Redacted SSJ.pdf

v1.5_JANUARY 2020

SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION

FY21 PBS Works Maintenance Renewal

DESCRIPTION OF REQUIREMENT:

The Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Newport (NUWCDIVNPT), requires renewal of software maintenance for the Altair Portable Batch Scheduler (PBS) Works Suite. The ASECC lab is included in the NUWCDIVNPT Corporate Services authorization to operate (eMASS #7374). The Altair PBS Works Suite is exclusively from Altair Engineering, Inc.

The ASECC cluster processes Model Based System Engineering (MBSE) simulations.

NUWCDIVNPT engineers have simulation projects that can consume millions of hours of compute time. The jobs are submitted to the ASECC cluster and Altair’s PBS Professional is used to manage workload distribution to subservient compute nodes. The Altair PBS Professional engine was originally developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and has been in use at NUWCDIVNPT for over eleven (11) years. It has cutting edge chip design to further enable efficient hardware utilization. The Altair PBS Works Suite includes the PBS Professional, ACCESS and CONTROL management tools. It is exclusively from Altair.

The Works suite adds two (2) major components to the current Altair PBS Professional paradigm, Altair Access and Altair Control. Combined, they provide fast access to High Performance Computing (HPC) for scientists, engineers, and researchers by providing a simple, powerful interface and the freedom to focus on core activities. The Works suite provides easy and accessible data collaboration tools, remote visualization without big downloads, and the ability to submit and monitor jobs on clusters. The ASECC customers use tools like Abaqus and Hypermesh on the cluster for physics simulations, fluid dynamics, and scientific discovery of things like marine mammal anatomic behaviors. The Works suite is a single, easy portal to manage and monitor the work they are doing with HPC tools. The suite provides workload management that help jobs complete faster on the compute cluster. It also provides business value by helping to maximize resource utilization, save on expensive software licenses, monitor, report and forecast.

The period of performance is 5/1/2021 through 4/30/2022 for the base year, with four (4) one (1) year option periods.

MFGR Part No Description Qty

PBS-SUITE-AN PBS Works Suite annual maintenance providing access to PBS Professional, Access (web and desktop) and Control – Annual Lease Licensing with maintenance and support, to include thirteen-node/concurrent user license

SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION

Altair is the sole owner and developer of this proprietary software including maintenance and support. Altair the only vendor with a product compatible for working with Altair’s PBS Professional, which is currently deployed in the ASECC. The Altair PBS is compatible with the Hyperworks and Hypermesh software that is used for simulations and solvers in the lab. The expanded advantages in resource utilization and ease of use will not be realized unless NUWC renews maintenance for the Works suite. The PBS Works product is only available from Altair so switched to a different product with similar functionality would cost time and money.

There has been a significant effort to integrate the web applications into the compute cluster. It would cost for a different application to be installed. An alternative product would have to be custom built and then maintained. The cost of a custom build is approximately takes 2-3 years, and costs approximately annually to maintain. The ASECC aims to provide engineers with the best tools possible making HPC accessible to the widest audience possible.

The Works suite expands HPC offerings to users that would not normally be comfortable using command line interface programming to manage jobs. It also provides the ASECC program management with valuable license usage information that helps drive all of the software procurements for the lab by reporting usage from the cluster’s license managers.

The Altair Control component is an easy-to-use web application for monitoring and managing cluster configuration and reporting in an HPC environment. It provides the ASECC with advanced analytics to support data-driven planning and decision-making. Administrators can perform what-if analysis using workload simulation to determine the most productive way to scale HPC system resources. The Access component is an HPC job submission portal for researchers & engineers. It provides a simple, powerful, and consistent interface for submitting and monitoring jobs on remote clusters and other resources, allowing engineers and researchers to focus on core activities and spend less time learning how to run applications and moving data.

The current process is completed using command line interfaces which have a learning curve and are not always intuitive. The command line interfaces also involve installing additional software on workstations, training end users and allowing direct access to the cluster. The suite provides a simple web interface that minimizes contact with the cluster and improves security. It also provides remote visualization and collaboration capabilities bringing access to an expensive, high-end 3D visualization datacenter hardware right to the user.

RESELLERS:

Altair is the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and sole source provider of PBS Works in the United States. No other organization is authorized to resell the PBS Works Suite Bundle (PBS-SUITE-AN). Altair does not offer consulting and onsite deployment services through third party resellers.

Requiring Department:

Based on the above, I recommend this acquisition proceed on a Sole Source basis. I certify the technical data forming the basis of this justification are complete and accurate.

APPROVAL:

Contracting Officer:

Based on the above, I have determined that the circumstances of the contract action deem only one source reasonably available/only this brand can fulfill the requirements. I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.