Supply of Data Processor Object Storage Software

Supply of Data Processor Object Storage Software and NVRAM Storage

The purpose of the work is to assess readiness of technology developments in storage for use in the SDP compute clusters.

United Kingdom-Cambridge: Research and development services and related consultancy services

2015/S 116-210174

Contract notice

Services

Directive 2004/18/EC

Section I: Contracting authority

I.1)Name, addresses and contact point(s)

The Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Cambridge
Procurement Services, Greenwich House, 1st Floor South, Madingley Rise, Madingley Road
Contact point(s): Procurement Services
For the attention of: Tom Twitchett
CB3 0TX Cambridge
UNITED KINGDOM
Telephone: +44 1223332233
E-mail: purchasing.intend@admin.cam.ac.uk

Internet address(es):

General address of the contracting authority: https://in-tendhost.co.uk/universityofcambridge

Further information can be obtained from: The above mentioned contact point(s)

Specifications and additional documents (including documents for competitive dialogue and a dynamic purchasing system) can be obtained from: The above mentioned contact point(s)

Tenders or requests to participate must be sent to: The above mentioned contact point(s)

I.2)Type of the contracting authority

Other: higher education/research

I.3)Main activity

Education

I.4)Contract award on behalf of other contracting authorities

The contracting authority is purchasing on behalf of other contracting authorities: no

Section II: Object of the contract

II.1)Description

II.1.1)Title attributed to the contract by the contracting authority:

UCAM 046/15 For the provision of SKA-Science Data Processor Object Storage Software and NVRAM Storage.

II.1.2)Type of contract and location of works, place of delivery or of performance

Services
Service category No 8: Research and development services

NUTS code UKH1

II.1.3)Information about a public contract, a framework agreement or a dynamic purchasing system (DPS)

The notice involves a public contract

II.1.4)Information on framework agreement

II.1.5)Short description of the contract or purchase(s)

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA, http://www.skatelescope.org/) is a major international project to build a next generation radio astronomy observatory. The anticipated construction cost of the full SKA is about 2 000 000 000 EUR. When completed, the SKA will be, by a large margin, the largest and most sensitive low-frequency radio observatory ever built.

The design of the main elements of the SKA is being carried out by International Consortia, with the SKA Organisation coordinating the design process. The SKA Organisation is also the overall design authority for the SKA. The SKA Organisation is a UK company limited by guarantee and is based in the UK at Jodrell Bank in Cheshire.
An integral part of the observatory is processing the data from the streams produced by digital signal processing into calibrated, usable science products. This processing is the responsibility of the ‘Science Data Processor’ (SDP) element of the SKA which is led by the University of Cambridge. The ‘Science Data Processing Consortium’ includes members on five continents and a mixture of Universities and government organisation and institutes.
The deployment of the telescopes in SKA will be phased, with the first phase (SKA1) due to commence procurement in 2017. Until 2017 the SKA project is in a pre-production phase during which elements are undergoing design and technology is brought to production readiness level. The observatory will consist of telescopes which will be sited in Southern Africa and Western Australia. There will be a computing facility for Science Data Processing on each of the continents.
The purpose of the work is to assess readiness of technology developments in storage for use in the SDP compute clusters. The applications running in the SDP clusters have an extreme need for high performance read I/O. The details of a preliminary design of the SDP can be in the Bibliography below. Additional information on software can also be found here.
The SDP clusters may well have a hybrid storage system comprising ultra-fast node-local storage leveraging NVRAM, fast island-wide shared storage spanning a limited collection of nodes (e.g. 2 racks of computers may comprise an ‘island’) while a third storage system will provide an archive in which the science products will be stored. Given current industry trends, object stores are of considerable interest.
The purpose of this project is to establish if combinations of existing technologies are feasible to achieve the following goals:
— Can an application simultaneously use NVRAM storage as part of an object store and as memory class storage?
— Can a fast RDMA interconnect be leveraged to access an object storage backend?
— Layer a layout-aware I/O-interface, for example ADIOS, on an object store and demonstrate good performance?

II.1.6)Common procurement vocabulary (CPV)

73000000, 73300000, 72230000, 72200000

II.1.7)Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)

The contract is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA): no

II.1.8)Lots

This contract is divided into lots: no

II.1.9)Information about variants

Variants will be accepted: yes

II.2)Quantity or scope of the contract

II.2.1)Total quantity or scope:

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA, http://www.skatelescope.org/) is a major international project to build a next generation radio astronomy observatory. The anticipated construction cost of the full SKA is about 2 billion Euros. When completed, the SKA will be, by a large margin, the largest and most sensitive low-frequency radio observatory ever built.

II.2.2)Information about options

Options: no

II.2.3)Information about renewals

This contract is subject to renewal: no

II.3)Duration of the contract or time limit for completion

Duration in months: 24 (from the award of the contract)

Section III: Legal, economic, financial and technical information

III.1)Conditions relating to the contract

III.1.1)Deposits and guarantees required:

III.1.2)Main financing conditions and payment arrangements and/or reference to the relevant provisions governing them:

III.1.3)Legal form to be taken by the group of economic operators to whom the contract is to be awarded:

III.1.4)Other particular conditions

The performance of the contract is subject to particular conditions: no

III.2)Conditions for participation

III.2.1)Personal situation of economic operators, including requirements relating to enrolment on professional or trade registers

III.2.2)Economic and financial ability

III.2.3)Technical capacity

III.2.4)Information about reserved contracts

III.3)Conditions specific to services contracts

III.3.1)Information about a particular profession

Execution of the service is reserved to a particular profession: no

III.3.2)Staff responsible for the execution of the service

Legal persons should indicate the names and professional qualifications of the staff responsible for the execution of the service: no

Section IV: Procedure

IV.1)Type of procedure

IV.1.1)Type of procedure

Open

IV.1.2)Limitations on the number of operators who will be invited to tender or to participate

IV.1.3)Reduction of the number of operators during the negotiation or dialogue

Recourse to staged procedure to gradually reduce the number of solutions to be discussed or tenders to be negotiated no

IV.2)Award criteria

IV.2.1)Award criteria

The most economically advantageous tender in terms of the criteria stated in the specifications, in the invitation to tender or to negotiate or in the descriptive document

IV.2.2)Information about electronic auction

An electronic auction will be used: no

IV.3)Administrative information

IV.3.1)File reference number attributed by the contracting authority:

UCAM 046/15

IV.3.2)Previous publication(s) concerning the same contract

IV.3.3)Conditions for obtaining specifications and additional documents or descriptive document

Time limit for receipt of requests for documents or for accessing documents: 7.8.2015 – 12:00
Payable documents: no

IV.3.4)Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate

7.8.2015 – 12:00

IV.3.5)Date of dispatch of invitations to tender or to participate to selected candidates

IV.3.6)Language(s) in which tenders or requests to participate may be drawn up

English.

IV.3.7)Minimum time frame during which the tenderer must maintain the tender

in days: 90 (from the date stated for receipt of tender)

IV.3.8)Conditions for opening of tenders

Date: 14.8.2015 – 12:30
Persons authorised to be present at the opening of tenders: no

Section VI: Complementary information

VI.1)Information about recurrence

This is a recurrent procurement: no

VI.2)Information about European Union funds

The contract is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: no

VI.3)Additional information

The University of Cambridge is not a public body within the meaning of the Public Contracts Regulations 2006 (Directive 2004/18) and is not subject to the procurement legislation. Where the University advertises contracts in the Official Journal of the European Union, it does so on a voluntary basis and does not undertake any obligation to comply with the procurement legislation. The University reserves its rights in full to adapt or step outside the procedures in the procurement legislation as the University considers necessary.
Information about the tender process to be followed does not amount to a legally binding offer by the University to follow the process so described. The University reserves the right not to follow or to modify the procedures as the University considers necessary.
The tender process is being conducted electronically via In-tend.
Suppliers are required to register on this website:

https://in-tendhost.co.uk/universityofcambridge in order to receive documentation. After registering the tender documentation can then be downloaded. All tender responses and any supporting documentation must be submitted through this system. There must be no postal correspondence from bidders unless agreed with the University. Tenders shall not be sent and will not be accepted by fax or email.

VI.4)Procedures for appeal

VI.4.1)Body responsible for appeal procedures

VI.4.2)Lodging of appeals

VI.4.3)Service from which information about the lodging of appeals may be obtained

VI.5)Date of dispatch of this notice:

16.6.2015