U.S. Department of the Interior, National Business Center, Acquisition Services, 1849 C Street NW, Room 1324, Washington, DC 20240

W -- LEASE OF COMPUTER EQUIPMENT SOL NBCW0R00004 POC Pamela Switzer, Contracting Officer 202-208-6722 E-MAIL: Pam_M_Switzer@nbc.gov, Pam_M_Switzer@nbc.gov. The purpose of this modification is to answer questions from offerors regarding the solicitation and provide those answers to all offerors. This announcement is also being sent out via e-mail to those offerors who have already expressed an interest and have ALREADY RECEIVED THE SOLICITATION. This announcement was previously issued on November 4, 1999. The questions and answers are provided as follows: QUESTION #1: On the "DTO1" desktop computers referenced in attachment C, a 250W power supply is specified. Will a 200W power supply be acceptable? ANSWER #1: The 250W power supply is adequate for the system as defined in the RFP. If the proposed system only requires a 200W power supply (proven by accompanying documentation) then that would be acceptable. QUESTION #2: Also, on page 15 of 39 of the solicitation you describe these systems as "workstations". Are you asking for a Desktop PC or a workstation? ANSWER #2: The term workstation in this context does NOT mean a Unix workstation. We are requesting Intel or compatible machines as stated on the equipment list. Workstation is a term used to define the machine on which people perform their work. QUESTION #3: Will all of the requested systems be located in one building? ANSWER #3: All machines will be located in the US Geological Survey building in Reston, VA with the exception of two (2) machines that will be delivered to employees in Denver, CO. QUESTION #4: Is so, is there a network currently installed and what type? ANSWER #4: Yes, there is an Ethernet 10Base T Network installed in the building. Currently, the machines use 10Mbps networking but, the network may be upgraded to 100Mbps within the life of the contract. Therefore, the Network Interface Cards must support both 10 and 100 Mbps. The Denver CO site also has an Ethernet 10BaseT Network. QUESTION #5: If these systems are to be in a single location, would you consider rack mounting the severs to save floor space? ANSWER #5: No, Rack mount servers are not acceptable at this time. The servers must be able to operate in normal office space with normal office power. QUESTION #6: All of the servers in attachment C have the same requirements, i.e., "xeon, 450MHz, 2gb memory". What applications and number of users for each server? ANSWER #6: The server configuration specified are the minimum requirements and will allow for future expansion. The 2GB memory requirement is only for expansion, i.e., all server class machines must be able to be upgraded to 2GB of RAM on the motherboard. The small and medium servers only require 512MB of RAM while the large server must have 1 GB installed. This is a differentiation between the servers, i.e., the "servers in attachment C" do NOT "have the same requirements". There is also a difference in the amount of hard disk space configured on the three types of servers. The NBC has approximately 80 users, but these users do not normally login to the NBC's NT servers. Novell's Netware 4.1x is the primary Network Operating System for the NBC. The NT servers in the RFP are for application use by a small number of NBC employees and outside users of NBC applications only. At this time, we cannot state which of the NBC standard applications will be installed on which servers. The only firm requirement is the large server, which is planned to be used for data storage by NBC personnel. QUESTION #7:This will help us to distinguish what your exact needs are and scalability required. ANSWER #7: Scalability of these servers is not a requirement in the RFP. If scalability is necessary, the Server Catalog will be modified. QUESTION #8: Understanding that you have contractors support, your systems on site, we also provide warranty on these systems for 3 years. What type of response time will you need for these systems, i.e. 7x24, next day, same day service? ANSWER #8: Onsite personnel will attempt to correct problems with vendor supplied pre-position spare parts as required in the SOW. If that fails, the contractor must adhere to the "response times" shown in Section C.6(a) and (b). QUESTION #9: Regarding Attachment A, Software/Desktop System Configuration -- I need to know if you already have a harddrive that is networking with the same system configurations and you would like us just to mirror that onto the new systems hard drive? ANSWER #9: At this point, NBC has a machine that can be "cloned", i.e. it has everything on it that we need on the new system. It is now a Norton Ghost image. NBC will be able to provide that image to the successful offeror for cloning purposes. NT is very particular about hardware drivers and each machines will have to be customized to provide a statistically unique Security ID and the other NBC provided settings such as IP address, host name, subnet mask, default gateway, DNS addresses, etc. Each machine will need significant customization. This can be accomplished several ways -- "cloning" is only one way of accomplishing this effort. QUESTION #10: Software licensing -- On page 15 of the solicitation you are requesting an estimated 100 software licenses, but it does not specify for what product. On page 17 of the solicitation, you are requesting an estimated 110-software license, but it does not specify for what product. And additional 120 software licenses on page 18. Would you like additional 100 licenses for each of the products listed on first page of attachment B, or would this be just for MS Office Pro 97? ANSWER #10: -- Due to the multiple questions here the following answers are provided: This is a firm fixed price -- indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity type of contract and separate delivery orders will be issued. Therefore, each order will be for each period of performance thus each order will be issued for the software, hardware, etc. during the life of the contract. The government will be required to meet the minimum order for each period of performance. Note: CLINs 01A-01F relate to the applicable Section C sections and Attachment A and/or C. CLINs 02A-02B are applicable to the applicable Section C sections and Attachment B. Receipt of proposals have NOT been extended and are still to be received NLT Tuesday, December 21, 1999, 2:00 p.m. Eastern Standard time. Posted 12/14/99 (W-SN408422). (0348)

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