U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ADP Placement Section (3803F), 401 M St. SW, Washington, DC 20460-0001

D -- DIRECT ACCESS STORAGE DEVICES SOL Synopsis #96-02 DUE 051396 POC Contact Point, Bonnie L. Brandon, (202)260-3247 The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a requirement for maintaining its installed base of Storage Technology Corporation (StorageTek) Direct Access Storage Devices (DASD) components, including Disk Control units, Disk Storage Units and Modules, Cache Disk Control Units, Cache Arrays, Switches, Directors, other electronic modules, and operating system software for the five year period, October 1, 1996 through September 30, 2001, base period and four one-year option periods. This DASD equipment is primarily located at EPA sites in Research Triangle Park (RTP), NC, with smaller quantities of equipment in Cincinnati, OH. EPA currently has an installed base of over two terrabytes of DASD to be maintained, approximately one-third of which is RAID and two-thirds conventional. The installed base includes five generations of DASD, (single density through RAID), some of which has been in operation for over 12 years. Approximately 300 total devices of DASD, controllers and electronics modules are in operation. Smaller quantities of additional StorageTek peripherals will also be maintained. EPA currently maintains the above DASD components under contracts with StorageTek, the Original Equipment Manufacturer. EPA's requirement includes preventive maintenance, on-call remedial maintenance, and per-call maintenance. EPA requires on-call remedial maintenance and per-call maintenance 24 hours a day, seven days a week including holidays, with a response time not exceeding two hours. Scheduled preventive maintenance and prompt availability of remedial maintenance are essential to ensure that data can be written to the DASD and read from it in a timely and reliable manner. EPA requires a 99.5% availability rate, and quick access to OEM spare parts is needed to minimize downtime. Continued availability of maintenance for these critical data storage components is necessary to ensure that EPA can provide uninterrupted centralized computing services to its Regional and Program Offices as well as entities external to the EPA such as the States, industry, and the general public. Disruption to these services could have a serious negative impact on the Agency's mission to provide information required to protect the nation's environment. EPA requires prompt implementation of all Engineering Changes, including microcode and firmware fixes and upgrades proposed by the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). All Engineering Changes, and new releases, updates and corrections to the STK operating system software must be made available to EPA within one week of when they are first made available by the OEM. These changes may involve, besides hardware features for enhanced performance, reliability, safety, etc., modifications to OEM- proprietary microcode or firmware embedded in the equipment for maintaining compatibility with upgrades to other hardware and software that work in conjunction with the DASD. Written proof of OEM certification to maintain this equipment, including the application of OEM Engineering Changes, must be submitted with the written response to this announcement to validate technical competency and currency. EPA also requires the ability to support the full capabilities of remote problem communications that the installed DASD has been enabled with (e.g. problem notification, diagnostics, pre-dispatch parts list generation, data-base accumulation and search, etc.). EPA intends to award a contract to Storage Technology Corporation (StorageTek), Federal Systems Operation, 12200 Tech Road, Silver Spring, MD 20904, for the maintenance of EPA's DASD equipment and related hardware and software. The intent of this synopsis is to determine if any other sources exist. No formal solicitation document is available. If no affirmative written responses are received within 15 calendar days after the publication of this synopsis to the effect that any other vendor can provide these services, a contract will be awarded to Storage Technology Corporation. All responses should identify Synopsis Number 9602.DASD and should be addressed to Bonnie L. Brandon, 401 M Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20460. FAX #202- 260-9930. Telephone inquiries shall not be honored. See Note 22. (0116)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0042 19960426\D-0007.SOL)