REDACTED Brand Name Justification.docx

J&A Number:

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY

NAVAL SURFACE WARFARE CENTER

CARDEROCK DIVISION

9500 MACARTHUR BOULEVARD

WEST BETHESDA MD 20817-5700

J&A Number:

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL

FOR USE OF OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

JUSTIFICATION

1. Contracting Activity

The Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division (NSWCCD), Contracting & Acquisitions Department (Code 02).

2. Description of the Action Being Approved

NSWCCD intends to purchase supplies and services to acquire a Linux Cluster for the purposes of Finite Element Analysis (FEA) calculations and other engineering calculations supporting signature predictions of submarines. The cluster will be located at NSWCCD detachment in Olney, MD. NSWCCD requires Intel brand processors in this cluster. The primary FEA solver used by NSWCCD is ABAQUS.

This justification document is in accordance with FAR 13.501(a).

The total estimated value of the acquisition is approximately $ .

3. Description of Supplies/Services

FY 24 RDT&E Funds will be used for this purchase.

The proposed acquisition is for the purchase of, but not limited to, the supplies identified in the table below:

Item Name

1 Dual Intel Xeon 4314 (16C/32T 2.4GHz/3.4GHz Turbo 24MB 135W)Processors

34 Dual Intel Xeon 5315Y (8C/16T 3.2GHz/3.6GHz Turbo 12MB 140W) Processors

1 Dual Intel Xeon 4310 (12C/24T 2.10GHz/3.30GHz Turbo 18MB 120W) Processors

68.25 TB DDR4 3200MHz ECC

1.92 TB SATA SSD in RAID 1

32 1.92 TB M.2 NVMe SSD

1.92TB 2.5" M.2 NVMe SSD

960GB SATA SSD in RAID 1

36 10GbE RJ45 LAN Ports

10GbE SFP+ LAN Ports

1GbE RJ45

35 1x Mellanox ConnectX-6 VPI HDR Single Port

35 1GbE RJ45

4 NVIDIA A40 48GB GDDR6 PCIe 4.0

12 3.5" 20TB SAS 512e/4Kn HDD in RAID 6

NVIDIA MQM8700-HS2F Quantum HDR InfiniBand Switch - 40 Ports - 200 Gbit/s

20 200GbE/IB HDR QSFP56 cables, 1.5m

16 200GbE/IB HDR QSFP56 cables, 2m

Rack-Mount Console with 19 in. LCD, TAA Rack Console with KVM Cable Kit

C9300X-48TX-A Catalyst 9300 48-port mGig switch

C9300 Network Advantage, 48-port license

Cisco Catalyst 9300 XE 17.9

TE agent for IOSXE on C9K

C9300 DNA Advantage, 48-Port

Cisco ThousandEyes Enterprise Agent IBN Embedded

Cisco DNA Spaces Extend Term License for Catalyst Switches

Prime Infrastructure Lifecycle & Assurance Term - Smart Lic

Catalyst 9300 2 x 40G/100G Network Module QSFP+/QSFP28

Power cables

Racks

System documentation

3 year warranty

Additionally, NSWCCD requires the following engineering, hardware, software, installation, and commissioning support services:

1) Factory integration and testing

2) Documentation to include:

a. Rack elevations for each cabinet to include all hardware in each rack

b. Hardware inventory for systems (servers, switches, power distribution units, compute nodes, hard drives, etc.) to include:

· Make

· Model

· Serial Number

· Rack location

c. Network Connection Mapping:

· Switches connected to switches

· Switches connected to systems

d. Labeling to include:

· All cables

· All systems

e. Build guide documentation:

· Servers (O/S configuration, Bright configuration)

· Storage Array (RAID configuration)

· IPMI

· Switches

3) 3-Year Warranty on Parts and Labor

The total value of the anticipated contract including labor, parts, and installation is $ .

The Government’s minimum needs have been verified by the certifying technical and requirements personnel.

4. Statutory Authority Permitting Other Than Full and Open Competition

10 U.S.C. §2304(c)(5), “subject to subsection (k), a statute expressly authorizes or requires that the procurement be made through another agency or from a specified source, or the agency's need is for a brand-name commercial item for authorized resale.” (FAR 13.106-1(b)(2))

5. Rationale Justifying Use of Cited Statutory Authority

The supplies and services contemplated with this procurement consists of computation and networking hardware, software, assembly, and documentation to acquire a Linux based cluster capable of running large ABAQUS FEA models and perform other scientific and engineering calculations.

ABAQUS is the primary FEA application that has been used in support of the Virginia and Columbia Class programs while making signature predictions to ensure designs met program goals. ABAQUS utilizes the Intel MKL libraries for efficient processing. While other processors can run ABAQUS models, NSWCCD’s experience with our current cluster is that these models take four times longer to run using AMD processors than models run on Intel chips. Purchasing a different processor would require a cluster with four times the number of processors, thereby nearly quadrupling the cost of the intended cluster.

Additionally, nodes using Intel chips were purchased in Fiscal Year (FY) 23 under contract at a cost of $ . While these nodes were purchased to upgrade the current cluster, which is now End Of Life, they were also designed to be integrated into the cluster proposed this FY. Purchasing nodes other than Intel will render the nodes purchased in contract useless as models must be run using several nodes to accommodate the size of the models but can’t be run across nodes using different processor manufacturers.

If processors other than Intel were purchased, additional ABAQUS assets would need to be procured to efficiently run these models. The additional ABAQUS analysis tokens required would cost approximately $ with additional recurring maintenance costs of $ per year. These costs were based on price lists for ABAQUS products under GSA contract GS-35F-0265X_979.

Infrastructure upgrades at the facility would also be incurred for powering this larger cluster as well as recurring costs for electricity.

6. Description of Efforts Made to Solicit Offers from as Many Offerors as Practicable

The products sought are commercially available from a number of vendors. The Government conducted market research under SEWP MRR 297439. Four vendors responded with acceptable quotes.

7. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Costs

In accordance with FAR 13.106-3(a) the Procuring Contracting Officer (PCO) shall ensure that all supplies and services provided under the anticipated contract are procured at a fair and reasonable price. The Government will require the contractor to submit a formal price proposal and sufficient information to support the accuracy and reliability of the estimate. The PCO shall determine that the proposed order represents the best value (as defined in FAR 2.101) to meet the Government’s needs. The PCO will also rely on experienced technical experts, as well as information from prior procurements (FY Contract ) conducted by the Navy where the same (or comparable) devices were procured, when conducting the price analysis. This information will form the basis for a fair and reasonable price.

8. Actions to Remove Barriers From Competition

NSWCCD will likely have reason to solicit similar supplies and/or services in the future. If other brands are identified as performing equally or providing better performance with the engineering software used by NSWCCD, these vendors will be considered in future solicitations. The circumstances surrounding the need to obtain the required supplies without providing full and open competition will be reviewed on a case by case basis by the PCO.

CERTIFICATIONS AND APPROVAL

TECHNICAL/REQUIREMENTS CERTIFICATION (FAR 6.303-2(c))

I certify that the facts and representations under my cognizance, which are included in this justification and its supporting data, except as noted herein, are complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief.

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