pertains to path failover issues and storage hardware. The operating systems and hypervisors that require host based path fail over, and load balancing are defined in SOW Section 2.3.2.17.

Contractor Question 59 - Section 2.3.5 OS SAN and NAS Subsystem Software Additional Software (“Upgrades”); Does “SRM” refer to legacy based Storage Resource Management software? If yes, why does SSA require this approach instead of using a more modern, cloud-based storage fleet management product? Cloud-based could run in a Government cloud or on-premises.

Agency Response 59 – SSA requires the use of a Storage Resource Management tool for reporting and monitoring performance of storage subsystems, storage area network switches/directors, and virtual storage appliances. This requirement is defined in section 2.3.5. The product must be configurable as defined in section 2.3.5. This product must also provide a feature for problem reporting as defined in section 2.3.5. The infrastructure on which this platform runs is not defined in section 2.3.5, only the salient characteristics of the Storage Resource Management software is defined.

Contractor Question 60 - Section 2.3.5 OS SAN and NAS Subsystem Software Additional Software (“Upgrades”); This Section doesn’t include any requirements for AI/ML embedded in the product to understand the performance load on a storage subsystem or the ability to proactively notify SSA of a problem before it affects your production environment. Would this benefit SSA and should it be added as a requirement?

Agency Response 60 – The requirements of section 2.3.5. Will remain the same and unchanged.

Contractor Question 61 - Section 2.3.5 OS SAN and NAS Subsystem Software Additional Software (“Upgrades”); How would the ability to analyze end-to-end performance of virtual machines to the storage subsystem benefit SSA? How would the ability to project future load on a storage subsystem benefit SSA? Should these capabilities be added as a requirement?

Agency Response 61 – The projection of future loads on storage arrays is not a requirement defined in section 2.3.5 End-to-end analysis is not a requirement of the software in section 2.3.5. The requirements in section 2.3.5 will remain the same and unchanged.

Contractor Question 62 - Solicitation Section E-6; Page 137: Will the contracting officer indicate if paragraph (k)(1) or (k)(2) of the Representations and Certifications applies?

Agency Response 62 – Section E-6 FAR 52.212-3 OFFEROR REPRESENTATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS—COMMERCIAL ITEMS (OCT 2018), is revised to check box for (k)(1). The Contract Document is revised to check box (k)(1). Revisions are highlighted in yellow in the Contract Document.

Contractor Question 63 - In reviewing this document , recompete for Open Systems Contract, it appears that only the vendors that submitted bids the 1st time would be able to submit by 10/4 again? Is that correct or can anyone submit a bid?

Agency Response 63 – This solicitation is a competitive acquisition conducted in accordance with FAR part 15. This is a Full and Open Acquisition with no Set-Aside. The instructions for submitting a Proposal are clearly defined in the solicitation.

Contractor Question 64- I think the primary question is that if the list of current systems is Dell/EMC, are you expecting vendors to bid with only Dell/EMC replacement systems or are we allowed to bid equivalent systems from competing manufacturers?

Agency Response 64 – Offerors responding to this proposal may submit any proposed hardware/software solution they feel meets the minimum salient characteristics of this RFP.

Contractor Question 65 - Section E 3.1 General Proposal Packaging and Content - Volume I – Technical Proposal - The instructions in this section on page 120 lists a requirement to include a Part 5: Staff Qualifications of Key Personnel. However, in E-3.2 Technical Proposal Instructions on pages 120-128, Part 5 is labeled as Project Management Plan, and there are no detailed instructions regarding Staff Qualifications of Key Personnel, can the SSA please confirm if there is a specific requirement to provide Staff Qualifications of Key Personnel? If yes, will the SSA please provide the requirements for this section and if this is not a requirement can the SSA remove this from the Technical Volume instructions and renumber the sections as appropriate.

Agency Response 65 – Section E-3.1 General Proposal Packaging and Content, the parts in the Technical Proposal have been renumbered to remove Part 5, Staff Qualifications of Key Personnel. The revised parts are highlighted in yellow.

Contractor Question 66 - Pricing Tables Maintenance Price Tab Price CLINs Years 7-14 - Please clarify the intention to price CLINs for maintenance in years 7 – 14 as Parts for the out years will be limited. Can the SSA please clarify that the SSA is not intending for vendors to price maintenance for products that may have gone End of Life and/or End of Service Support life?

Agency Response 66 - SSA will not require the offerors to price maintenance for products that may have gone End of Life (EOL) and/or End of Service Support Life (EOSL) in years 7-14. Sections 2.12 Technology Substitution and Section 2.13 Technology Innovation, provides for technology refreshment/replacements in the event hardware provided on this contract are EOL or EOSL in years 1-7 which will cover any technology substitutions needed before the EOL or EOSL occurs. Section 2.8.6 is revised to include “The maintenance for hardware will end on the Contractor announced End of Support Date. When End of Support Date has been announced for software that is not depended on hardware purchased via this Contract, the Contractor shall replace the software via a Technology Substitution. A Technology Substitution is outlined in Section 2.12. The Contractor shall notify via e-mail the CO, COTR, and the Alternate COTR no later than one week after hardware or software End of Support Date is announced. The Contractor shall limit the e-mail to just the latest hardware or software products that have End of Support Date just announced.”

A definition of “End of Support Date” has been added to Attachement 3 – Definitions is revised to add the definition for “End of Support Date”.

Contractor Question 67 - Table 1 Subsystem Table 1 - Please confirm that the OS1 through OS8 requirements from Table 1 must be met with a single storage array for each requirement.

Agency Response 67 – The requirements that are stated in Section 2.2.11 in Table 1 “Storage Subsystem Requirements Table” are for one storage subsystem for Storage Subsystem Type OS-1, one storage subsystem for Storage Subsystem Type OS-2, one storage subsystem Storage Subsystem Type OS-3, one storage subsystem for Storage Subsystem Type OS-4, one storage subsystem for Storage Subsystem Type OS-5, one storage subsystem for Storage Subsystem Type OS-6, one storage subsystem for Storage Subsystem Type OS-7, and one storage subsystem for Storage Subsystem Type OS-8. For all eight storage subsystems, the requirements are stated in Section 2.3.2.

Contractor Question 68 - Table 1, Section 2.3.2.5 Capacity Ratio Please confirm that the effective storage capacity ratios stated are the maximum that can be assumed for solution configurations.

Agency Response 68 – The requirements listed in Section 2.2.11 in Table 1 “Storage Subsystem Requirements Table” and in Section 2.3.2.5 are the required minimum ratios.

Contractor Question 69 - Table 1, Section 2.3.2.5 Capacity Ratio - Please confirm that a bidder must provide a contractual agreement committing to the effective capacity ratio proposed, that includes penalties if not met.

Agency Response 69 – SOW Section 2.3.2.5.1 is revised to include “The Contractor shall provide a three to one Effective Storage Utilization ratio that is based solely on deduplication and compression of the data stored on the subsystem. In the event a Storage Subsystem Type OS-1, subsystem cannot maintain a three to one Effective Storage utilization ratio based solely on deduplication and compression the Contractor shall provide additional storage to account for the short fall in the Effective Storage Utilization.”

SOW Section 2.3.2.5.2 is revised to include “The Contractor shall provide a three to one Effective Storage Utilization ratio that is based solely on deduplication and compression of the data stored on the subsystem. In the event a Storage Subsystem Type OS-2, subsystem cannot maintain a three to one Effective Storage utilization ratio based solely on deduplication and compression the Contractor shall provide additional storage to account for the short fall in the Effective Storage Utilization.”

SOW Section 2.3.2.5.3 is revised to include “The Contractor shall provide a two to one Effective Storage Utilization ratio that is based solely on compression of the data stored on the subsystem. In the event a Storage Subsystem Type OS-3, subsystem cannot maintain a two to one Effective Storage utilization ratio based solely on compression the Contractor shall provide additional storage to account for the short fall in the Effective Storage Utilization.”

SOW Section 2.3.2.5.4 is revised to include “The Contractor shall provide a two to one Effective Storage Utilization ratio that is based solely on compression of the data stored on the subsystem. In the event a Storage Subsystem Type OS-4, subsystem cannot maintain a two to one Effective Storage utilization ratio based solely on compression the Contractor shall provide additional storage to account for the short fall in the Effective Storage Utilization.”

The Contractor shall meet the Effective Storage Utilization ratios as defined Section 2.3.2.5.

Contractor Question 70 - Table 1, Section 2.3.2.7 Fiber port speed Would SSA require 32GB Fiber Channel Connectivity for the OS1 & OS2 Storage Subsystems, considering the aggressive performance requirements and 32GB switch speeds?

Agency Response 70 – No, The requirements in section 2.3.2.7 will remain the same and unchanged.

Contractor Question 71 - Table 1, Section 2.3.2.7 NVMeoF support - Would SSA require NVMeoF Connectivity for the OS1 & OS2 Storage Subsystems, considering the aggressive performance requirements?

Agency Response 71 - No, The requirements in section 2.3.2.7 will remain the same and unchanged.

Contractor Question 72 - Section 2.3.2.18 Remote replication - Please confirm that SSA would require the remote replication software to be able to replicate between all storage arrays offered for requirements OS1 through OS8.

Agency Response 72 – No, remote replication software is not required to replicate between all storage subsystems offered for OS1 through OS8. At a minimum, each type of subsystem defined in Section 2.3.2 must replicate between the same subsystem type. For example, Storage Subsystem Type OS-1 installed in site one must have the capability to replicate to a Subsystem Type OS-1 installed at site two.

Contractor Question 73 - Section 2.8.10 Contractor On-Site Response Time For Problems - ‘Contractor On-Site Response Time For Problems - The Contractor shall perform all warranty and maintenance activities on-site at any time such warranty and maintenance activities are required 24x7x365, and a CE shall be dispatched to meet the 3-hour response time. The Contractor shall arrive on-site and be ready to resolve warranty and maintenance problems within three hours from the time the Contractor receives notice of a problem via the hardware’s notify-home-office capability. When SSA notifies the Contractor via the help desk telephone number of a problem, the Contractor shall be on-site within three hours of problem notification. The Contractor shall be available to resolve hardware warranty and maintenance activities 24x7x365.’

Would the Government consider changing the on-site response requirement to the industry standard 4 hour on-site response time?

Agency Response 73 – No, The requirements in section 2.8.10 will remain the same and unchanged.

Contractor Question 74 - Section 2.1 and Section 2.3.2.5.4 Effective Storage Capacity Ratio - In Section 2.1, Table 1 for OS4 Effective Storage Capacity Ratio it states 2:1.

In Section 2.3.2.5, subsection 2.3.2.5.4, the verbiage indicates 3:1. Is the OS4 ‘Effective Storage Capacity Ratio’ requirement of 2:1 in Table 1 accurate? The verbiage in 2.3.2.5.4 appears to conflict with this table. Is the 3:1 ratio as stated in Section 2.3.2.5.4 correct?

Agency Response 74 – SOW Section 2.3.2.5.4, is revised to match Section 2.2.11 Table 1 Storage Subsystem Requirements Table and to clarify Effective Storage Capacity Ratio of 2:1 requirement for Storage Subsystem Type OS-4.

All the values in Section 2.2.11 Table 1 Storage Subsystem Requirements Table have been compared to the requirements in Section 2.3.2 of the SOW. As a result, the RPO values for OS7 and OS8 have been revised to 15 Minutes to match the requirement defined in Section 2.3.2.18.1.

Section 2.3.2.18.1 has also been revised to include Recovery Time Objective (RTO) that is defined in Section 2.2.11 Table 1 Storage Subsystem Requirements Table.

Contractor Question 75 - Section 2.3.6.3.1 Fiber Optic transceivers - Section 2.3.6.3.1 Should the 3 10Gb Network adapters be fully populated with Fiber Optic transceivers?

Agency Response 75 - Section 2.3.6.3.1 specifies “The SDS configurations must be delivered with the following minimum quantities of usable storage:” If this question was in reference to section 2.3.6.3.3, the answer is yes. The three - 10Gb Network adapters must be fully populated with Fiber Optic transceivers. Section 2.3.6.3.3 is revised to state that each server must be configured with at least three dual ported 10 Gbps Ethernet adapters. The three 10Gb Network adapters must be fully populated with Fiber Optic transceivers

Contractor Question 76 - Section 2.2.11. De-duplication Appliance Requirements Table - Requirements for Dedupe1-3 are for 12 10GbE ports and Dedupe4 for 4 10Gb ports.

Do these ports count include the remote replication ports?

Should the total amount of Ethernet ports be 12 or 14?

How may ports needs to be optical vs. copper?

Agency Response 76 – The ports counts does include the remote replication ports. SOW Section 2.4.2.3 is revised to include “The Contractor shall configure two of the ports that SSA will use to replicate data between SSA’s data centers.” Section 2.2.11 Table 2 “De-duplication Appliance Requirements Table” has been revised to remove the “Remote Replication Row:”

SOW Section 2.2.11 Table 2 ”De-duplication Appliance Requirements Table” and Sections 2.4.2.3.1, 2.4.2.3.2 and 2.4.2.3.3 are revised to reduce the total number of required 10Gb Ethernet ports from 12 to 8 for De-duplication Appliance OS-1, De-duplication Appliance OS-2 and De-duplication Appliance OS-3.

All the 10Gb Ethernet ports must be optical ports. SOW Section 2.4.2.3 is revised to include “The de-duplication appliances must be configured the specified minimum quantities of 10 Gbps fiber optic (not metallic) Ethernet ports with small form factor GBICs installed.”

Contractor Question 77 - Section 2.4.1.1.1. & Section 2.4.1.1.2 For OS De-duplication Appliances, the Contractor shall choose between one of the following two types of configurations: Please clarify the requirement between the two deduplication options. What is the requirement for a deduplication gateway? Can a vendor provide both options?

Agency Response 77 - The requirement is for one of the two options. The contractor may propose either or both of the options for section 2.4.1.1.1 and 2.4.1.1.2.

Contractor Question 78 - Section 2.4. Deduplication Appliance descriptions include reference to OS-1 to OS-4. Is this a typo and should this entire Section be referencing Dedup 1-4 throughout the section, not OS 1-4?

Agency Response 78 – SOW Section 2.4.2.8 and 2.4.3 is revised to reference Deduplication Appliances as De-duplication Appliance OS-1 and De-duplication Appliance OS-4 to clarify this requirement.

Contractor Question 79 - Section 2.4.2.8 The Contractor shall provide 5 TBs of useable storage upgrade for De-duplication Appliances OS-1 through OS-4.