Addendum #2 for: REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL FOR "Bid # 2 EESD ERATE 2018 19 C2" USAC/E-RATE 470 # 180022591 QUESTIONS FROM SERVICE PROVIDERS FEBRUARY 27, 2018 Are bidders allowed to bid portions of the bid or must they bid everything outlined in the RFP? Yes, bidders are allowed to bid portions of the RFP, but only entire Options within the Sections. Specifically: The cabling portions may be bid without bidding the Network Equipment portions. The Network Equipment portions, UPS s, Network Switches, Routers, Firewalls and Basic Maintenance, can be bid individually or two or more at a time. The only partial bidding that is allowed is for Cabling Bidders to also bid the Option 4 Hybrid with large number of SM Fibers from IDFs to MDFs where Cabling Bidders can also bid the Fiber Media Converter and Power over Ethernet Injection portions. Are there school site maps available showing MDF and IDF locations? Yes, the eight (8) school site maps are attached in Appendix A. Each map is marked at a corner with a two character code signifying the site. Those same site codes are noted in the RFP on pages 12 and 13. For the cabling project we have school site maps showing the building/room coverage by MDF and IDF cabinet.
Questions: 1. For Option 1 and 2 What are the Lengths needed for the Fiber Optical Patch Cords. SM LC to LC 2. For Option 1 and 2 What type of fiber optical patch cord Duplex or Simplex 3. For Option 1 There is no line item for MDF fiber termination. 4. For Option 1 and 2 will you provide a line item for how much innerduct will be needed. 5. For Option #2 are you going to show a line item for Cable Pathway and a budget of $30,000.00 per school. 6. For the fiber optical connectors, do you want Mechanical, Fusion splice on connectors, or Fusion splice pigtails. 1. Fiber optic Patch Cords, SM LC to LC need to be 1 Meter each. 2. Fiber optic Patch Cords should be Duplex. 3. For Option 1 has added a line item for MDF fiber termination. (*See Additions to the charts from the RFPs below.) 4. For Option 1 and 2 please use 100 of innerduct, 50 on each end, as a bid calculation. (*See Additions to the charts from the RFPs below.) 5. For Option 2 please include a per campus Conduit Pathway estimate of adding 100 feet of 2 underground conduit and trenching as a pathway addition per IDF cabinet. EESD will cut, remove and replace any concrete and/or pavement for the installer. Installer is responsible for digging, conduit installation and replacing sand/dirt/gravel in the trench. (*Again, See Additions to the charts from the RFPs below.) 6. Fiber optic connectors should be Fusion splice on connectors or Fusion splice pigtails.
OPTION 1-12-strand (minimum) SM Fiber Section: *Additions/Changes are in light green. Single Mode Fiber & CAT 6A by Site AM BC LV MI MV PA RO SM TR Totals *MDF Fiber termination in new Cabinet 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 8 *IDF Fiber termination in existing Cabinet 9 11 8 10 6 9 4 5 0 62 MDF and IDF Cabinets (Existing Total) 10 12 9 11 7 10 5 6 1 71 Estimated Length per IDF 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 0 N/A *Estimated Innerduct Length per IDF 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 N/A *Total Estimated Innerduct Length by site 1000 1200 900 1100 700 1000 500 600 100 7100 *Conduit Pathway addition est. feet / IDF 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 N/A *Conduit Pathway total addition to Bid 900 1,100 800 1,000 600 900 400 500 0 6,200 Number of SM LC to LC Patch Cables 19 23 17 21 13 19 9 11 1 133 Total SM Fiber Length by Site 5000 6000 4500 5500 3500 5000 2500 3000 0 35000 CAT 6A Copper Cables (200ft each est.) 0 0 0 0 100 0 0 0 0 100 Total CAT 6A Copper Cables 0 0 0 0 2000 0 0 0 0 0 20000 OPTION 2-36-strand (minimum) SM Fiber Section: *Additions/Changes are in light green. Single Mode Fiber & CAT 6A by Site AM BC LV MI MV PA RO SM TR Totals *MDF Fiber termination in new Cabinet 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 8 *IDF Fiber termination in existing Cabinet 9 11 8 10 6 9 4 5 0 62 MDF and IDF Cabinets (Existing Total) 10 12 9 11 7 10 5 6 1 71 Estimated Fiber Length per IDF 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 0 N/A *Estimated Innerduct Length per 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 N/A
IDF *Total Estimated Innerduct Length by site 1000 1200 900 1100 700 1000 500 600 100 7100 *Conduit Pathway addition est. feet / IDF 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 N/A *Conduit Pathway total addition to Bid 900 1,100 800 1,000 600 900 400 500 0 6,200 Number of SM LC to LC Patch Cables 255 341 241 373 441 331 275 217 13 2487 Total SM Fiber Length by Site 5000 6000 4500 5500 3500 5000 2500 3000 0 35000 CAT 6A Copper Cables (200ft each est.) 0 0 0 0 100 0 0 0 0 100 Total CAT 6A Copper Cables 0 0 0 0 2000 0 0 0 0 0 20000
1. For CAT 6A cable how many faceplates, how many data per faceplate 2. How many IDF s How many cables per IDF ( This will make a difference on Patch Panels) 3. Do we need to provide raceway, If so How much 4. Who will need to provide and install the Exterior water proof boxes, 5. For the CAT 6A cabling do we need to provide any new IDF cabinets ( if so what are the requirements.) 1. For CAT 6A cable please see the site map of four classrooms below: 1 Wallplate is Dual Jack with two cables. See the green stacked triangles. 3 Wall-plates are Dual position with one cable installed. See the green single triangles 3 Biscuit Block Jacks are single position and single cable. See the orange single triangles. The only change from this drawing is that all new RFP copper cables will be CAT6A. 2. There will be a single new IDF in the new PACE school Office building. There will be 100 CAT6A cables coming out of this IDF. 60 of these CAT6A cables will exit the PACE Office building and extend to portable classrooms. The inter-building CAT6A cables will route underground via provided 2 conduit. 3. No raceway will be needed. All cables will be installed in provided pathway within the walls. 4. EESD will provide and install the exterior water-proof boxes for outdoor CAT6A jacks. 5. EESD will provide the required additional IDF cabinet. See the next page for a Sample CAT6/CAT6A Cabling Map from a recent Lassen View School Project:
Sample CAT6/CAT6A Cabling Map
Do you have a preference on how the fiber is terminated for on this project? Fiber optic connectors should be Fusion splice on connectors or Fusion splice pigtails. A question was asked about whether or not participation in the separate project of EESD's "WiFi Challenge" will impact EESD's RFP bid response evaluation. The evaluation factors EESD will use to evaluate the RFP responses to our erate RFP "Network Switching Refresh" are as follows: Factor W e i g h t Price of the E-rate eligible products and services 2 5 % Price of the E-rate ineligible products and services 1 0 % Ability of the Proposal to Support District's three Primary Objectives 2 0 % Vendor s prior experience with District 1 5 % Vendor s qualifications, experience, and references 1 5 % Local service response speed 1 5 %
Total 1 0 0 % Whether or not a bidder participates as a vendor partner in the WiFi Challenge is not an evaluation factor.
1) If perspective (sic) bidders are bidding the Network Equipment only, do they need provide fiber patch cables and copper patch cables in their bids? 2) Can perspective (sic) bidders have access to an editable version of the Bid Form? 1) No, Network Equipment Bidders do not need to provide any Fiber Patch cables. EESD has requested adequate Fiber Patch cables in the Cabling portion of the RFP. See Page 23 for details. Bidders to the Cabling portion are being asked to provide bids for the required Single Mode Patch Cables. 2) Yes, The original editable version is a Microsoft Word file (.docx). This version will be made available via EPC and the District website. EESD will also be producing and Excel and Google Sheet version and will email it to all vendors that attended the mandatory bidders meeting. EESD prefers submissions be in Excel or Google Sheet format.
NOTES FROM FEB 9, 2018 MANDATORY BIDDER CONFERENCE/JOB WALK Bid # 2 EESD ERATE 2018 19 C2 RFP Meeting Notes 2/9/18 at 9 am In attendance: Phil Brown Eric Zane Michael Harsh Dimitri Kristensen Logan Lemming Ryan Belcastro from World Telecom Drew Stark from AMS.net Jeff Bauer from Comer Communications Eric Stoxen from DGI John Jenkins from DGI Eric Zane: This is the mandatory bidders meeting for Cabling, LAN Switches and WAN Routers, as put out in our RFP. For cabling we will be discussing the Single Mode cabling and one group of quantity 100 CAT6A cables needed at the Monte Vista Campus. Regarding Network Equipment Technical Support, Equipment Replacement and Software/Hardware licensing we are looking for a 5 year contract but are trying to achieve a 10 year fixed cost. California Education Code only allows 5 year contracts, but we would like additional extensions that we could exercise to achieve a 10 year fixed cost if legally possible. The RFP response has to be a printed hard copy, it cannot be emailed. The job walk today is only for those bidding on the cabling Section(s). The Request for Information (RFI) deadline is Feb. 21, 2018. Questions should all be emailed to erate@eesd.net prior to that deadline. Is EESD going to wait for funding before starting the project? We can self-fund, we will not be waiting for funding, this will be a summer 2018 project. The plan is to be taking delivery of switches in April and starting installs. As long as erate allows us start work on April 2nd, that is our intention. But we shouldn t be expecting invoices to be paid or generated until July 1, correct? Correct, per my understanding of erate rules we cannot be legally invoiced until July 1st. Eric Zane: Last year we cancelled a similar RFP because we believed the switches were physically too deep for our IDF cabinets. We have found a solution to this issue. We will need to, and WILL, cut the power cable management support off the power supplies for Cisco Meraki and/or Cisco Catalyst 9000 series switches. We will not be changing all of our IDF cabinets. We asked Cisco Meraki and Cisco Traditional sales representatives for an inch and a half less depth, by modifying the back of the power supply and angling the power cable 90 degrees. Neither Cisco switch type sales team presented a viable option. We need right LEFT 90 degree angle power cords for the Power Supply. [This direction of turn changed after the Mandatory Pre-Bid Meeting: We need the power cord to plug into the Power Supply with the cord exiting the plug to the right side. That is the power cord needs to route across the back of the switch versus routing
into the removal tab on the Power Supply.] We want to keep the warranty after cutting the power cable management support off the power supplies. We DO REQUIRE a statement from each Network Equipment bidder regarding whether or not the warranty will be honored or voided when we cut the power cable management support off the power supplies. Eric Zane: We are planning on replacing MDF cabinets. This change is not to house new switches but to make changes to put our Video Surveillance Servers into the new MDF cabinets too. We have installed two APC Netshelter Cabinets so far at Mistletoe and Lassen View. We are also pulling MPOE telephone cabling etc. off the nearby walls, and putting it into the MDF cabinets too. Will the new MDF cabinets be in place by April? Yes. 2 of the 7 required cabinets are done already, the rest should be done before April 2 nd. Do we need a letter or an actual bid bond? And do you want it shown as separate line items for performance and material? The RFP is written up as letter evidencing bondability, not an actual bid bond. And either way, we will evaluate it based on total project cost. Yes, we d like the performance and materials bond costs as separate line items. We are also asking for 4 hours response time. It reads that 4 hours response time is both manufacturer support and vendor support. We just need 4 hour response time for vendor support.
Transportation is a non-educational site? What about PACE and RCA? PACE and RCA are both at our Monte Vista site which is an educational site. PACE and RCA combine student counts as they are physically on the same site. There is no cabling needed at the Transportation Site, just need to change out the switch and routing equipment. If erate allows us start work on April 2nd, that is our intention. Eric Zane: We need a network that achieves our Three Primary Objectives. First, is our North- South objective, we are looking to achieve per hop visibility, the bare minimum is from Chromebook to the exit from the WAN side to the Firewall, we need to know how much time it took. Second is the East-West between school sites; including IoT, malware, bad actors on the network, we are trying to hold down number of bad things that can be done. Third is our Ongoing Cost Reductions. Is there a fiber aggregation switch in Option 3? While reviewing the LAN switching and routing options we see a line was left out of Option 3. The Cisco Catalyst 9500-40X Fiber-Aggregation switch was missed in Option 3.
Corrected LAN Switches & WAN Routers - Option 3 Network Switches by Site Model Name/Number or equivalent *Additions/Changes are in light green. AM BC LV MI MV PA RO SM TR Totals Number of MDFs N/A 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 9 Number of IDFs N/A 9 11 8 10 6 9 4 5 62 Cisco ASR 1001-X Cisco ASR 1001-X 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 9 *Cisco Catalyst 9500-40X Fiber-Aggregation switch Catalyst 9500-40X 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 9 Cisco SFP-10GB-LRM SFP Module (MDF) SFP-10GB-LRM 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 18 *Cisco 1M SFP+ Twinax uplink cable (MDF) 1M SFP+ Twinax 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 18 Cisco Catalyst 9300-48UXM Catalyst 9300-48UXM 0 0 0 2 3 1 0 0 0 6 Cisco Catalyst 9300-24UX Catalyst 9300-24UX 10 13 10 9 5 9 5 6 1 68 Catalyst Redundant Power Supply PWR-C1-1100WAC= 10 13 10 11 8 10 5 6 1 74 Cisco 3M SFP+ Twinax uplink cable(mdf) 3M SFP+ Twinax 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 18 Cisco SFP-10GB-LRM SFP Module (IDFs) SFP-10GB-LRM 0 0 0 4 6 2 0 0 0 12 Cisco Stacking cable 1 Meter STACK-T1-1M 0 0 0 2 3 2 0 0 0 7 Cisco Stacking cable 3 Meter STACK-T1-3M 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 These are needed to complete the stacking from top to bottom. Meraki Fiber-Aggregation Switch MS425-16 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 8 Meraki MS225-48FP MS225-48FP 10 12 9 11 7 10 5 6 1 71 Meraki Stacking cable MA-CBL-40G-3M 0 1 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 4 Each switch includes a stacking cable. These are needed to complete the stacking. Meraki Redundant Power Supply 1025W Power Supply 10 12 9 11 7 10 5 6 1 71 Meraki 3M SFP+ Twinax uplink cable 3M SFP+ Twinax 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 18 Meraki MA-SFP-10GB-LRM SFP Module (IDFs) MA-SFP-10GB-LRM 20 24 18 22 14 20 10 12 2 142 Meraki USA AC Right Angle Power Cable MA-PWR-CORD-US * 11 13 10 12 8 11 6 7 1 79 Cisco USA AC Right Angle Power Cable CAB-TA-NA-RA= 20 26 20 22 16 20 10 12 2 148 * Note: This part number needs to be changed to be a Right Angle cable. The District requires both 5 and 10 year Licensing options and seeks to achieve 10.
Is all routing on each site through the ASRs for Option 3? It is for Option 2 and 3. Option 1 uses Meraki MX devices for routing. Also, we will add the 9500 that we missed and all Meraki switches in Option 3 will go into the 9500 for fiber aggregation. In Option 3, the Meraki is strictly for IoT, all student and admin devices are riding back to the 9500. The only computers that could be there [on the IoT network] are the video surveillance server. Would you need 100% separation? EESD needs routing between the separate subnets. Option 4 is my attempt to have zero Cat 9K switching in any IDF cabinets. We are doing our best to put completely dumb devices in IDF cabinet, taking any end user device that comes into an IDF via a WAP or via copper cable, immediately into a Media Converter. The WAPs go into a Media Converter and it all will have a Single Mode Fiber connection back to the MDF, thus removing a need for Cat 9K switching. Cat 9K switching will all be in the MDF s. IoT will still be on Meraki. We don t want to pay for Cisco DNA licensing on per port basis for ports that we re not using and probably never will use. In general, this is a semi-defined design build; the quantities are fixed and we need to play tetris to see what fits in. Yes, the goal is to put EESD at a lower total cost of ownership for both ownership and on-going management costs.
Do you want all of the the Fiber Optic cable terminated or dark? Bid it all as terminated, if you both bid it that way it will be apples to apples. We mutually decided during during this meeting that all Fiber Optic Cable for this RFP would be Tight Buffered cable. For LAN Switches - Option 1 there are dual 24-port switches listed. Is there physically only one 48- port in each of those spaces currently? Yes, but we have 1 Rack U blank underneath and will be using the 1 U space of that blank. Currently Meraki 48-port switches do not support multigig, is there an option of swapping out WAP s now? The premise is Meraki will figure out a way to make cost of one 48-port equal two 24-ports. If a 48- port is not available by April 2 nd then we ll probably hold off and wait to purchase. We will not be swapping out all WAPs now. We have so many other things that need switching now. Also, we will be having a WiFi Challenge this month therefore no WAP s or other WiFi equipment is listed in this RFP. The 802.11AX standard is being created now. Waiting for WAPs will mean we get better WAPs with a longer future. It has to be bid this way right now so it s fair, but we don t intend to buy it that way. If you want to bid just cabling that s fine, or you can bid cabling and UPS s or you can bid the Media Convertor equipment only in Option 4. You want a separated bid for each? Yes, you can bid all 4 Options or just one Option. The Options expectation is that they are turn key; installed and done, and everything we have working now will continue to work. You can bid switching options as well, but not just a rack and stack. At one site, Monte Vista, PACE school, 2 of 7 planned classrooms exist so we are making a general estimate of what s needed for CAT6A cabling. The CAT6A specs could be old and wrong if someone notices a correction to be made please list it as an RFI.
Do electronic drawings have to be Visio or can it be AutoCAD? We require Visio. We will entertain options prior to submission. Are we just dropping off UPS or stacking them too? We didn t think about that, we will need to specify labor install. Labor and Installation are required for the UPS quotes. Also, regarding UPS quotes, please use the Part Numbers that include the pre-installed UPS management cards. We do not want to be installing them separately or paying a vendor to install these cards. Are you asking for Live Action because you are not confident that Meraki Insight can do all of it? With both Cisco DNA and Meraki Insight, they are both such young products and Live Action is Mature product. Our view of Live Action is that it is not much extra cost over 10 years, we might as well have another option to help validate results. What about ISE? ISE and Stealth Watch are part of achieving our Objectives too. We expect ISE and Stealth Watch licensing to be included. If there s another option given, that will also be looked at.
What is possibility of moving to Option 2, 3 or 4 if a 48-port switch is not available? If Option 1 achieves our 3 Primary Objectives and the pricing is the lowest we will wait for Option 1 [48-port mgig switches] over moving to Options 2, 3, or 4 if need be. If it s simply waiting for a multigig 48-port switch then we will wait. On the redundant power supplies, they are off by 1. It is because the 9500 switch was accidentally deleted from Option 3. All of the DNA features will need to be included? Specifically what does that mean to EESD? We are trying to get to the capability of VXLANs. The complete software defined network would be outside of the box [what EESD needs]. If we have to buy software/licenses to get required features then we want the function of that configured. I.e. if we have switches then want to be able to manage that under DNA. The focus is on those 3 objectives. 45 apps do need to be configured. Option 3 is not asking for mgig on the Meraki side. We have changed Meraki switch models to 225 on Option 3. There are no UPoE needs. Is SSL encryption required at any point? It is on our radar, yes. We are asking for the best features to accomplish the 3 Primary Objectives. It is our expectation that the winning bidders will prepare required erate Item 21 forms in a timely manner. Since this is kind of design building, but semi-fixed, an occasional run may need an LR optic vs an LRM. We will decide that when getting to the point of purchasing, it could be a substitution. We are aware of 12-15 of our fiber runs that require LRM optics. Appendix A - Maps for EESD:
Mistletoe Elementary School (MI)
Shasta Meadows Elementary School (SM)
Parsons Junior High School (PA)
Rother Elementary School (RO)
Alta Mesa Elementary School (AM)
Lassen View Elementary School (LV) Boulder Creek School (BC)
PACE Academy & Redding Collegiate Academy (MV - Monte Vista - Shared location)