Travaux publics et Services gouvernementaux Canada. Title - Sujet NMSO STORAGE SYSTEMS. Solicitation No. - N de l'invitation E60EJ-11000S

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1 Public Works and Government Services Canada RETURN BIDS TO: RETOURNER LES SOUMISSIONS À: Bid Receiving - PWGSC / Réception des soumissions - TPSGC 11 Laurier St. / 11, rue Laurier Place du Portage, Phase III Core 0A1 / Noyau 0A1 Gatineau, Québec K1A 0S5 Bid Fax: (819) Revision to a Request for a Standing Offer Révision à une demande d'offre à commandes National Master Standing Offer (NMSO) Offre à commandes principale et nationale (OCPN) The referenced document is hereby revised; unless otherwise indicated, all other terms and conditions of the Offer remain the same. Ce document est par la présente révisé; sauf indication contraire, les modalités de l'offre demeurent les mêmes. Comments - Commentaires Travaux publics et Services gouvernementaux Canada 1 1 Title - Sujet NMSO STORAGE SYSTEMS Solicitation No. - N de l'invitation Date E60EJ-11000S/B Client Reference No. - N de référence du client Amendment No. - N modif. E60EJ-11000S 008 File No. - N de dossier CCC No./N CCC - FMS No./N VME 315ej.E60EJ-11000S GETS Reference No. - N de référence de SEAG PW-$$EJ Date of Original Request for Standing Offer Date de la demande de l'offre à commandes originale Solicitation Closes - L'invitation prend fin Time Zone Fuseau horaire at - à 02:00 PM Eastern Daylight on - le Saving Time EDT Address Enquiries to: - Adresser toutes questions à: Buyer Id - Id de l'acheteur O'Sullivan, Patrick 315ej Telephone No. - N de téléphone FAX No. - N de FAX (819) ( ) (819) Delivery Required - Livraison exigée Destination - of Goods, Services, and Construction: Destination - des biens, services et construction: Department of Public Works and Government Services See info specified in Call-Up Vendor/Firm Name and Address Raison sociale et adresse du fournisseur/de l'entrepreneur Security - Sécurité This revision does not change the security requirements of the Offer. Cette révision ne change pas les besoins en matière de sécurité de la présente offre. Instructions: See Herein Instructions: Voir aux présentes Issuing Office - Bureau de distribution Acquisition Branch, STAMS, ITSPD / Direction générale des acquisitions, SGAST, DASIT Computer Hardware Division Div. de l'équipement informatique Place du Portage, Phase III, 4C2 11 Laurier Street/11, rue Laurier Gatineau Québec K1A 0S5 Acknowledgement copy required Accusé de réception requis Signature For the Minister - Pour le Ministre Yes - Oui The Offeror hereby acknowledges this revision to its Offer. Le proposant constate, par la présente, cette révision à son offre. Date No - Non Name and title of person authorized to sign on behalf of offeror. (type or print) Nom et titre de la personne autorisée à signer au nom du proposant. (taper ou écrire en caractères d'imprimerie) Canada Page 1 of - de 2

2 E60EJ-11000S/B ej Client Ref. No. - N de réf. du client File No. - N du dossier CCC No./N CCC - FMS No/ N VME E60EJ-11000S 315ejE60EJ-11000S Cette modification contient les sections suivantes: 1. Ensemble de questions et réponses 2 2. DOC et annexes révisées Les modifications du DOC et des annexes sont surlignées en jaune, les suppressions sont indiquées en rouge. Remarque: Certaines questions ont été modifiées de leur forme originale, d autres questions ont été supprimer si elles ont été traitées par une question précédente. Si vous avez soumis une question qui n a pas été abordé, s il vous plait soumettre à nouveau. Les versions révisées remplacent la version existante. Page 2 of - de 2

3 Solicitation No. - N de l'invitation Amd. No. - N de la modif. E60EJ-11000S/B 008 Q129 Annex A, Section 3.2 Software Certification: Tier 1 & Tier 2 Storage solutions must have the following certifications: (a) SNIA's Storage Management Initiative Specification (SMI-S) Provider Test Revision 1.5 (b) VMWare vsphere 5 (which include the following initiatives: VAAI, VASA, SDRS, and Storage Vmotion) Our product that would fit into Group 1.0 is not submitted to SNIA for SMI-S certification, as is typical of products that are iscsi-focused. Can PWGSC please remove this requirement from the Group 1.0 specification so that we may be able to submit a bid? A129 Yes the specification will be amended. Under Section 3.2 Title, delete in its entirety and replace with "Software Certification For Groups 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, and 6.0" Q130 Annex A, Section 3.2 states: Tier 1 & Tier 2 Storage solutions must have the following certifications: (a) SNIA's Storage Management Initiative Specification (SMI-S) Provider Test Revision 1.5 (b) VMWare vsphere 5 (which include the following initiatives: VAAI, VASA, SDRS, and Storage Vmotion) Our product is currently compliant only to SNIA's Storage Management Initiative Specification (SMI-S) Provider Test Revision 1.4 and will not be compliant to 1.5 until more than sixty days after the close date of the RFSO. Can PWGSC please revise this requirement from 1.5 to 1.4 so that we may be able to submit a bid? A130 Please see Q/A #129. Q131 Amendment #3, A24 the specification will be amended. Under Section (e) delete in its entirety. Furthermore, please see revised Annex B Annex B still lists the following though: 1. 10GbE 24 port iscsi switch including GBICS - Model A 2. 10GbE 24 port iscsi switch including GBICS - Model B Can PWGSC please revise Annex B to reflect this change? A131 Yes, please see revised Annex-B. Q132 Annex B, Revision 003, Group 2.0, Category B Fabric Component Group B describes a 36-port FCoE switch.this port count seems unusual and is problematic to bid. Can PWGSC please revise this requirement so that the required port count for this switch is 24-port? A132 Please see Q/A #194. Q133 Annex A, Section 5.0 Value Added Vendor Support Group I: VMWare Certified Professional Group II: Microsoft Certified Systems Engineers Linux Certified Engineers Group III: Oracle Solaris Certified Engineers HP-UX Certified Engineers IBM AIX Certified Engineers IBM ZOS Certified Engineers Group IV: Q&A2 - Page 1 of 39

4 Solicitation No. - N de l'invitation Amd. No. - N de la modif. E60EJ-11000S/B 008 SNIA Certified Engineers Brocade Certified Professional Engineers Brocade Certified Network Professionals Brocade Certified Fabric Designers Cisco DCNI-2 Certified Engineers Cisco Certified Network Associates who have completed DCUFI Cisco Certified Network Infrastructure Support Specialists Cisco Certified Network Architect One of the certifications is for HP-UX Certified Engineers. Within our technical support infrastructure the Unix Operating Systems Specialist have been fully and formally trained but they do not always possess a formal Certification. We respectfully ask that the requirement be amended to Certified or Formally trained. A133 Yes the specification will be amended however an HP certificate of training completion must be provided as proof. Under Section 5.0 Group III, delete reference to HP-UX Certified Engineers and replace with "HP-UX Certified or Vendor Trained Engineers" Q134 Annex A, Section 5.0 Value Added Vendor Support For Tier 1 & Tier 2 Storage the technical support infrastructure must consist of no less than fifteen (15) support personnel available across Canada and must have at least three (3) support personnel per group as identified below: Group I: VMWare Certified Professional Group II: Microsoft Certified Systems Engineers Linux Certified Engineers Group III: Oracle Solaris Certified Engineers HP-UX Certified Engineers IBM AIX Certified Engineers IBM ZOS Certified Engineers Group IV: SNIA Certified Engineers Brocade Certified Professional Engineers Brocade Certified Network Professionals Brocade Certified Fabric Designers Cisco DCNI-2 Certified Engineers Cisco Certified Network Associates who have completed DCUFI Cisco Certified Network Infrastructure Support Specialists Cisco Certified Network Architect One of the certifications is for Oracle Solaris Certified Engineers. It is our understanding that there is no designation for Oracle Solaris Certified Engineers. Please clarify that the Sun Certified System Administrator for Solaris 10 Operating System would be sufficient to meet the requirement. A134 Yes, a Sun Certified System Administrator for Solaris 10 would be acceptable. Q135 Annex A, Section , , , , (d) and (f) Software and Additional Capabilities The Scale Out NAS platform must provide the following software functionality and additional capabilities: (f) it must include and be licensed for NDMP to facilitate backups of the shared file systems to backup targets. Canada is requesting it must include and be licensed for NDMP to facilitate backups of the shared file Q&A2 - Page 2 of 39

5 Solicitation No. - N de l'invitation Amd. No. - N de la modif. E60EJ-11000S/B 008 systems to fibre channel attached backup targets. NDMP protocol is only required on device s which do not support installation of native backup agents, for this reason would Canada please restate the requirement to read; (d) it must include and be licensed for NDMP or support installation of backup agents to facilitate backups of the shared file systems to fibre channel attached backup targets. A135 Yes, the specification will be amended. Under Annex-A, Section (d), (d), (d), (d), (d), and (f) delete in its entirety and replace with "it must include and be licensed for NDMP or support the installation of backup agents to facilitate backups of the shared file systems to fibre channel attached backup targets." Q136 Annex A, Section (j) 10Gb Ethernet Switch (j) They must auto-negotiate for speed, duplex mode and flow control on 10GBASE-T ports; Would Canada please remove the requirement for auto-negotiate for duplex mode as 10GE only supports full duplex? A136 Please see Q/A #184. Q137 Annex A, Section (k) 10Gb Ethernet Switch (k) They must provide resilient High Availability stacking with up a minimum of 6 switches (only SFP+ ports can be used for stack connections); Due to the products in Category 2.1 being for small iscsi entry level SAN, would Canada please reduce the stacking requirement from 6 down to 4 units in order to provide a compliant solution? A137 Yes, the specification will be amended. Under Annex-A, Section (k) delete reference to "6" and replace with "4". Q138 Annex A, Section (k) 10Gb Ethernet Switch (k) They must provide resilient High Availability stacking with up a minimum of 6 switches (only SFP+ ports can be used for stack connections); Would Canada please allow the stacking of ports to use 10Gbase-CX4 or SFP_ Direct attaches which accomplish the same end result, as a compliant solution? A138 Yes, the specification will be amended. Under Annex-A, Section (k), delete reference to "only SFP+ ports" and replace with SFP+ ports, 10Gbase-CX4 or SFP_ Direct attach". Q139 Annex A, Section (l) 10Gb Ethernet Switch (l) They must provide cable and transceiver diagnostics; Can the diagnostic for the cable requirement please be deleted from the requirement, in order to provide a compliant bid? A139 Yes, the specification will be amended. Under Annex-A, delete Section (l) in its entirety. Q140 Annex A, Section (l) 10Gb Ethernet Switch (q) The GUI interface must allow configuration of all aspects of the ethernet switches including: i) the name, ii) the domain ID, iii) the passwords and user accounts for management, iv) the IP addressing, v) the modes of operation of the ports, vi) all zone and path information, and vii) any other parameters critical to the operation of the switch; Would Canada please confirm that name means the SNMP OID value: sysname, which is an administratively-assigned name for this managed node? A140 Confirmed, it is one of the approved meanings. Q&A2 - Page 3 of 39

6 Solicitation No. - N de l'invitation Amd. No. - N de la modif. E60EJ-11000S/B 008 Q141 Annex A, Section (l) 10Gb Ethernet Switch (q) The GUI interface must allow configuration of all aspects of the ethernet switches including: i) the name, ii) the domain ID, iii) the passwords and user accounts for management, iv) the IP addressing, v) the modes of operation of the ports, vi) all zone and path information, and vii) any other parameters critical to the operation of the switch; Would the Canada please remove the requirement for domain ID as this is a SAN Fabric specification and not part of an Ethernet switch? A141 Please see Q/A #190. Q142 Annex A, Section (l) 10Gb Ethernet Switch (q) The GUI interface must allow configuration of all aspects of the ethernet switches including: i) the name, ii) the domain ID, iii) the passwords and user accounts for management, iv) the IP addressing, v) the modes of operation of the ports, vi) all zone and path information, and vii) any other parameters critical to the operation of the switch; Would Canada please remove the requirement for zone and path as this is a SAN Fabric specification and not part of an Ethernet switch? A142 Please see Q/A #190. Q143 Annex A, Section (r) 10Gb Ethernet Switch (r) The GUI interface must provide complete performance monitoring allowing a storage administrator to view: i) the number of frames per second, with a breakdown of which were good frames and which were error frames, ii) the throughput (Mbps) of ethernet port, iii) the operational speed of ethernet ports, iv) the mode of operation of ethernet port (e.g. F-port, N-port, E-port), and v) the throughput in frames as well as MB per second Would Canada please remove the requirement (iv) as these are SAN Fabric specification and not part of an Ethernet switch? A143 Please see Q/A #191. Q144 Annex B, Group 1.0 Category B Please remove items 8-15, as these features do not apply to an iscsi solution. A144 The items will be deleted. Please see revised Annex-B. Q145 Annex B, Group 1.0, Category A1, Item 14 You refer to Online Data Migration. Can you please clarify if this is an expected Service or Software? A145 Please see Software Definition under Annex B, Instructions tab. Q146 Annex B, Group 1.0, Category A1, Item 15.1 You refer to an Application Extender. Can you please clarify or further define it? A146 Please see Q/A #145. Q&A2 - Page 4 of 39

7 Solicitation No. - N de l'invitation Amd. No. - N de la modif. E60EJ-11000S/B 008 Q147 Annex B, Group 1.0, Category A1, Item 16 You refer to Clustering (Host OS). Can you please clarify if this is an expected Service or Software? A147 Please see Q/A #145. Q148 Annex B, Group 1.0, Category A1, Item 17 and 73 You refer to Disk Wiping. Can you please clarify if this is an expected Service or Software? If it is a Service can you further define i.e. one server one volume? Item 17 refers to Online Data Migration. Given that this is a new system and presumably no need for Disk Wiping would you consider removing it from the base bundle? A148 Please see Q/A #145. Q149 Annex B, Group 1.0, Category A1, Items You refer to Online Data Migration. Can you please clarify if this is an expected Service or Software? A149 Please see Q/A #145. Q150 Annex B, Default Storage Platform, Disk Wiping Would Canada please define what service it is expecting with respect to disk wiping of bare metal systems? A150 Please see Q/A #145. Q151 Annex B, Default Storage Platform, Online Data Migration Would Canada please define the scope of this requested deliverable? A151 Please see Q/A #145. Q152 Annex B, Default Storage Platform, Application Extender Would Canada please define the required functions and features of this item? A152 Please see Q/A #145. Q153 Annex B, Default Storage Platform, Clustering (Host OS) Would Canada please define the required functions and features of this item? A153 Please see Q/A #145. Q154 Annex A, Section 5.0 VALUE-ADDED VENDOR SUPPORT For Tier 1 & Tier 2 Storage the technical support infrastructure must consist of no less than fifteen (15) support personnel available across Canada and must have at least three (3) support personnel per group as identified below: Group I: VMWare Certified Professional Group II: Microsoft Certified Systems Engineers Linux Certified Engineers Group III: Oracle Solaris Certified Engineers HP-UX Certified Engineers IBM AIX Certified Engineers IBM ZOS Certified Engineers Group IV: SNIA Certified Engineers Q&A2 - Page 5 of 39

8 Solicitation No. - N de l'invitation Amd. No. - N de la modif. E60EJ-11000S/B 008 Brocade Certified Professional Engineers Brocade Certified Network Professionals Brocade Certified Fabric Designers Cisco DCNI-2 Certified Engineers Cisco Certified Network Associates who have completed DCUFI Cisco Certified Network Infrastructure Support Specialists Cisco Certified Network Architect Would Canada amend this requirement to: For Group 1 & Group 2 Storage the technical support infrastructure must consist of no less than ten (10) support personnel available across Canada who must each have qualifications in at least 2 of the following groups identified below:? A154 The specification will be amended. Under Annex-A, Section 5.0 1st paragraph, delete in its entirety and replace with "For Storage Groups 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, and 6.0 the technical support infrastructure must consist of no less than fifteen (15) support personnel available across Canada and must have at least three (3) support personnel per group as identified below. For Storage Group 1.0 the requirement is ten (10) and two (2) respectively : Q155 Annex A, Section 3.2 Software Certification Tier 1 & Tier 2 Storage solutions must have the following certifications: (a) SNIA's Storage Management Initiative Specification (SMI-S) Provider Test Revision 1.5 (b) VMWare vsphere 5 (which include the following initiatives: VAAI, VASA, SDRS, and Storage Vmotion) For an entry level configuration such as Group 1.0 Small Mid-Range iscsi and Group 2.0 Small Mid-Range Fibre Channel (FC), this is rather excessive thereby adding unnecessary costs to this level of product. Relaxing this requirement for Group 1 and 2 would encourage more competition thereby reducing overall cost of ownership for Canada. Would Canada amend this requirement to: For Group 1 & Group 2 Storage solutions must have the following certifications: (a) Bid Product must be manufactured by a SNIA Member, and (b) Bid Product must be listed on VMWare vsphere 5 Hardware Certified List posted on VMWare web site. A155 Please see Q/A #129. Q156 Annex A, Section , , , , , 2.8.1, and Sections referring to the Fabric are asking for a GUI that is either an embedded WEB or Java-based function accessible using a standard browser. Our management solution is accessed via a web interface or a Javabased applet, but does not reside on the switch itself. This allows the management software to reside somewhere else in the data center and provide extra benefits such as a broader view of the network, configuration management and backup mechanisms just to name a few. Would Canada consider this alternative as acceptable for this proposal as it provides the same experience for the team managing the equipment? A156 The specification will be amended. Under Annex-A, Section (n), (q), and (r) delete in its entirety. For Sections (m), (m), (m), and (q) delete in its entirety and replace with "The GUI interface must either be an embedded or accessed via WEB or Java-based function accessible using a standard browser; Q157 Annex A, Section (k), Ethernet Switches (k) They must provide resilient High Availability stacking with up a minimum of 6 switches (only SFP+ ports can be used for stack connections); Stacking capabilities are typically needed in environments where the port density required is fairly large, and/or where uplink consolidation is desirable. Considering that this section is looking for a 24 ports switch for connecting servers, would Canada consider removing this requirement? Q&A2 - Page 6 of 39

9 Solicitation No. - N de l'invitation Amd. No. - N de la modif. E60EJ-11000S/B 008 A157 Please see Q/A #137. Q158 Annex A, Section (q), (vi), Ethernet Switches (q) The GUI interface must allow configuration of all aspects of the ethernet switches including: i) the name, ii) the domain ID, iii) the passwords and user accounts for management, iv) the IP addressing, v) the modes of operation of the ports, vi) all zone and path information, and vii) any other parameters critical to the operation of the switch; Requirement q) vi) is referring to zone and path information, which are Fibre Channel specific attributes. Since this section is for Ethernet switching only. Would Canada consider removing this requirement? A158 Please see Q/A #190. Q159 Annex A, Section (s), (iv), Ethernet Switches (s) They must fully comply with the following standards: viii) IEEE 802.3ae 10 Gigabit Ethernet ix) IEEE Ethernet x) IEEE 802.1Q VLAN tagging xi) IEEE 802.1v VLAN Classification by Protocol and Port xii) IEEE 802.1p Quality of Service (QoS) xiii) IEEE 802.3x Flow Control xiv) IEEE 802.1w Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol xv) IEEE 802.1D Spanning Tree Protocol xvi) IEEE 802.1s Multiple Spanning Tree xvii) IEEE 802.ad LACP Support xviii) IEEE 802.1AB Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) xix) Jumbo Frames of sizes up to 9000 bytes xx) Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) Snooping Versions 2 and xxi) IPv6 Requirements s) iv), l) iv) and m) iv) are asking for IEEE 802.1v support, which has been included as part of the IEEE 802.1Q standard in Would Canada consider removing this requirement as it is already required to be IEEE 802.1Q compliant? A159 Yes, the specification will be amended. Under Annex-A, Section (s) iv), (l) iv) and (m) iv) delete in its entirety. Q160 Annex A, Section (t), Ethernet Switches (t) They must support DCB requirements including PFC (802.1Qbb), ETS 802.1Qaz, CBx, iscsi TLV 2.2 Requirement t) asks for support of DCB standards. DCB is used for FCoE connectivity. Since this category is for Ethernet switching only, would Canada consider removing this requirement? A160 Yes, the specification will be amended accordingly. Under Annex-A, Delete Section (t) in its entirety Q161 Annex A, Section (b) FCoE (b) They must have a maximum port-to-port latency of 600 nanoseconds; Requirement b) requires a port-to-port latency of 600 nanoseconds. This requirement has been removed from section (item b) in the first round of Q & A. Would Canada consider removing it from this section as well? A161 Yes, the specification will be amended. Under Annex-A, delete Section (b) in its entirety. Q162 Annex A, Section 2.8.1(f), 2.8.2(f) FCoE Q&A2 - Page 7 of 39

10 Solicitation No. - N de l'invitation Amd. No. - N de la modif. E60EJ-11000S/B 008 (f) They must be VM aware and VM Mobility with VM ready Requirements f) and f) require the switch to be VM aware and VM Mobility with VM Ready. These are fairly general terms and don t have a standardized meaning in the industry. Would Canada please either remove or restate the requirement describing what the desired functionality is? A162 Yes, the specification will be removed. Q163 Annex A, Section 2.8.1(g), 2.8.2(g), FCoE (g) They must operate at 10Gbps and must be fully populated with small form factor pluggable optical media modules for shortwave operation; Requirements g) and g) require that the switch be fully populated with small form factor pluggable optical media modules for shortwave operations. This requirement has been removed from section e) since transceivers are part of the list of optional components (Q24). Would Canada consider removing this requirement from the current section as well? A163 Yes, the specification will be amended. Under Annex-A, Section (g) and (g), delete in its entirety. Q164 Annex A, Section 2.8.1(l), (xii), FCoE (l) They must fully comply with the following standards: i) IEEE 802.3ae 10 Gigabit Ethernet ii) IEEE Ethernet iii) IEEE 802.1Q VLAN tagging iv) IEEE 802.1v VLAN Classification by Protocol and Port v) IEEE 802.1p Quality of Service (QoS) vi) IEEE 802.3x Flow Control vii) IEEE 802.1w Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol viii) IEEE 802.1D Spanning Tree Protocol ix) IEEE 802.1s Multiple Spanning Tree x) IEEE 802.ad LACP Support xi) IEEE 802.1AB Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) xii) IEEE 802.1x with Guest VLAN xiii) Jumbo Frames of sizes up to 9000 bytes xiv) Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) Snooping Versions 2 Requirement l) xii) requires 802.1X with Guest Access. Guest Access is typically a function that is implemented in the campus. For that reason, would Canada consider removing this requirement from section 2.8.1? A164 Yes, the specification will be amended accordingly. Under Annex-A, Section (l) xii) and (m) xii) delete reference to "with Guest VLAN" Q165 Annex A, Section 2.8.1(m), (v), FCoE (m) They must support the following Data Center Bridging (DCB) and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) standards: i) IEEE 802.1Qbb Priority-based Flow Control ii) IEEE 802.1Qaz Enhanced Transmission Selection iii) IEEE DCB Capability Exchange Protocol iv) FC-BB-5 FCoE (Rev 2.0) standard v) FIP snooping vi) Converged Enhanced Ethernet (CEE) Requirement m) v) requires FIP Snooping. Since this functionality is not widely deployed in data centers, would Canada consider removing this requirement? A165 Canada wants to ensure that our clients' longterm capital investments are protected by including new or next generation features such as this type of security mechanism. Furthermore, this is not considered to be a restrictive requirement therefore the answer is no, the specification will remain unchanged. Q&A2 - Page 8 of 39

11 Solicitation No. - N de l'invitation Amd. No. - N de la modif. E60EJ-11000S/B 008 Q166 Annex A, Section 2.8.1(n), (v), Section 2.8.2(o), (v) FCoE (o) They must support the following security standards: i) RADIUS ii) TACACS+ iii) SCP iv) Wire Speed Filtering: Allow and Deny v) SSH v1 and v2 vi) HTTPS Secure BBI vii) Secure interface and login viii) MAC address notification ix) Shift B boot menu (Password recovery / Factory Default) Requirements n) v) and o) v) require support for SSH v1 and v2. Would Canada consider changing the and for and/or in the requirement as most platforms typically support today the latter SSH standard which is considered more secure? A166 Given that nobody's supporting v1, the specification will be amended accordingly. Under Annex-A, Section (n) v) and (o) v) delete reference to "v1 and" Q167 Annex A, Section 2.8.1(n), (vi), Section 2.8.2(o), (vi) FCoE (o) They must support the following security standards: i) RADIUS ii) TACACS+ iii) SCP iv) Wire Speed Filtering: Allow and Deny v) SSH v1 and v2 vi) HTTPS Secure BBI vii) Secure interface and login viii) MAC address notification ix) Shift B boot menu (Password recovery / Factory Default) Requirements n) vi) and o) vi) require HTTPS Secure BBI, which is a functionality specific to a manufacturer. Would Canada consider changing the requirement for Must be able to connect to the web GUI via an HTTPS connection? A167 Yes, the specification will be amended. Under Annex-A, Section (n) vi) and (o) vi) delete in its entirety and replace with "Ability to connect to the web GUI via an HTTPS connection" Q168 Annex A, Section 2.8.1(n), (ix), Section 2.8.2(o), (ix) FCoE (o) They must support the following security standards: x) RADIUS xi) TACACS+ xii) SCP xiii) Wire Speed Filtering: Allow and Deny xiv) SSH v1 and v2 xv) HTTPS Secure BBI xvi) Secure interface and login xvii) MAC address notification xviii) Shift B boot menu (Password recovery / Factory Default) Requirements n) ix) and o) ix) require the Shift B boot menu functionality to do password recovery / factory default. Shift B boot menu is specific to a manufacturer. Would Canada consider changing the requirement to Must have a password recovery mechanism and be capable of restoring the default configuration? A168 Yes, the specification will be amended accordingly. Under Annex-A, Section (n) ix) and (o) ix), delete in its entirety and replace with Must have a password recovery mechanism capable of restoring the factory default configuration Q&A2 - Page 9 of 39

12 Solicitation No. - N de l'invitation Amd. No. - N de la modif. E60EJ-11000S/B 008 Q169 Annex A, Section 2.8.2(a), FcoE (a) They must have a minimum total throughput of 4 Tbps per slot; Requirement a) requires a minimum throughput of 4 TBps per slot. We believe this requirement is per chassis. Would the Canada consider changing the requirement to per chassis? A169 Yes, the specification will be amended. Under Annex-A, Section (a) delete in its entirety and replace with "They must have a minimum total throughput of 3.85 Tbps per chassis / enclosure; Q170 Annex A, Section 2.8.2(b), FcoE (b) They must have a maximum port-to-port latency under 4 microseconds; Requirement b) requires a maximum port-to-port latency of 4 microseconds. This order of magnitude is typically used in High Performance Computing (HPC). Most switching devices in data centers today have port-to-port latency in the range of 6 microseconds. Would Canada consider changing this requirement to 6 microseconds? A170 Yes, the specification will be amended. Under Annex-A, Section (b), delete reference to "4" and replace with "6". Q171 Annex A, Section , , , , , and (e) (e) the available drive options must include at least three (3) from the following list: - drives with 4Gbps (for FC) or 6 Gbps (for SAS) interfaces and RPM rotational speed: i) 300GB ii) 450GB iii) 600GB - drives with 4Gbps (for FC) or 6 Gbps (for SAS) interfaces and RPM rotational speed: iv) 300GB v) 450GB vi) 600GB vii) 900GB - drives with 6Gbps for SATA or NL-SAS interfaces and 7200 RPM rotational speed: vii.i) 1TB viii) 2TB ix) 3TB x) 4TB - solid state drives (SSD) based on Single Level Cell (SLC) or enterprise-class Multi-Level Cell (emlc) technology xi.i) 100GB xi) 200GB xii) 300GB xiii) 400GB xiv) 600GB xv) 800GB Since there are larger SSD drives becoming available, would Canada please add 1.6TB SSD to the list of drives to be offered? A171 Yes, furthermore, other densities will be included to expand this list. Under Annex-A, Section (e), (e), (e), (e), (e), and (e) delete vii.i) 1TB. Insert the following under 6Gps for SAS 10K: vii.i) 1.2TB and vii.ii) 1.8TB, under 6Gps for SATA / NL-SAS 7.2K, insert vii.iii) 1TB, and under SSD SLC/eMLC, insert xvi) 1.6TB. Furthermore, please see revised Annex-B. Q&A2 - Page 10 of 39

13 Solicitation No. - N de l'invitation Amd. No. - N de la modif. E60EJ-11000S/B 008 Q172 Amendment 003 Answer #36: It means all software and licenses must be transferable to other storage system(s) located either at the same or other department or agency. For instance, a storage system at DND in Ottawa that is scheduled to be lifecycled, retired or may even be sitting on un-used software and licenses, must be transferable and must be part of a global pool should Canada use said software and licenses to a storage system at RCMP in BC and/or Alberta. Since transferring licenses between storage arrays of different families/types is not possible, would Canada please modify the requirement to state that the transfer of licenses must be done within the same family/type of storage subsystem? A172 Yes, the specification will be amended accordingly. Under Annex-A, Section 1.0 (c), delete in its entirety and replace with "All storage software and licenses from the same model or family must be perpetual, transferrable and must be available as part of a global pool." Q173 Amendment 003 Answer #59: Canada is requesting 6 x 8Gbs FC connectivity (or 4 x 10Gb Ethernet) to the storage. Given that the speed of connectivity to the storage is secondary to the ability of the NAS gateway to provide overall throughput to the client hosts, if the NAS gateway being bid can provide a throughput of greater than the 6 x 8Gb (480MB/s) which is substantiated by SPECsfs benchmarks, would Canada accept 6 x 4Gbs FC connectivity to the storage? Given that the throughput on the back-end of the NAS to the subsystem is dramatically different from the front-end IOPS required to the client, would Canada please change the requirements from [2.4.4.(d)] 10 x 4Gbs FC, 6 x 8Gbs FC, or 4 x 10Gbs Ethernet and [ (d)] 15 x 4Gbs FC, 8 x 8Gbs FC, or 6 x 10Gbs Ethernet to 8 x 4Gbs FC, 4 x 8Gbs, or 4 x 10Gbs Ethernet and 16 x 4Gbs FC, 8 x 8Gbs FC, or 6 x 10Gbs Ethernet respectively? A173 Yes, the specification will be amended. Under Annex-A, Section (d) and (d) delete in its entirety and replace with "the processor units must both be attached via a total aggregate minimum of 8 X 4Gbps fibre channel, 4 X 8Gbps fibre channel, or 4 X 10Gbps Ethernet interfaces to the base storage platform; and" and "the processor units must both be attached via a total aggregate minimum of 8 X 4Gbps fibre channel, 8 X 8Gbps fibre channel, or 6 X 10Gbps Ethernet interfaces to the base storage platform; and" respectively. Q174 Amendment 003 Answer #106: Yes, the specification will be amended. Under Section (e), (e), (e), (e), (e), and (e), insert vii.i) 1TB 1TB hard drives are no longer being manufactured. It is surprising that any vendor is releasing new products that use these drives. Since none of the hard drive manufacturers are making these drives any longer (and have not for some time), it would seem to be an irrelevant drives for customers. Would Canada please remove the 1TB drives from the specifications for all categories 1-5? A174 At least one vendor has this available, therefore the answer is no, the specification will remain unchanged. Q175 Amendment 003 Answer #110: Yes, the specification will be amended. Under , , , , and delete reference to "Solaris 10 and 11" and replace with "Solaris 9 and 10". Canada changed the specifications from Solaris 10 & 11 to Solaris 9 & 10. Solaris 9 is EOS (no longer supported), thus it is impossible to obtain any support/certification for this release of the operating from the manufacturer. Would Canada please change the requirement to supporting at least 2 releases of Solaris from Solaris 9 and greater? For example, supporting Solaris 9 & 10, or Solaris 10 & 11 would thereby be compliant? A175 The specification will be amended. Under Annex-A, Technical Specifications, delete all reference to "Solaris 9 and". Q176 Amendment 003 Answer #125: Q&A2 - Page 11 of 39

14 Solicitation No. - N de l'invitation Amd. No. - N de la modif. E60EJ-11000S/B 008 Yes, the specification will be amended. Under Section (a), delete reference to "snapshot copies of any logical volume" and replace with "snapshot copies of files". Canada changed the requirement to snapshot copies of files, however, the requirement is in the storage platform section and the requirement also states This must be entirely storage platform-based functionality. Since storage platforms are block-based, they do not have any knowledge of the file system and thus cannot create a snapshot of files or even a file system (since multiple file systems could be contained on a single volume). The NAS platform/gateway would be the component that could create snapshots of files and/or file systems. Therefore, would Canada please revert this requirement back to the original which states snapshot copies of any logical volumes. If a snapshot of files or file systems is required, would Canada please add this to the NAS platform/gateway requirements? A176 Please see Q/A #226. Q177 Annex A, Section (e) Controllers (e) it must allow the creation and addressing of up to 1000 simultaneous logical drives where logical drive is the logical unit of capacity presented to a client host; This requirement is quite large for an iscsi system that only scales to 120 drives. Would Canada please reduce this requirement to 256? Allowing us to bid a compliant solution in Group 1 A177 This requirement is not considered to be restrictive therefore the answer is no, the specification will remain unchanged. Q178 Annex A, Section (f) Capacity and Platform (f) it must accommodate a minimum of 120 hard disk drives Would Canada please consider lowering this requirement to 100? Allowing us to bid a compliant solution in Group 1. A178 This requirement is not considered to be restrictive therefore the answer is no, the specification will remain unchanged. Q179 Some storage vendors have done extensive testing on the 900GB 10K RPM drives and have found flaws in the heat dissipation that cause unusual high failures of these drives, and while this has been communicated back to the drive manufacturers and a fix was identified, ample supply of these drive will not be available until later, as such to protect customer s investment some storage vendors have temporarily suspended sales of these 900GB 10K Drives and removed them from their price list. Would Canada please update the mandatory requirement for Category 1 through 5 to 300GB 15K drives, in order to allow us to bid a compliant solution? A179 We understand that any issue was already addressed and should no longer be a concern. The answer is no, the specification will remain unchanged. Q180 Scale out NAS rely on having many drives as per the mandatory requirement of a minimum of 864 stated in Annex B, Group 6 Scalable NAS Storage System, and as such are able to provide distributed performances based on this number, our solution utilizes this feature using less expensive NLSAS Drives as its main capacity. Would Canada please update the mandatory requirement for Category 6 to 1TB drives, in order to allow us to bid a compliant solution? A180 Yes, the specification will be amended however the drive used will be a 3TB NL-SAS. Please see revised Annex-B. Q181 Q&A2 - Page 12 of 39

15 Solicitation No. - N de l'invitation Amd. No. - N de la modif. E60EJ-11000S/B 008 Considering the extensive amount of questions generated in Q&A #1, and the possibility of the same amount of question for Q&A #2, would Canada please extend the closing of this RFSO to April 1 st 2013? A181 Please see the updated RFSO Schedule and revised closing date. Q182 Annex A, Section 1.0(c), Introduction (c) All storage software and licenses must be perpetual, transferrable and must be available as part of a global pool. Storage Software licenses are specific to models of storage arrays and are generated using the serial number of the array and therefore cannot be transferred to another storage array as their serial number differ. These storage licenses are generated this way to protect the intellectual property of the manufacturer. Would Canada please remove this requirement in order for our bid to be compliant? A182 Please see Q/A #172. Q183 Q&A 67 This was a cut and paste error. The specification will be amended. Under Section (r), delete reference to "256TB" and replace with "1 petabyte (1PB)" Would the Crown consider a solution that uses multiple 256TB nested file systems presented to the user as a single 1PB File system as compliant? Even if it requires management of each nested file systems individually? A183 No, the requirement for the storage platform specified under and (r), must natively address and share a minimum 1PB of useable data storage file system to the users. Furthermore, please see additional clause under Annex-A, Section 1.0 (d). Q184 Annex A, Section , 10Gb Ethernet Switch (j) They must auto-negotiate for speed, duplex mode and flow control on 10GBASE-T ports; Not all 10Gb Ethernet switches supports 10GBASE-T ports. Would Canada please change the specification for this requirement and also accept 10GbE SFP+ optics or Direct attached SFP+ copper (Twinax) optics? A184 Yes, the specification will be amended accordingly. Under Annex-A, Section (j), delete in its entirety and replace with "They must auto-negotiate for speed, duplex mode and flow control on 10GBASE-T, 10GbE SFP+ optics, or Direct attached SFP+ copper (Twinax) optics ports; Q185 Annex A, Section (m) 10Gb Ethernet Switch (m) They must include a comprehensive GUI-based management system that allows real-time monitoring of all components in the platform and to report failures or degraded components; Traditionally, Ethernet switches are managed using the Command Line Interface (CLI). So, some Ethernet switches do not offer GUI interface to manage them. Would the Canada please remove this requirement? It would allow us to have a compliant bid. A185 Canada will not remove the requirement however will allow CLI-based management system on the condition it provides the features and functions identified in the Annex. Under Annex-A, Section delete all reference to "GUI-based" and replace with "GUI-based or CLI-based". Q186 Annex A, Section (p), 10Gb Ethernet Switch (p) The GUI interface must show the current operational status for all installed hardware components; Traditionally, Ethernet switches are managed using the Command Line Interface (CLI). So, some Ethernet switches do not offer GUI interface to manage them. Would the Canada please remove this requirement? It would allow us to have a compliant bid. A186 Canada will not remove the requirement however will allow CLI interface on the condition it provides the features and functions identified in the Annex. Under Annex-A, Section (p) delete reference to "GUI interface" and replace with "GUI or CLI". Q&A2 - Page 13 of 39

16 Solicitation No. - N de l'invitation Amd. No. - N de la modif. E60EJ-11000S/B 008 Q187 Annex A, Section (q), 10Gb Ethernet Switch (q) The GUI interface must allow configuration of all aspects of the ethernet switches including: i) the name, ii) the domain ID, iii) the passwords and user accounts for management, iv) the IP addressing, v) the modes of operation of the ports, vi) all zone and path information, and vii) any other parameters critical to the operation of the switch; Traditionally, Ethernet switches are managed using the Command Line Interface (CLI). So, some Ethernet switches do not offer GUI interface to manage them. Would Canada please remove this requirement? It would allow us to have a compliant bid. A187 Please see Q/A #186. Q188 Annex A, Section (r), 10Gb Ethernet Switch (r) The GUI interface must provide complete performance monitoring allowing a storage administrator to view: x) the number of frames per second, with a breakdown of which were good frames and which were error frames, xi) the throughput (Mbps) of ethernet port, xii) the operational speed of ethernet ports, xiii) the mode of operation of ethernet port (e.g. F-port, N-port, E-port), and xiv) the throughput in frames as well as MB per second. Traditionally, Ethernet switches are managed using the Command Line Interface (CLI). So, some Ethernet switches do not offer GUI interface to manage them. Would the Canada please remove this requirement? It would allow us to have a compliant bid. A188 Please see Q/A #186. Q189 Annex A, Section (t), 10Gb Ethernet Switch (t) They must support DCB requirements including PFC (802.1Qbb), ETS 802.1Qaz, CBx, iscsi TLV 2.2 Traditional 10Gb Ethernet switches do not support DCB specifications. DCB only applies to FCoE switches. Would Canada please remove this requirement? It would allow us to have a compliant bid. A189 Please see Q/A #160. Q190 Annex A, Section (q), (ii), (v), and (vi) 10Gb Ethernet Switches (q) The GUI interface must allow configuration of all aspects of the ethernet switches including: i) the name, ii) the domain ID, iii) the passwords and user accounts for management, iv) the IP addressing, v) the modes of operation of the ports, vi) all zone and path information, and vii) any other parameters critical to the operation of the switch; Ethernet switches do not have a Domain ID, modes of operation of the ports, zones or path information either. Domain IDs, modes of operation, zones and paths only apply to Fibre Channel switches. Would the Canada please remove the requirement ii) the domain ID, v) the modes of operation of the ports and vi) all zone and path information? It would allow us to have a compliant bid. A190 Yes, the specification will be amended accordingly. Under Annex-A, Delete Section (q) ii), v), and vi) in its entirety. Q191 Annex A, Section (r), (iv), 10Gb Ethernet Switches Q&A2 - Page 14 of 39

17 Solicitation No. - N de l'invitation Amd. No. - N de la modif. E60EJ-11000S/B 008 (r) The GUI interface must provide complete performance monitoring allowing a storage administrator to view: i) the number of frames per second, with a breakdown of which were good frames and which were error frames, ii) the throughput (Mbps) of ethernet port, iii) the operational speed of ethernet ports, iv) the mode of operation of ethernet port (e.g. F-port, N-port, E-port), and v) the throughput in frames as well as MB per second. Ethernet switches ports do not have a mode of operation like F_Port or E_Port. Mode of operation only applies to Fibre Channel switches. Would the Canada please remove the requirement iv) the mode of operation of Ethernet port (e.g. F-Port, N-Port, E-Port)? It would allow us to have a compliant bid A191 Yes, the specification will be amended accordingly. Under Annex-A, Delete Section (r) iv) in its entirety Q192 Annex A, Section (g), 10Gb Ethernet Switches (g) For management purposes, switches must provide a 10/100/1000 MBps Ethernet interface using TCP/IP as the transport protocol; 8Gbps Fibre Channel long wave SFPs are only available up to 25KM. Would Canada please lower the requirement from 30KM to 25KM? It would allow us to have a compliant bid. A192 Please see Q/A #233. Q193 Annex A, Section (h), Director Class Fibre Channel Switches (h) they must provide an option of eight (8) native 10GbE connections for either FCoE host connectivity that meets the ANSI T11 FC-BB-5 Fibre Channel Over Ethernet (FCoE) or Internet Small Computer System Interface (iscsi) host connectivity that meets the RFC3720 standards for the encapsulation of FC or SCSI packets over Full Duplex and Lossless Ethernet networks and must be compliant with the following IEEE standards: i) 802.1Qbb; ii) 802.1Qaz which defines: i. enhanced transmission selection (ETS); and ii. data center bridging exchange (DCBX). Since Canada introduced a new FCoE switch category, all the FCoE and ISCSI requirements are met by those FCoE switches. Would Canada please remove this requirement for the Fibre Channel Director Class category? It would allow us to have a compliant bid. A193 Yes, the specification will be amended accordingly. Under Annex-A, Section , delete (h) in its entirety. Q194 Annex A, Section 2.8.1, FCoE-Group-2 (36 ports), Group-3 (48 ports), Group-4 (64 ports and 96 ports) Our entry level models of FCoE switches only support up to 24 10Gb Ethernet/FCoE ports. In order for Canada to have access to more models of FCoE switches, would Canada please lower the port count requirement from 36 ports (720Gbps) to 24 ports (480 Gbps) in the FCoE Group-2 Category? It would allow us to have a compliant bid. A194 Yes, the specification will be amended. Under Annex-A, Section Title and (a) delete all reference to "36 ports" and replace with "24 ports", delete reference to "720Gbps" and replace with "480Gbps". Please see revised Annex-B. Q195 Annex A, Section 2.8.1, FCoE-Group-2 (36 ports), Group-3 (48 ports), Group-4 (64 ports and 96 ports) Our mid-range model of FCoE switches only support up to 60 10Gb Ethernet/FCoE ports. In order for Canada to have access to more models of FCoE switches, would Canada please lower the port count requirement from 64 ports (1280 Gbps) to 60 ports (1200 Gbps) in the FCoE Group-4 Category? It would allow us to have a compliant bid. Q&A2 - Page 15 of 39

18 Solicitation No. - N de l'invitation Amd. No. - N de la modif. E60EJ-11000S/B 008 A195 Yes, the specification will be amended. Under Annex-A, Section Title and (a) delete all reference to "64 ports" and replace with "60 ports", delete reference to "1280Gbps" and replace with "1200Gbps". Please see revised Annex-B. Q196 Annex A, Section 2.8.1(a), FCoE-Group-2 (36 ports), Group-3 (48 ports), Group-4 (64 ports and 96 ports) (a) Data rate must have a minimum total full-duplex throughput of 720Gbps (36 ports), 960Gbps (48 ports), 1280Gbps (64 ports), and 1920Gbps (96 ports); Certain models of FCoE switches only support up to 24 and 60 10Gb Ethernet/FCoE ports. In order for Canada to have access to more models of FCoE switches, would Canada change this requirement to: (a) Data rate must have a minimum total full-duplex throughput of 480Gbps (24 ports), 960Gbps (48 ports), 1200Gbps (60 ports), and 1920Gbps (96 ports);? It would allow us to have a compliant bid. A196 Please see Q/As #194 and #195. Q197 Annex A, Section 2.8.1(m), FCoE (m) They must support the following Data Center Bridging (DCB) and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) standards: i. IEEE 802.1Qbb Priority-based Flow Control ii. IEEE 802.1Qaz Enhanced Transmission Selection iii. IEEE DCB Capability Exchange Protocol iv. FC-BB-5 FCoE (Rev 2.0) standard v. FIP snooping vi. Converged Enhanced Ethernet (CEE) Item vi) Converged Enhanced Ethernet (CEE) has be replaced by the Data Center Bridging (DCB) standard. Would Canada please remove requirement: vi) Converged Enhanced Ethernet (CEE)? It would allow us to have a compliant bid. A197 Yes, the specification will be amended. Under Annex-A, Section (m) vi) and (n) vi) delete in its entirety. Q198 Annex A, Section 2.8.1(l), FcoE (l) They must fully comply with the following standards: i) IEEE 802.3ae 10 Gigabit Ethernet ii) IEEE Ethernet iii) IEEE 802.1Q VLAN tagging i) IEEE 802.1v VLAN Classification by Protocol and Port ii) IEEE 802.1p Quality of Service (QoS) iii) IEEE 802.3x Flow Control iv) IEEE 802.1w Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol v) IEEE 802.1D Spanning Tree Protocol vi) IEEE 802.1s Multiple Spanning Tree vii) IEEE 802.ad LACP Support viii) IEEE 802.1AB Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) ix) IEEE 802.1x with Guest VLAN x) Jumbo Frames of sizes up to 9000 bytes xi) Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) Snooping Versions 2 Our FCoE switches support the IEEE 802.1x standard but not with Guest VLAN. Would Canada please change this requirement to: xii) IEEE 802.1x It would allow us to have a compliant bid. Q&A2 - Page 16 of 39

19 Solicitation No. - N de l'invitation Amd. No. - N de la modif. E60EJ-11000S/B 008 A198 Please see Q/A #164. Q199 Section 2.8.1(n) FCoE (n) They must support the following security standards: i) RADIUS ii) TACACS+ iii) SCP iv) Wire Speed Filtering: Allow and Deny v) SSH v1 and v2 vi) HTTPS Secure BBI vii) Secure interface and login viii) MAC address notification ix) Shift B boot menu (Password recovery / Factory Default) Our FCoE switches only support SSHv2. Would Canada please change this requirement to v) SSH v2? It would allow us to have a compliant bid. A199 Please see Q/A #166. Q200 Annex A, Section 2.8.1(n), FCoE (n) They must support the following security standards: i) RADIUS ii) TACACS+ iii) SCP iv) Wire Speed Filtering: Allow and Deny v) SSH v1 and v2 vi) HTTPS Secure BBI vii) Secure interface and login viii) MAC address notification ix) Shift B boot menu (Password recovery / Factory Default) Our FCoE switches do not support MAC address notification. Would Canada please remove this requirement? viii) MAC address notification? It would allow us to have a compliant bid. A200 Yes, the specification will be amended. Under Annex-A, Section (n) (viii) and (o) viii) delete in its entirety. Q201 Annex A, Section 2.8.1(p), FCoE (p) they must include a comprehensive GUI-based management system that allows real-time monitoring of all components in the platform and to report failures or degraded components; Traditionally, FCoE switches are managed using the Command Line Interface (CLI). So, some FCoE switches do not offer GUI interface to manage them. Would Canada please remove this requirement? It would allow us to have a compliant bid. A201 Canada will not remove the requirement however will allow CLI-based management system on the condition it provides the features and functions identified in the Annex. Under Annex-A, Section and delete all reference to "GUI-based" and replace with "GUI-based or CLI-based". Q202 Annex A, Section 2.8.1(q), FCoE (q) The GUI interface must be an embedded WEB or Java-based function accessible using a standard browser; Traditionally, FCoE switches are managed using the Command Line Interface (CLI). So, some FCoE Q&A2 - Page 17 of 39

20 Solicitation No. - N de l'invitation Amd. No. - N de la modif. E60EJ-11000S/B 008 switches do not offer GUI interface to manage them. Would Canada please remove this requirement? It would allow us to have a compliant bid. A202 Please see Q/A #156. Q203 Annex A, Section 2.8.1(s), FCoE (s) The GUI interface must show the current operational status for all installed hardware components; Traditionally, FCoE switches are managed using the Command Line Interface (CLI). So, some FCoE switches do not offer GUI interface to manage them. Would Canada please remove this requirement? It would allow us to have a compliant bid. A203 Canada will not remove the requirement however will allow CLI interface on the condition it provides the features and functions identified in the Annex. Under Annex-A, Section and delete reference to "GUI interface" and replace with "GUI or CLI". Q204 Annex A, Section 2.8.1(t) FCoE (t) The GUI interface must allow configuration of all aspects of the switches including: i) the name, ii) the domain ID, iii) the passwords and user accounts for management, iv) the IP addressing, v) the modes of operation of the ports, vi) all zone and path information, and vii) any other parameters critical to the operation of the switch; Traditionally, FCoE switches are managed using the Command Line Interface (CLI). So, some FCoE switches do not offer GUI interface to manage them. Would Canada please remove this requirement? It would allow us to have a compliant bid. A204 Please see Q/A #203. Q205 Annex A, Section 2.8.1(u), FCoE (u) The GUI interface must provide complete performance monitoring allowing a storage administrator to view: i) the number of frames per second, with a breakdown of which were good frames and which were error frames, ii) the throughput (Mbps) of ethernet port, iii) the operational speed of ethernet ports iv) the mode of operation of ethernet port (e.g. F-port, N-port, E-port), and v) the throughput in frames as well as MB per second. Traditionally, FCoE switches are managed using the Command Line Interface (CLI). So, some FCoE switches do not offer GUI interface to manage them. Would Canada please remove this requirement? It would allow us to have a compliant bid. A205 Please see Q/A #203. Q206 Annex A, Section 2.8.1(t), FCoE (t) The GUI interface must allow configuration of all aspects of the switches including: i) the name, ii) the domain ID, iii) the passwords and user accounts for management, iv) the IP addressing, v) the modes of operation of the ports, vi) all zone and path information, and vii) any other parameters critical to the operation of the switch; Q&A2 - Page 18 of 39