DB10--Large Database NextGen Project (VA-26-00012249)

Sources Sought Notice

Sources Sought Notice

Page 8 of 8

Sources Sought Notice

Page 1 of 8

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

September 22, 2025

1. INTRODUCTION

This Request for Information (RFI) is issued for conducting market research and planning purposes only. Accordingly, this RFI constitutes neither a Request for Quote (RFQ), Request for Proposal (RFP), nor a guarantee that one will be issued by the Government in the future; furthermore, it does not commit the Government to contract for any services described herein. Additionally, this RFI does not restrict the Government as to the ultimate acquisition approach. In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is seeking industry information about solutions to replace and modernize our current Oracle SuperCluster M8 estate. The replacement platform must meet or exceed the benchmark and baseline performance and capacity specifications identified in this RFI and deliver improvements in resiliency, operability, scalability, and compliance. This RFI is for market research purposes only. Responses will inform future acquisition planning and strategy. No contract will be awarded based on this RFI.

The Government is not responsible for any cost incurred by industry in furnishing this information. All costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested vendor's expense. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future solicitation if any is issued. Any information submitted by respondents to this RFI is strictly voluntary. All submissions will become Government property and will not be returned. Interested vendors are responsible for adequately marking proprietary, restricted or competition sensitive information contained in their response. VA is under no obligation to provide feedback to the company, or to contact the company for clarification of any information submitted in response to this RFI.

2. RFI Response Instructions

Provide the following information:

(A) Provide Company Information:

1) Company Name.

2) Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE)/Unique Entity ID (previously Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS)) under which the company is registered in System for Award Management (SAM)/ Small Business (SB) Administration, SB Search.

3) Company Business Size and Status for North American Industry Classification (NAICS) 541519.

* Â If you believe there is a more appropriate NAICS code, please provide that to the Government with your rationale.

4) Contract Vehicles: Identify if you can provide services via a Government-wide Acquisition Contract, Federal Supply Schedule, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) VI, etc., that may assist in determining acquisition strategy.

5) Socioeconomic Data: Identify business size. If a small business, please identify socio-economic category(ies).

6) Company Address.

7) Point of Contact Name.

8) Pont of Contact Telephone Number.

9) Point of Contact Email Address.

(B) Brief summary (not to exceed 20 pages), describing your company s technical approach to meeting the requirements, by responding to the below:

1. Benchmark & Baseline Performance: The proposed solution must provide equal or superior performance and capacity for the Benchmark Summary and Benchmark Performance Tables. Vendors shall provide evidence, benchmarks, and technical documentation to demonstrate compliance.

2. Current-State Summary: VA currently operates Oracle SuperCluster M8s with the following capacities

Â

Development

Pre-production

Production

Disaster Recovery

Physical M8 Servers

2

2

2

2

Processors

16

16

12

12

Cores

512

512

384

384

Memory Terabyte (TB)

16

16

12

12

Networks

16 x 1 Gigabyte per second (Gb/s) Ethernet (admin)

32 x 10Gb/s Ethernet (client)

32 x 10Gb/s Ethernet (backup)

32 Quad Data Rate (QDR) (40Gb/s) InfiniBand (internal)

16 x 1Gb/s Ethernet (admin)

32 x 10Gb/s Ethernet (client)

32 x 10Gb/s Ethernet (backup)

32 QDR (40Gb/s) InfiniBand (internal)

12 x 1Gb/s Ethernet (admin)

32 x 10Gb/s Ethernet (client)

32 x 10Gb/s Ethernet (backup)

32 QDR (40Gb/s) InfiniBand (internal)

12 x 1Gb/s Ethernet (admin)

32 x 10Gb/s Ethernet (client)

32 x 10Gb/s Ethernet (backup)

32 QDR (40Gb/s) InfiniBand (internal)

Storage (Database)

70TB usable file

13 Exadata Storage Servers

1500TB raw Automatic Storage Management (ASM)

500TB usable (ASM)

70TB usable file

10 Exadata Storage Servers

1950TB raw (ASM)

650TB usable (ASM)

70TB usable file

25 Exadata Storage Servers

3750TB raw

1250TB usable

70TB usable file

25 Exadata Storage Servers

3750TB raw

1250TB usable

Storage (File)

Â

Â

ZS7-2 Zettabyte File System (ZFS) Storage Appliance

2 storage heads

6 200GB write flash SSD

4 7.6TB read flash SSD

20 7.6TB SSD disks (90TB usable)

40 18TB disks (288TB usable)

ZS7-2 ZFS Storage Appliance

2 storage heads

6 200GB write flash SSD

4 7.6TB read flash SSD

20 7.6TB SSD disks (90TB usable)

40 18TB disks (288TB usable)

Oracle Database versions

Oracle 19c in use

Exadata Storage Software 25.1

Oracle 23ai upgrade is planned

Oracle Database features in use

Real Application Clusters (RAC)

Partitioning

In-Memory

Active Data Guard

Transparent Data Encryption (TDE)

Advanced Compression

Applications

Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (OBIEE)

Oracle Weblogic

Informatica

Workload profiles

Secure multi-tenant

Online Transaction Processing (OLTP)

Business Intelligence (BI) analytics

High concurrency and data throughput

Isolated tenants, no noisy neighbor effects

20% annual data growth

Cyclical and predictable maintenance windows defined

Integrated and tested bundled updates for all operating systems, Oracle Database, storage, networks and infrastructure components

Integration dependencies: backup systems, monitoring, Security Information and Event Management (SIEM), configuration management

Migration considerations:

Scalable Processor Architecture (SPARC)/Solaris dependencies and required tools for data migration, such as

Oracle Recovery Manager (RMAN)

Database export/import (Data Pump)

GoldenGate

Oracle stores SPARC data in big-endian format for compatibility with other Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC)-based systems. A conversion to little-endian may be required when migrating to a new platform

Oracle 23ai will require a migration to container databases (CDB)

Migration to 23ai is not a specific requirement for the initial deployment

3. Desired Outcomes

Reduced failover and brownout times

Simplified operations and management

Lower 5-year total cost of ownership (TCO)

Higher compute and storage density per data center rack

2.5x increase in single threaded Central Processing Unit (CPU) performance

5x increase in database Input/Output Operations Per Second (IOPS) (8k)

20x increase in flash data throughput

2x increase in backup throughput

Leverage higher speed networks to reduce the number of switch ports and cables, simplifying network management

Columnar compression to reduce the data footprint of large data warehouses

Elastic scalability

Small entry level configurations

Simple growth in storage and compute with minimal disruptions

Modernization path to improve compatibility with cloud solutions

Ability to introduce new database features when they are first available

Built-in security and compliance features

Minimize tenant downtime during migration to the new platform

4. Requirements

4.1 Functional Requirements

High performance platform for running Oracle databases

Support for Oracle Database Long Term Releases (LTR) 19c and 23ai

Support future Oracle Database innovation releases

Support for the following Oracle Database features

RAC

Active Data Guard

TDE

Advanced Compression

Must be able to support databases as large as 1Petabyte (PB)

Must be able to support RAC database clusters as large as 120 cores and 4TB of memory

High performance platform to support mission critical applications

High throughput, low latency network between hosted applications and databases

The ability to limit the number of Oracle core licenses required for a specific feature, tenant, environment or server

Describe any capacity on demand features in your solution

Provide secure multi-tenant deployment at the virtual server, physical server and database levels

Integration with the following monitoring, management and automation tools

Ansible

BigFix

Centrify

Commvault

CyberArk

Dynatrace

Elastic

Oracle Enterprise Manager

Puppet

ScienceLogic

ServiceNow

SolarWinds

Splunk

4.2 Operational Requirements

Zero downtime rolling patching for servers, storage and infrastructure components

Power supplies must be redundant and hot swapable

Storage devices must be redundant and hot swapable

Automated self-healing

File storage must support continuous and scheduled periodic replication

Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) approved encryption enabled by default

Integrated provisioning tools for creating and deploying RAC clusters

Installation and configuration of guest operating system

Configuration of dedicated bare metal operating system

Configure network and database storage (ASM)

Install and configure Oracle grid infrastructure

Install and configure Oracle database

Ability to create automated service requests

Live database server patching for remediating critical kernel vulnerabilities without requiring a reboot

Describe any management or automation Application Programming Interface (API)s for your solution

Describe any Oracle Enterprise Manager plug-ins for your solution

4.3 Technical Requirements

System availability of 99.99%

Backup rate of 40TB/hr

Database storage must be configured for Oracle High Redundancy (3 way mirror) with automatic data rebalancing after maintenance

Describe your testing procedures for Oracle releases and updates, particularly for large databases.

Dedicated high speed redundant private internal network for each environment to be used for

Database storage access to reduce contention with other network activities

Database cluster interconnect to reduce latency, reduce time to detect cluster node failures, improve cluster data coherence throughput

Each environment should have a dedicated management network

Each physical server should have the following external network interfaces

Dedicated Ethernet for remote administrative access

Dedicated Ethernet for access to service processors and system consoles

Redundant 10/25/100 Gb/s Ethernet for client access

Ability to add an additional pair of redundant 100Gb/s Ethernet interfaces client access

Redundant 10/25/100 Gb/s Ethernet for backup

Ability to add an additional pair of redundant 100Gb/s Ethernet interfaces backup

Support for Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) with the ability to use Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) addressing

Support for Virtual Local Area Networks (VLANs)

Describe how to grow your initial configuration to meet the 5 year growth projection in this document

Describe how you could grow your configuration beyond the 5 year projection

5. Security & Compliance

VA 6500 alignment

NIST SP 800-53 (High)

FIPS 140-3 validated crypto

Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) High (if hosted/managed)

Section 508 compliance

National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) §889, FAR 52.204-24/25/23 Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM) requirements

Security Technical Implementation Guide (STIG) hardening and current Authorization to Operate (ATO) posture

Describe any documentation or tools you provide for analysis and remediation of STIGs

Describe any Out of the Box (OOTB) STIG hardening in your solution

6. High Availability & Disaster Recovery

Sub-second node failure detection and recovery initiation

Detection of disk stalls and automatic redirection of Input/Output (I/O) to healthy devices

Rolling maintenance with minimal service impact

Storage protection and automated rebuild/rebalance

Split-brain prevention

Cross-site disaster recovery (DR)

2 hour Recovery Point Objective (RPO)

12 hour Recovery Time Objective (RTO)

Chaos/failure-injection testing results

7. Migration Approach

Zero or near-zero downtime strategies

Data transfer and cutover plan

Rollback capabilities

Pilot and validation options

8. Support Model

24-hour x 7 days per week support (24/7)

Describe your spare parts logistics and maintenance capability

Describe your firmware and software patch cadence

Describe your support escalation paths

Onsite and remote support options

Training and knowledge transfer

No access to systems permitted outside of the United States

9. Capacity & Scalability

Scale-up and scale-out architecture

Minimum and maximum number of cores and memory capacity per physical server

Minimum and maximum physical servers per rack

Minimum and maximum storage capacity per rack

Maximum racks supported per environment

Inter-rack fabric and elastic growth

10. Commercials & TCO

Five-year fixed/variable costs (hardware, software, support, facilities)

Purchase, lease and subscription options

Licensing impact analysis for Oracle database and features

Price protection clauses

11. Vendor Response Format

Responses must include:

Hardware bill of materials

Required software and licensing

Network topology diagrams

Storage tier breakdown

Firmware/OS versions

Benchmark results

Failure testing results

Security compliance matrix

Exceptions list

12. Evaluation Criteria (Weighting)

Performance vs. Exadata benchmarks: 35%

Reliability/ High Availability (HA) results: 20%

Security/compliance: 15%

Migration approach: 10%

Manageability/operations: 10%

Scalability: 5%

TCO: 5%

13. Submission Instructions

Responses must be submitted electronically in Microsoft Word or Portable Document Format (PDF).

Proprietary information must be clearly marked.

Responses to this RFI shall be submitted electronically by November 6, 2025, at 3:00 PM Eastern Standard Time via email to Juan C Perez at juan.perez5@va.gov. All proprietary/company confidential material shall be clearly marked on every page that contains such.

Benchmark and Capacity Summary Table:

Environment: Production

Initial Installation

5 Year Projection

Database Servers

4

4

Database Cores

768

768

Memory (TB)

12

12

Cores (SQL Offload)

1024

1600

Management Network

2 x 1Gb/s Ethernet

2 x 1Gb/s Ethernet

Internal Network

2 x 100Gb/s active/active

2 x 100Gb/s active/active

Client Network

2 x 10/25/100 Gb/s Ethernet

2 x 10/25/100 Gb/s Ethernet

Backup network

2 x 10/25/100 Gb/s Ethernet

2 x 10/25/100 Gb/s Ethernet

DB Flash Throughput (GB/s)

4,500

4,500

DB Flash Read IOPS (8Kilobyte (KB)

11,200,000

11,200,000

DB Flash Write IOPS (8KB)

9,000,000

9,000,000

DB Usable Storage TB

1250

2000

File usable storage (TB)

200

250

Environment: Disaster Recovery

Initial Installation

5 Year Projection

Database Servers

4

4

Database Cores

768

768

Memory (TB)

12

12

Cores (SQL Offload)

1024

1600

Management Network

2 x 1Gb/s Ethernet

2 x 1Gb/s Ethernet

Internal Network

2 x 100Gb/s active/active

2 x 100Gb/s active/active

Client Network

2 x 10/25/100 Gb/s Ethernet

2 x 10/25/100 Gb/s Ethernet

Backup network

2 x 10/25/100 Gb/s Ethernet

2 x 10/25/100 Gb/s Ethernet

DB Flash Throughput (GB/s)

4,500

4,500

DB Flash Read IOPS (8KB)

11,200,000

11,200,000

DB Flash Write IOPS (8KB)

9,000,000

9,000,000

DB Usable Storage TB

1250

2000

File usable storage (TB)

200

250

Environment: Pre-production

Initial Installation

5 Year Projection

Database Servers

4

4

Database Cores

768

768

Memory (TB)

12

12

Cores (SQL Offload)

576

640

Management Network

2 x 1Gb/s Ethernet

2 x 1Gb/s Ethernet

Internal Network

2 x 100Gb/s active/active

2 x 100Gb/s active/active

Client Network

2 x 10/25/100 Gb/s Ethernet

2 x 10/25/100 Gb/s Ethernet

Backup network

2 x 10/25/100 Gb/s Ethernet

2 x 10/25/100 Gb/s Ethernet

DB Flash Throughput (GB/s)

4,500

4,500

DB Flash Read IOPS (8KB)

11,200,000

11,200,000

DB Flash Write IOPS (8KB)

9,000,000

9,000,000

DB Usable Storage TB

650

800

File usable storage (TB)

50

75

Environment: Development

Initial Installation

5 Year Projection

Database Servers

4

4

Database Cores

768

768

Memory (TB)

12

12

Cores (SQL Offload)

320

448

Management Network

2 x 1Gb/s Ethernet

2 x 1Gb/s Ethernet

Internal Network

2 x 100Gb/s active/active

2 x 100Gb/s active/active

Client Network

2 x 10/25/100 Gb/s Ethernet

2 x 10/25/100 Gb/s Ethernet

Backup network

2 x 10/25/100 Gb/s Ethernet

2 x 10/25/100 Gb/s Ethernet

DB Flash Throughput (GB/s)

2,500

3,500

DB Flash Read IOPS (8KB)

11,200,000

11,200,000

DB Flash Write IOPS (8KB)

5,000,000

7,000,000

DB Usable Storage TB

400

500

File usable storage (TB)

50

75

Application Servers

Virtual Hosts

Cores

Memory (GB)

Production

9

48

1,500

Disaster Recovery

6

30

1,000

Pre-production

6

21

1,000

Development

10

26

512