L-1__HC102817R0014_AMEND_0004_QA_(124-135)_final.pdf

HC1028-17-R-0014

ZIPPCS Q&A

AMEND 0004

# Reference Questions Government response

124 Amendment 2 Pricing Table SLINs 1005AF, 1001AF, 2005AF, and 2011AF are marked “RESERVED” but should be Capacity Back Up – Specialty Engines (IFL, ICF, zIIP). Please correct.

J_3 Z-Series Cost Model SLINs 1005AF, 1011AF, 2005AF, and 2011AF.have been changed from RESERVED status to active.

125 Answers to Questions – Amendment 2 Questions 13 and 14 and Pricing Table

Per answer to questions 13 and 14:

“Concur that SLINs 1005AL through 1005AR are not required,” SLINs 1005 AL through 1005AQ, 1011AL through 1011AQ, 2005AI through 2005AQ and 2011 AL through 2011AQ should be marked “RESERVED” Please correct.

J_3 Z-Series Cost Model SLINS

1005AL-1005AQ, 1011AL-

1011AQ, 2005AL-2005AQ and 2011AL-2011AQ have been marked as “RESERVED”.

126 Answers to Questions – Amendment 2 Questions 106 and 107 and Pricing Table

There is an assumption in Questions 106 and 107 that the referenced “Communication Interface – One Port,” Communication Interface – Two Port,” “Communication Interface – Four Port” and “Ficon Adaptor Control Unit Images (CIU)” on the above SLINs are associated with FIBRE/FICON channels in IBM System z processors. These are described in the “example” column as IBM Feature Code 0409. In fact, these descriptions and associated SLINs are associated with the Visara International CCA-3074 (and options). This is an older technology that DISA moved away from years ago and is recognized by the answers 13 and 14. We again request these be marked “RESERVED” as requested in Question 2, above.

J_3 Z-Series Cost Model SLINS

1005AL-1005AQ, 1011AL-

1011AQ, 2005AL-2005AQ and 2011AL-2011AQ have been marked as “RESERVED”.

127 Answers to Questions – Amendment 2 Question 108 and Pricing Table

An assumption in Question 108 that the referenced “Communication Interface” on the above SLINs is associated with IBM Feature Code 0417. These descriptions and associated SLINs are associated with the Visara International CCA-3074 (and options). This is an older technology that DISA moved away from years ago and is recognized by

J_3 Z-Series Cost Model SLINS

1005AL-1005AQ, 1011AL-

1011AQ, 2005AL-2005AQ and 2011AL-2011AQ have been marked as “RESERVED”.

the answers 13 and 14. We again request these be marked “RESERVED” as requested in Question 2, above.

# Reference Questions Government response

128 Amendment 2 – Pricing Table SLIN 1002AI (previously ESCON 2 port) was corrected but 1008AI, 2002AI and 2008AI, which should also be marked “RESERVED” were not. Please correct these additional SLINs.

J_3 Z-Series Cost Model SLINS 1008AI, 2002AI and 2008AI have been marked as

“RESERVED”.

129 Answers to Questions – Amendment 2 Questions 82

There is a misunderstanding in the answer to Question 82 in that DISA answered that FIBRE/FICON channel speeds are specified as “GB (Bytes).” IBM specifications for these speeds are as Gbps which is defined as Gigabits per second, not GBps or GigaBytes per second.

Reference IBM publication z Systems Connectivity Handbook (SG24-5444-16 page 67). Please correct specification to Gbps (Gigabits per second).

J-1 PWS Section 6.1.6.1 has been updated from “GB” to “Gbps”.

130 Amendment 2 – Section L Table L.1 and Section L.3 Pricing Volume Organization

In Table L.1 the Glossary is placed after the pricing Spreadsheet. In L.3 the Glossary is part of the volume Part 1, Section B (prior to the Pricing Spreadsheet. Please confirm that placement of the Glossary should be as stated in L.3.

If the Glossary is necessary as stated in L.6.3 the placement of the Glossary should be prior to the Pricing Spreadsheet. (no change will be made to table L.1)

131 PWS Attachment J-1, APPENDIX ONE, page 2 of 3 SYSTEM P Tier Definitions, B-1 B-table Pricing model for P_Series

IBM Power 8 processors are currently available in 8, 10 or 12 core-per-CPU versions. Individual servers have firm requirements with regard to how many sockets must be populated in order to deliver some specific numbers of cores.

By specifying the exact numbers of cores for Tier 4 servers to be 128, the government may force bidders to actually deliver either more system

SLINs 5001AD, 5004AD, 6001AD and 6004AD have been updated to reflect a minimum requirement of 96 cores.

nodes (cabinets or CECs), or more cores than requested to be installed in a given server. These cabinets or cores' costs must be built into the prices subsequently offered to the government.

If the government will change the number of cores required for this tier to either 96, or 120, no un-used assets must be priced or delivered.

In order to reduce costs, will the government reduce the number of cores required in Tier 4 servers to either 96 or 120?

# Reference Questions Government response

132 PWS Attachment J-1, section 6.1.6.1

6.1.6.1 states "Ports for Fibre Storage connectivity must be distributed across a minimum of two host bus adapter (HBA) ports". Is the intention of the government to require only one HBA per system (i.e. 2 FC ports on one adapter)?

This would reduce the redundancy and resiliency of all such servers. If there is only one HBA, there can be only one VIOs server - significantly reducing RAS and survivability of a Power server. This would be a single-point-of-failure.

Will the government increase the minimum number of HBAs for all tiers from one to two?

The offeror may propose a quantity of HBAs and ports to best satisfy the technical solution specified in PWS 6.1.6.1.

133 PWS Attachment J-1, section 5.1.3 and others

The government appears to be changing its AIX requirements (from the current deployments), removing the requirements for PowerVM. Is this the case? If this is not the case, please consider that PowerVM is available in two versions, "Standard Edition" and "Enterprise Edition".

The Standard Edition release of the PowerVM would deprive the government of potentially necessary utilities including Live Partition Mobility (LPM). LPM is required in

PWS Section 6.1.6 states the virtualization requirement for AIX should be accomplished with native tools to AIX. No additional SLINs will be added for Power VM.

The offeror may annotate any costs associated with virtualization for P-Series and AIX within their pricing notes.

order to move VMs (known as LPARS) to other frames to perform routine maintenance without interruption.

Will the government change the PWS to specify the Enterprise Edition of PowerVM?

# Reference Questions Government response

134 PWS Attachment J-1, B-1 B-table Pricing model for P Series at row 27 for SLIN 5003AA (and others)

These SLINs reflect a government desire to implement IBM Power HA Enterprise Edition (High Availability capabilities). The SLIN Unit, stated in Column E, indicates that the billing unit should be on a per-socket (or per-CPU) basis. The number of cores per IBM Power CPU can be 8, 10 or 12. The OEM, IBM, licenses this software capability on a per-core basis.

Will the government restate the billing basis on a per-core basis to align with the manufacturer's licensing?

The offeror may annotate any unit discrepancies for SLIN 5003AA and others in the pricing notes.

135 PWS Attachment J-1, APPENDIX ONE, page 2 of 3 SYSTEM P Tier Definitions, B-1 B-table Pricing model for P_Series

As a result of the substantial and substantive changes caused by the amendments to date, will the government change the closing date for this requirement, adding 2 weeks to the due date?

The proposal due date remains June 30, 2017.