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Amendment 0005 - Questions and Answers 181 through 239
RFP HC1028-11-R-0104
| DOCUMENT |
| HC1028-11-R-0104 0001 |
| SECTION NAME |
| Page Size and Format |
| SECTION TEXT |
| (a) “Pages should be typed with 1.5 line spacing.” |
| QUESTION |
| Can tables, charts, graphs and figures utilize single line spacing? |
| ANSWER |
| Yes, tables, charts, graphs and figures may utilize single line spacing. |
| DOCUMENT |
| J-2 Processor Requirements Document and J-5 Processor PWS Template |
| PAGE |
| 8 of 38 and 13 of 31 |
| SECTION NO. |
| 6.0 and 6.8 Task 8 |
| SECTION NAME |
| Facilities - Racks |
| SECTION TEXT |
| “Rack and power specifications are listed in ATTACHMENT FIVE. Offerors must follow the stated standard power and rack details.” |
| QUESTION |
| This specification in not applicable to the z Chipset since the IBM System z physical architecture utilizes neither “standard” racks nor power distribution. Would the Government please consider removing this requirement for the z Chipset? |
| ANSWER |
| See Amendment 0002, J-6, IBM System z Chipset Pricing model. The rack requirement has been removed for the z-Series chipset. |
| DOCUMENT |
| Attachment J-1 and Attachment J-2 Attachment 3 |
| PAGE |
| 1, 2, and Page 25 and 26 |
| SECTION NO. |
| 1.2.1.3, 2.0, 3.2, 3.9, and Attachment Three |
| SECTION NAME |
| Purpose and Enterprise Management Products for Servers |
| SECTION TEXT |
| The service provider will acquire, install, deinstall, transport, configure, and provide the necessary hardware (including cabinets/racks/cabling/cable management/PDUs), hardware maintenance, operating system software, VMware, as well as, any other software required for the offeror solution to operate, and services to support the processor infrastructure associated with this contract. |
| QUESTION |
| What software, if any, from page 25 & 26, needs to be priced into this contract? If the answer is none, please explain the methodology about how the offerors will be provided licenses of the software in Attachment 3. If offerors are not provided the software licenses, at what point in the server provisioning process will DISA assume responsibility to load the software agents? |
| ANSWER |
| The software identified on Attachment 3 (pages 25 and 26) do not need to be priced. The vendors are not responsible for licensing of ESM products. The Government has the responsibility for installation of ESM products. |
| SECTION NAME |
| Technology Refresh |
| SECTION TEXT |
| The Government can decide to refresh hardware based on functions and technology updates, at any point in time during the first five years. |
| QUESTION |
| What are the criteria under which DISA would demand a tech refresh, i.e., replacement of equipment placed in service under the contract? Or is the intent of this section to obtain Technology Insertion, i.e., new equipment deliveries being of the technology generation following that of the initial equipment deliveries under the contract? |
| ANSWER |
| See Question 6, Amendment 0003. |
| SECTION NAME |
| Tier Definitions |
| QUESTION |
| Is it the government’s intent to acquire the use of physical blades or virtual instances? |
| ANSWER |
| The vendor’s technical proposal should address providing the services defined in J-2, to include both physical hardware as well as support for virtual environments. |
| SECTION TEXT |
| X-86 (Windows Server, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, Solaris, VMware) |
| QUESTION |
| Are all of the OS’s listed required on all the servers and/or VM’s? This is an expensive solution. |
| ANSWER |
| The Government will provide the answer in another amendment. |
| SECTION NO. |
| 1.1.5 and P-Series Tier Definitions |
| SECTION NAME |
| IBM System p and Availability Features |
| SECTION TEXT |
| IBM System p (AIX, AIX LPARs) |
| QUESTION |
| This appears to be a conflict with the systems described on Page 22. Is Linux required on the Power systems? |
| ANSWER |
| Linux will not be a requirement for System P environments, J-2, Requirements Document, Attachment One – Service Tier Chipset Definitions and J-5, PWS, para 6.3.3 has been revised accordingly. |
| SECTION NAME |
| Virtual Environment |
| SECTION TEXT |
| Offeror will provide the underlying infrastructure, tools, software, licensing, and licensing agreements to support the VMware Virtual infrastructure as well as native virtual capabilities for HP-UX and Solaris. |
| QUESTION |
| We believe that Oracle, the current owner of the trademark Solaris, does not support OEM sales of the current version of Solaris for x86. Current versions of Solaris are not available or supported by OEM. Will the government remove this requirement for offerors to provide the operating system for Solaris for x86? |
| ANSWER |
| Based upon the hardware compatibility list found at http://www.oracle.com/webfolder/technetwork/hcl/data/sol/systems/views/oracle_systems_x86_x64.page1.html <http://www.oracle.com/webfolder/technetwork/hcl/data/sol/systems/views/oracle_systems_x86_x64.page1.html> it appears that Solaris V10 will run X86. The requirement is valid and will not be removed. |
| DOCUMENT |
| Attachment J-2 and Attachment J-7 |
| SECTION NO. |
| 1.2.3.1 and X86 W/L/L |
| SECTION NAME |
| No title and Tier Definitions |
| SECTION TEXT |
| All operating environments whether physical (rack mount or blade) or virtual must be able to provide connectivity for a minimum of 4 network ports supporting Ethernet traffic, and two separate ports for fiber storage connectivity. |
| QUESTION |
| The current DISA environment is based on 1 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE). Is it the intent of the government for the NIC connectivity specified under 1.2.3.1 to be 1 GbE solely or optionally, 10 Gigabit Ethernet? If 10 GbE is desired, please modify SLIN table (J-7) to reflect both architectures. |
| ANSWER |
| See Question 57, Amendment 0003. |
| SECTION TEXT |
| All operating environments whether physical (rack mount or blade) or virtual must be able to provide connectivity for a minimum of 4 network ports supporting Ethernet traffic, and two separate ports for fiber storage connectivity. Two network ports are utilized for production traffic, one network port is utilized for out of band (OOB) network connections, and one port is required for enterprise backup network (EBN) connectivity. Due to this requirement the four communications network ports must be distributed across 4 separate physical communication switches. Ports for fiber storage connectivity must be distributed across 2 separate physical Host Bus Adapter (HBA) cards. All communications switch equipment must be able to support the use of VLANs, as well as any other standard technologies and protocols. The proposed solution should also integrate into existing processing infrastructure with minimal disruption or reconfiguration of network infrastructure. |
| QUESTION |
| Given that the current DISA storage infrastructure supports 8 Gb Fibre Channel, does DISA require that all Fibre channel interfaces similarly be 8 Gb FC? If yes, please update this requirement to specify 8 Gb FC. |
| ANSWER |
| See Question 57, Amendment 0003 |
SECTION NO.
| SECTION NAME |
| SPARC, UX-Itanium, P-Series, x86 W/L/L, System Z Tier Definitions |
| SECTION TEXT |
| Availability Features |
| QUESTION |
| Are the Availability Features listed in each of the Tier Definition tables DISA’s stated minimum requirements? Are these features to be included in the Offeror’s price? Does DISA intend to modify the SLIN table to allow pricing of Availability Features that are not part of DISA’s stated minimum requirements? |
| ANSWER |
| The tier definitions identified in the Tier Definition Tables are the minimum required and should be included in the offeror's price. The Government does not plan to modify the B-table to allow pricing of additional features. |
| QUESTION # |
| 192 – RESERVED – VENDOR WITHDREW THE QUESTION. |
DOCUMENT
PAGE
SECTION NO.
SECTION NAME
SECTION TEXT
QUESTION
ANSWER
| SECTION NO. |
| 1.2.3.1 and X86 W/L/L |
| SECTION NAME |
| No title and Tier Definitions |
| SECTION TEXT |
| All operating environments whether physical (rack mount or blade) or virtual must be able to provide connectivity for a minimum of 4 network ports supporting Ethernet traffic, and two separate ports for fiber storage connectivity. Two network ports are utilized for production traffic, one network port is utilized for out of band (OOB) network connections, and one port is required for enterprise backup network (EBN) connectivity. Due to this requirement the four communications network ports must be distributed across 4 separate physical communication switches. Ports for fiber storage connectivity must be distributed across 2 separate physical Host Bus Adapter (HBA) cards. All communications switch equipment must be able to support the use of VLANs, as well as any other standard technologies and protocols. The proposed solution should also integrate into existing processing infrastructure with minimal disruption or reconfiguration of network infrastructure. |
| QUESTION |
| Does the government currently field or do they intend to field FCoE ( Fibre Channel over Ethernet)? |
| ANSWER |
| CSD does not currently employ use of FCoE on the existing SAN. However, this could be a protocol offered by a vendor and utilized in the CSD SAN when the storage contract is recompeted. |
| SECTION TEXT |
| For all software provided in the offeror solution, including operating system software , VMWare, as well as, any other software required for the offeror solution to operate, |
offeror is responsible to ensure they have documentation that confirms software entitlements and annual/current support/maintenance levels. In the event of an audit, the offeror will be required to defend any audit discrepancy found against all software products that the offeror has acquired in support of this contract.
| QUESTION |
| Does DISA intend that the offeror specify how much VMware software is included in each SLIN on the x86 pricing model as part of the bid? Given that DISA is operating/configuring all VMware environments, can DISA confirm that the offeror will have real-time access to the appropriate VMware components to track software usage? |
| ANSWER |
| The Government will provide the answer in another amendment. |
| SECTION TEXT |
| For all software provided in the offeror solution, including operating system software , VMWare, as well as, any other software required for the offeror solution to operate, offeror is responsible to ensure they have documentation that confirms software entitlements and annual/current support/maintenance levels. In the event of an audit, the offeror will be required to defend any audit discrepancy found against all software products that the offeror has acquired in support of this contract. |
| QUESTION |
| Would DISA please modify the SLIN list to allow adding a SLIN for software entitlements? |
| ANSWER |
| No additional SLINs will be added. |
| SECTION TEXT |
| For all software provided in the offeror solution, including operating system software , VMWare, as well as, any other software required for the offeror solution to operate, |
offeror is responsible to ensure they have documentation that confirms software entitlements and annual/current support/maintenance levels. In the event of an audit, the offeror will be required to defend any audit discrepancy found against all software products that the offeror has acquired in support of this contract.
| QUESTION |
| How will DISA ensure that the offeror is notified of the software entitlement documentation required? |
| ANSWER |
| It is the offeror’s responsibility to ensure that licensing entitlements are correct and documentation represents the correct license entitlement. |
| SECTION NAME |
| Predictive Maintenance |
| SECTION TEXT |
| Contractor shall monitor equipment/component performance using diagnostics defined in paragraph 3.2.3 for the purpose of identifying whether equipment is operating in accordance with established specifications. This includes hardware, operating system software, VMWare, as well as, any other software required for the offeror solution to operate. The contractor shall, upon determining equipment/component is about to fail or is operating outside OEM specifications, initiate action to effect repair even though no call for remedial maintenance has been initiated by the site help desk or shift supervisor. |
Contractor shall call the help desk or shift supervisor to inform them they are coming in for predictive maintenance and upon arrival on site. Contractor’s technician shall report to the site help desk or shift supervisor in order to comply with reporting requirements.
| QUESTION |
| Will DISA permit outward bound i.e. “Call Home” capability to permit predictive alerts to be reported to the contractor via IP connectivity over the Out of Band (OOB) Management Network? |
| ANSWER |
| The OOB cannot be used for this feature. |
| SECTION NAME |
| Remote Diagnostics |
| SECTION TEXT |
| Permanent recorded system errors must be immediately reported to remote service center(s). |
| QUESTION |
| Please define the Remote Service Center(s). Are these internal DISA monitoring sites or is this reference to external contractor facilities? |
| ANSWER |
| Remote Service Centers would be a part of the technical solution provided by the vendor. |
| SECTION NAME |
| Remote Diagnostics |
| SECTION TEXT |
| Permanent recorded system errors must be immediately reported to remote service center(s). This includes hardware, operating system software, VMWare, as well as, any other software required for the offeror solution to operate. The contractor shall provide written confirmation that reports and remote diagnostics support for applicable equipment exist within 7 calendar days after contract performance start. |
Verbal contact between the local maintenance technician and an off-site support technician is not acceptable for remote diagnostics. There shall be a diagnostic system usable by the remote technician.
The dial-in feature can be used, but ONLY with site authorization. The feature must be capable of disabling and set up to provide the site the ability to enable the feature upon request from the contractor.
| QUESTION |
| Will the government accept IP based in-bound communications from the offerors monitoring facility to the OOB? Will the government provide any necessary VPN and/or SSL secure communications capabilities? |
| ANSWER |
| See Question 97, Amendment 0004 and 197. |
| SECTION TEXT |
| Provide processing capacity for Classified workloads. This must be separate hardware infrastructure including channels and networks, not sharing components as instructed by DISA Security Technical Implementation Guides (STIGs) http://iase.disa.mil/stigs/stig/index.html. This requirement does not have any impact on the security clearance provisions of the solicitation. |
| QUESTION |
| In the SIPR and JWICS environments, to what extent does DISA require physically separate hardware and components at the application/user level? Will the government permit Blade Servers to be used to house SIPR applications? Will the government permit Blade Servers to be used to house JWICS applications? Does the government envision using VMware virtualized instances in a SIPR environment? Does the government envision using VMware virtualized instances in a JWICS environment? |
| ANSWER |
| DISA requires physically separate hardware and components for SIPR and JWICS environments. Blades will be used in SIPR, but not in JWICS environments. Virtualization will be used in SIPR, but not in JWICS environments. |
| SECTION TEXT |
| The offeror will provide training/familiarization to DISA system administrators for provided infrastructure; all training requirements should be included in the utility price. |
| QUESTION |
| Does the government require offerors to provide VMware training/familiarization? |
| ANSWER |
| See Question 121, Amendment 0004. |
| SECTION NO. |
| No Section No. |
| SECTION NAME |
| ATTACHMENT FIVE, Page 1 of 5 |
| SECTION TEXT |
| The maximum heat and power density per rack is 5.5 to 6KW. The 5.5 to 6KW reference specifies actual operational load. Loads in excess of this standard can be distributed into additional racks. |
| QUESTION |
| Is “5.5 to 6KW” intended to be per server or chassis rather than per complete 42U Rack? |
| ANSWER |
| The reference is for the complete rack. |
| SECTION NO. |
| No Section No. |
| SECTION NAME |
| ATTACHMENT FIVE, Page 1 of 5 |
| SECTION TEXT |
| DEPTH – 42” / 106.68cm MINIMUM external depth, 45” / 114.3cm MAXIMUM external depth. Racks that are shallower do not have sufficient space to install IT equipment, power distribution, and data-comm cabling while maintaining hot air exhaust pathways. |
| QUESTION |
| If the government selects the optional cooling scheme, would the government modify the depth requirement of the rack (to permit the additional depth) to accommodate the cooling scheme? |
| ANSWER |
| See Question 36, Amendment 0003. |
| DOCUMENT |
| Attachment J-7 x-86 Chipset |
| SECTION NAME |
| 18” standard Rack |
18" standard Rack per rack
| QUESTION |
| The TIA industry standard rack width is 19”. Should the 18” Rack actually be a 19” Rack? |
| ANSWER |
| See Question 36, Amendment 0003. |
| SECTION TEXT |
| Offeror must allow the Government the flexibility to modify rack configurations as |
necessary to install cooling scheme, this allows for cooling infrastructure molded per site dynamics by the Government.
| QUESTION |
| Does the government mean “modeled” instead of “molded”? If not, please explain molded. |
| ANSWER |
| Concur the term should be modeled versus molded. J-2, Requirements Document, para 6.1 and J-5, PWS para 6.8.1.1 are revised accordingly. |
| SECTION TEXT |
| Offeror must allow the Government the flexibility to modify rack configurations as |
necessary to install cooling scheme, this allows for cooling infrastructure molded per site dynamics by the Government.
| QUESTION |
| Can the government explain what is meant by “…modify rack configurations as necessary to install cooling scheme…”? |
| ANSWER |
| When in the best interest of the Government, the Government reserves the right to augment cooling to an area or hot spot vice leveraging vendor provided cooling solutions. Supplemental cooling may require equipment to be physically attached to the rack to provide the ancillary cooling or the replacement of an access door with a specialized door. |
| SECTION TEXT |
| Equipment will be connected to Bioanalytical System (BAS) for control and monitoring. |
| QUESTION |
| Would you please provide functional requirements and/or a point of contact for your particular “Bioanalytical System”? |
| ANSWER |
| See revised Question 12, Amendment 0003. |
| SECTION NAME |
| Virtual Environments |
| SECTION TEXT |
| Provide solution that recognizes Virtual VMware environment as standard infrastructure for the x86 environment. The Government support staff will manage the ESX environment (hosts), placements, relocating environments (vmotion), and the VIC. The Virtual Environment software for all platforms will be included in the processor utility service. |
| QUESTION |
| The bid documents make repeated reference to "VMware" and to "ESX" (one product of the VMware family of offerings). The current enterprise version of VMware is known generally as vSphere. VMware recently announced the upcoming availability of their data center virtualization product family, vSphere Version 5.0 which includes ESXi. They have announced that it will be available in the late August/early September timeframe. Would the government please indicate whether the “N” version of VMware will be considered to be the recently announced version vSphere 5.0 or the soon to be replaced “ESX”? |
| ANSWER |
| The Government will provide the answer in another amendment. |
| DOCUMENT |
| Requirements Document Processor Environnent, Attachment J-2 , J-7 IBM System p Chipset Pricing Model |
| SECTION NAME |
| P-Series Tier Definitions – Tier 1 thru 3 |
| QUESTION |
| Is there a definition for Tier 4 for SLIN 5001AD? If there is no definition for Tier 4, would the government please remove the Tier 4 SLINS from the price table (and evaluations). |
| ANSWER |
| See Question 34, Amendment 0003. |
| DOCUMENT |
| Requirements Document, Attachment J-2 & Attachment J-10 |
| PAGE |
| J-2, Page 22 and J-10, Tab Monthly Rates |
| SECTION NO. |
| P-Series Tier Descriptions |
| SECTION TEXT |
| CPU Capacity/Type |
| QUESTION |
| Given, that the offeror must strictly adhere to the SLINs in the Pricing Model, how does DISA intend to increase the number of cores in any Tier after initial Call Order? Additionally, the Offeror believes the range of cores DISA has indicated in each POWER Capacity Tier (2-16 cores for Tier 1; 8-64 cores for Tier 2; and 32-256 cores for Tier 3) are not practical for developing a single price in any of the POWER Capacity Tiers. |
| ANSWER |
| See Question 34, Amendment 0003. |
| DOCUMENT |
| Requirements Document |
| SECTION NAME |
| Provisioning Servers |
| SECTION TEXT |
| Provide provisioning servers to support the infrastructure. These servers must be provided by the offeror in order to image hardware with the current agreed upon images. Provisioning cannot be accomplished via the wide area network (WAN). |
| QUESTION |
| Are the provisioning Server(s) required for the POWER chipset? Could the POWER chipset provisioning function be performed by other chipsets’ provisioning servers? |
| ANSWER |
| The vendor should address in their technical solution whether provisioning servers are required for the POWER chipset and whether other chipset provisioning servers can perform the POWER chipset provisioning function. |
| DOCUMENT |
| Requirements Document, Attachment J-2 & Attachment J-7 |
| PAGE |
| J-7 Worksheet Tab “EVALUATION PURPOSES - Scenario1” |
| SECTION NO. |
| Cell E4 - Qty for Month 1 for SLIN 2001AA |
| SECTION NAME |
| Qty for Month 1 for SLIN 2001AA |
| SECTION TEXT |
| 2001AA – tier One – Blade |
| QUESTION |
| What is it that DISA intends the Offeror to price: |
A. A Two-Socket Blade with a minimum of 96GB of RAM IAW the X-86 Tier Definitions in J-2, OR
B. 5 Operating environments (VMware, Windows, Red Hat Linux, SUSE Linux, or Solaris) whose underlying hardware is one single Two-Socket Blade with a minimum of 96GB of RAM IAW the X-86 Tier Definitions in J-2
| ANSWER |
| B - 5 Operating environments (VMware, Windows, Red Hat Linux, SUSE Linux, or Solaris) whose underlying hardware is one single Two-Socket Blade with a minimum of 96GB of RAM IAW the X-86 Tier Definitions in J-2 |
| SECTION NO. |
| Amendment 0002 |
| SECTION NAME |
| X86 W/L/L Tier Definitions |
| SECTION TEXT |
| CPU Capacity/Type |
| QUESTION |
| The tier definitions describe server characteristics for each chip-set and tier within each chip-set. The CPU capacity/type characteristics are very general as defined and appear to allow bidders to potentially propose out of date, obsolete or inferior processor technology. This technology could place DISA at risk and jeopardize mission objectives. This concern could be addressed by changing the characteristics to require specific CPU manufactures and generations for each chip-set. Would DISA consider modifying the CPU capacity/type characteristics? If so, we would recommend something like the following: |
· POWER Tier Definitions - CPU Type must be POWER 7 or newer
· X86 W/L/L Tier Definitions - CPU Type must be Intel E7 Family or newer; Intel 7500 sequence or newer; Intel 5600 sequence or newer; AMD 6000 series or newer
· UX-Itanium Tier Definitions - CPU Type must be 9300 Series or newer
· SPARC Tier Definitions - CPU Type must be SPARC64 VII or newer
| ANSWER |
| No, the CPU capacity/type characteristics will not be modified. |
| SECTION NO. |
| Attachment Five |
| SECTION NAME |
| Facilities Rack and Power Details |
| SECTION TEXT |
| DEPTH – 42”/106.68cm MINIMUM external depth, 45”/114.3cm MAXIMUM external depth. |
| QUESTION |
| Would DISA consider modifying the rack depth requirement to expand the maximum depth to 47.2”/120cm? |
| ANSWER |
| See Question 36, Amendment 0003. |
SECTION NO.
| SECTION NAME |
| Performance Work Statement (PWS) |
| SECTION TEXT |
| TEMPLATE SUBMITTED AS A DRAFT FOR OFFERORS TO WORK FROM |
| QUESTION |
| Attachment J-5 is referred to “SUBMITTED AS A DRAFT”. Should we expect a final version in a coming amendment? |
| ANSWER |
| The final version of the J-5, PWS is the offeror proposal. |
| SECTION NO. |
| Amendment 0002, Section 14.0 |
| SECTION NAME |
| Government Furnished Equipment |
| SECTION TEXT |
| 14.0 Government-Furnished Equipment (GFE)/Government-Furnished Information (GFI). GFP determined necessary for performance under the Enterprise Storage Services contract will be provided. |
| QUESTION |
| Please explain how this paragraph applies to this procurement, as it references the DISA Enterprise Storage Services contract. |
| ANSWER |
| See Question 44, Amendment 0003. |
| SECTION NAME |
| Delivery & Installation |
| SECTION TEXT |
| “...offeror will send a report containing equipment information to include serial numbers, worldwide names, MAC addresses, etc. to the DISA installation mail group...offeror will provide the report 10 working days prior to equipment delivery.” |
| QUESTION |
| This information is generally not available until the product build is complete. Assuming an average ship time from the factory of 3 days, it is likely that the offeror will not be able to provide the requested information 10 days prior to delivery. Will DISA consider changing this requirement to “3 working days prior to equipment delivery”? |
| ANSWER |
| J-2, Requirements Document, para 10.4; J-5, PWS, para 6.2.4.3 and para 7, Subtask 2.6.2; and J-3, QASP, para 5, Subtask 2.6.2 has been revised to reflect report is due between 3-10 days prior to equipment delivery. |
SECTION NO.
| SECTION NAME |
| P-Series Tier Definitions |
SECTION TEXT
| QUESTION |
| The RFP references "P-Series" in the Tier Definitions. IBM's current offering is Power 7. Is it DISA's intention to have the current offerings (Power 7) offered? If so, please change the name of this table to “POWER Tier Definitions.” Please change all other references of “P-Series” to “POWER”. |
| ANSWER |
| Yes, J-2, Requirements Document, Attachment One, Server Chipset Definitions, P-series has been revised and J-5, PWS, para 6.3.3 has been revised. |
SECTION NO.
| SECTION NAME |
| P-Series Tier Definitions |
SECTION TEXT
| QUESTION |
| The RFP references "Blades" in the "P-Series Tier Definitions" Tier 1. POWER is offered in a wide range of servers from blades to Express to Enterprise level servers. All of these POWER servers are suited for Tier 1 especially if servers are virtualized. The hardware selection is best made based on operational necessities. Is it DISA's intent to restrict Power Tier 1 to blades? |
| ANSWER |
| No, DISA’s intent is not to restrict Power Tier 1 to blades. |
SECTION NO.
| SECTION NAME |
| P-Series Tier Definitions |
SECTION TEXT
| QUESTION |
| Tier Definitions shows three (3) tiers while the CLINs/SLINs list calls for four (4) tiers. What is the definition of the POWER Server Tier 4? |
| ANSWER |
| See Question 34, Amendment 0003. |
SECTION NAME
| SECTION TEXT |
| “Provide high availability options for OS (clustering) at the local site....” |
| QUESTION |
| What does DISA mean by “high availability options”? What does DISA mean by “OS (clustering)”? |
| ANSWER |
| See Questions, 83 and 84, Amendment 0004. |
| SECTION NO. |
| J-5 15.0 Definitions |
| SECTION NAME |
| X86 W/L/L Tier Definitions |
| SECTION TEXT |
| Capacity Scaling |
| QUESTION |
| Under “Capacity Scaling”, please define “Horizontal and Vertical”. |
| ANSWER |
| Horizontal scaling is the ability to easily add additional hardware nodes to augment distributed capabilities. Vertical scaling is the ability to easily add additional components to a single node to increase the resources available on the individual node or platform. |
| PAGE |
| 23 (and cross reference table J-7) |
SECTION NO.
| SECTION NAME |
| X86 W/L/L Tier Definitions |
SECTION TEXT
| QUESTION |
| The Tier characteristics on page 23 do not match the SLIN 2001 & 2004 descriptions in table J-7. Please clarify. |
| ANSWER |
| See Question 34, Amendment 0003. |
SECTION NO.
| SECTION NAME |
| X86 W/L/L Tier Definitions |
| SECTION TEXT |
| Memory Capacity |
| QUESTION |
| It appears that DISA has specified a minimum memory amount in Tier 1 and Tier 2, but has not specified a minimum memory amount in Tiers 3, 4 and 5. What is DISA’s minimum stated memory amount for Tiers 3, 4 & 5? |
| ANSWER |
| It is assumed that the minimum memory amount in Tier 1 and Tier 2 is the minimum memory amount in all other tiers. |
SECTION NO.
| SECTION NAME |
| X86 W/L/L Tier Definitions |
| SECTION TEXT |
| Disk I/O connections required & Availability Features |
| QUESTION |
| It is our belief that DISA’s standards support SAN boot disks. VMware supports SAN boot disks. Since SAN based storage is demonstrably more reliable than local drives (even mirrored ones), will the government change this to permit SAN based boot drives? |
| ANSWER |
| The vendor’s technical solution may propose a “boot from SAN” solution. |
SECTION NO.
| SECTION NAME |
| X86 W/L/L Tier Definitions |
| SECTION TEXT |
| Availability Features |
| QUESTION |
| The offeror believes that “Hot pluggable CPU/memory boards and dynamic reconfiguration” represents features of the Oracle proprietary hardware designs (the former SUN products). These are not standard features of conventional x86 W/L/L systems. Please remove this requirement from the x-86 tier definitions. |
| ANSWER |
| See Question 30, Amendment 0003. |
| PAGE |
| Page 32 bullet 5 and page 34 bullet 6 |
| SECTION NO. |
| Attachment Five |
| SECTION NAME |
| Facilities Rack and Power Details |
| SECTION TEXT |
| Availability Features |
| QUESTION |
| Since DISA is not requiring rack-mounted UPS, but MPDU’s are to “be connected to a separate UPS power feed,” can DISA confirm that UPS's are Government Furnished Equipment? If these are GFE please reconcile this with previous statement that no GFE equipment can be used. Also, please provide detailed information on the type of line cord(s)/plug(s) required to provide power to the MPDU. |
| ANSWER |
| The Government will provide power whips from the separate government UPS systems, the vendor is to tie into the whips with the rack MPDU. The Government will ensure that the correct whip is provided to support the |
MPDU's.
In special circumstances the Government will direct a certain type of connector to be used based off availability and type of power. This includes OCONUS locations where the standard form or power provided is 50hZ, 230V single phase 32A connections.
| DOCUMENT |
| J-10: IBM_System_P_Chipset_Pricing_Model |
| PAGE |
| Worksheet – Monthly Rates |
| SECTION NO. |
| Lines 12 & 25 |
| SECTION NAME |
| 5002AD and 5005AD |
SECTION TEXT
| QUESTION |
| Racks are identified as “18 inch standard racks”. It is understood that standard racks are 19 inch. Does the government intend to use 19” standard racks. |
| ANSWER |
| See Question 36, Amendment 0003. |
| DOCUMENT |
| J-10: IBM_System_P_Chipset_Pricing_Model |
| PAGE |
| Worksheet – Monthly Rates |
SECTION TEXT
| QUESTION |
| RFP references High Availability and Software Clustering. (see previous question about High Availability and Software Clustering). |
PAGE
| SECTION NO. |
| Block 1b and 11a |
SECTION NAME
SECTION TEXT
| QUESTION |
| The DD 254, block 1b. states that Secret safeguarding is required for this effort. Block 11a. states that access to classified information will only be at another contractor’s facility or a government activity. Respectfully request clarification. |
| ANSWER |
| The offeror will never be required to store classified information. |
PAGE
SECTION NO.
SECTION NAME
SECTION TEXT
| QUESTION |
| Please clarify if all chipsets require a response or may offerors respond to one or more chipsets? |
| ANSWER |
| Offerors may provide a proposal for one or more chipsets. |
PAGE
SECTION NO.
SECTION NAME
SECTION TEXT
| QUESTION |
| We respectfully request a 2 week extension. |
| ANSWER |
| The proposal due date was extended to 2 September 2011. |
| SECTION NAME |
| Delivery and Installation |
| SECTION TEXT |
| Once an order has been placed, and before delivery, the offeror will send a report containing equipment information to include serial numbers, worldwide names, MAC addresses, etc to the DISA Installation mail group (csd-installations@csd.disa.mil)). This enables the Government to prepare for equipment receipt. The offeror will provide the report 10 working days prior to equipment delivery. |
| QUESTION |
| This information is generated during the manufacturing process and is not physically available until the equipment is shipped. This requirement as stated would require the offeror to hold equipment prior to delivery to meet the 10 day requirement and result in much longer delivery times. Would DISA change the requirement to: |
“The offeror will provide the report 1 business day after shipment from the manufacturing facility”.
| DOCUMENT |
| Attachment J5, PWS |
| SECTION NAME |
| Subtask 1.2 – OS Requirements |
| SECTION TEXT |
| For Operating system/s listed under each chipset, the Contractor will provide the most current operating system; additionally provide solution to support two versions back. The Government defines the most current version as N and the two proceeding versions as minus two (-2). Therefore N-2 is used to describe an OS current version and two major releases back (supportable by the OEM). An example being for the |
RHEL (Red Hat) 6, RHEL 5, and RHEL 4.
| QUESTION |
| There may be multiple variants of the OS with respect to 32-bit and 64-bit environments. Are the required N, N-1, and N-2 OS requirement to include both 32-bit and 64-bit variants? |
| ANSWER |
| Yes, they should include both 32-bit and 64-bit variants. |
| DOCUMENT |
| RFP HC1028-11-R-0104 |
| PAGE |
| Section L1.0 page 42; Attachment J1, SOO Page 1 |
| SECTION NAME |
| Section L: Program Structure and Objectives; Attachment J1, Purpose |
| SECTION TEXT |
| The purpose of this contract is to obtain reliable, responsive, and cost effective processor infrastructure services of “on-demand” processing capabilities for specified chipset architecture in both DISA and other DISA-approved locations, which are both in the continental United States (CONUS) and outside of the continental United States (OCONUS). DISA's goal is to obtain a dynamically scalable processing capability utilizing an on-demand service approach, for new equipment, that will readily adjust to changes in processing and throughput requirements, both increases and decreases, and is priced on a utility ("as used") basis or tiered structure. |
| QUESTION |
| In RFP section L 1.0 and other places in the RFP documents, the Government references “new equipment”. Can an offeror propose and provide equipment such as refurbished, warranted as new, like new, gray market, reconditioned, or used and, if so, does the offeror have to identify the equipment status of the offering. |
| ANSWER |
| All equipment must be new equipment. |
| DOCUMENT |
| RFP HC1028-11-R-0104; Attachment J1 |
| PAGE |
| RFP Page 49; Attachment J1 Page 2 |
| SECTION NO. |
| RFP Section L 6.1.5; J1 section 2.0 |
SECTION NAME
| SECTION TEXT |
| RFP section 6.1.5 states: “The virtualization tiers for the X-86 environment (Tier one and Tier Two) are meant to cover the virtual environment running VMWare software. Included in the tiers should be all costs to operate a VMWare environment (at the least to include, but not limited to Vsphere software licensing, 4 VIC licenses (primary and backup for NIPR and SIPR), and virtual OE licensing for Microsoft operating systems, Redhat Linux operating systems, SUSE Linux operating systems, and switching infrastructure components).” |
Para 2.0 of the SOO states “The service provider will acquire, install, deinstall, transport, configure, and provide the necessary hardware (including cabinets/racks/cabling/cable management/PDUs), hardware maintenance, operating system software, VMWare, as well as, any other software required for the offeror solution to operate, and services to support the processor infrastructure associated with this contract. The Government will maintain day-to-day operational control of the processing environment and complete oversight responsibility. This operational control includes the installation of all software updates after the initial delivery. However, all operating system software, VMWare, as well as, any other software required for the offeror solution to operate, including software maintenance and licensing shall be included under this contract.”
| QUESTION |
| Section L 6.1.5 states offerors are to include all cost to operate a VMWare environment, including OE Licensing. Section L of the RFP, as written, has no requirement for software to be included in Tiers 3, 4, and 5. Para 2.0 of the SOO states: “However, all operating system software, VMWare, as well as, any other software required for the offeror solution to operate, including software maintenance and licensing shall be included under this contract.” |
Is it the government’s intent to have all operating system software, as well as, any other software required for the offeror solution to operate, including software maintenance and licensing to be included within Tier 3, Tier 4, and Tier 5 utility service? If, so, will the government amend the solicitation?
| ANSWER |
| The Government will provide the answer in another amendment. |
| SECTION TEXT |
| Provide an “image” of the CSD operating environment. The “image” will not run on the capacity services hardware. The “image” will be purchased for customers in the IT development stage prior to transitioning their projects to CSD. Purchase of the “image” for customers is intended to reduce transition issues. This image should include all operating system software, monitoring software, etc that would normally be provisioned via service. This service should be priced as a one-time purchase. |
| QUESTION |
| As DISA is requesting to purchase an image to run on non-capacity services hardware, is it DISA's intent for the vendor to include the cost of a software license for each image? |
| ANSWER |
| The cost of the image should be considered a one-time cost and should include all software that the vendor is proposing for a typical image (normally provisioned on capacity services hardware). |
| DOCUMENT |
| Attachment J2, Requirements |
| SECTION NO. |
| Attachment 1, to J2 Requirements document |
| SECTION NAME |
| SERVER CHIPSET TIER DEFINITIONS, UX-Itanium Tier Definitions |
| SECTION TEXT |
| Requirement for "Integrity Virtual Machines” for all three (3) system tiers |
| QUESTION |
| Integrity VMs are normally associated with higher tier systems providing capacity scaled to virtualization requirements. We request that this requirement be removed for the HP-Itanium Tier 1 and Tier 2 systems. |
| ANSWER |
| No, the Government requires the ability to support IVMs on all three specified tiers. |
| DOCUMENT |
| Attachment J2 Requirements |
SECTION NO.
| SECTION NAME |
| SERVER CHIPSET TIER DEFINITIONS, x86 |
| QUESTION |
| Currently, the Tier requirements for x86 do not call for blade enclosures and offerors are not allowed to modify the attachment J7. Should industry include enclosures in the bundled services for Tiers 1-5 where applicable, or should they provide the government separate pricing within the cost / price proposal? |
| ANSWER |
| Offerors may only provide pricing as identified in the tiers. |
Defense Information Systems Agency