PLEASE SEE THE ATTACHED RFI DOCUMENT "RFI TEN 20230507 Final"

1. INTRODUCTION

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION. The purpose of this posting is to inform industry of a Request For Information (RFI) and a potential opportunity for one-on-one discussions with the Government. Product Manager for Intelligence Systems & Analytics (PM IS&A) within the Program Executive Office Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors (PEO IEW&S) is issuing this RFI as a means of conducting market research to shape the acquisition strategy and technical options for the development of the physical form factor on which the Edge Node solution(s) would reside.

2. DISCLAIMER

THIS IS NOT A NOTICE OF REQUEST FOR PROPOAL ISSUANCE (RFP). Responses to this request are voluntary and will not affect any contractors ability to submit a proposal if, or when, an RFP is released for a future effort. The requested information is for planning purposes only and does NOT constitute a commitment, implied or otherwise, that a procurement action will be issued. It is issued to invite industry to participate in a discussion with the Government on the development of Edge Node Solutions.

No entitlement to payment by the Government of direct or indirect costs or charges will arise as a result of the submission of information in response to this request.

Information received will not be considered confidential/proprietary unless marked accordingly. Company proprietary data will be reviewed by Government employees and authorized representatives only. The Government shall not be liable for or suffer any consequential damages for any improperly identified proprietary information. No award will be made as a result of this request. This request is for informational purposes only to promote exchanges of information with industry in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation part 16.505. The Government will not pay for any information and/or materials received in response to this request for information and is in no way obligated by the information received.

3. RESPONSES AND SCHEDULING

Questions and responses related to this Government issued RFI are due no later than 31 May 2024. The Government may decide to plan in person meetings or conduct additional RFIs as required.

The RFI questions focus on the following themes:

• Minimum requirements
• Proposed Hardware Capabilities Details
• Edge Node Hardware and System Architecture
• Connectivity Capabilities

All interested parties shall respond in as clear a manner as possible and should address each of the questions listed in the RFI. Information is preferred in soft copy form in Microsoft Word/PDF and shall not exceed 6 pages including cover sheet or cover letter. All information must be in writing via mail or email; telephone requests for additional information will not be honored.

You may submit your responses via email address to: Jess T. Stock (jess.t.stock.civ@army.mil) and Carlos H. Garza (carlos.h.garza.ctr@army.mil)

Subject Line: Tactical Edge Node RFI

Questions regarding the requested material may also be sent via email prior to the due date.

Upon receipt and review of the RFI responses the Government reserves the right to extend an invitation for in-person discussions at Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD.

4. BACKGROUND

Based on United States Army Forces Command (FORSCOM) and United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) memorandums (June 2022) addressing Digital Intelligence Modernization Requirements and Foundation Intelligence Enterprise Requirements respectively, the development of a edge computing capability (e.g., tactical edge devices) is desired to enable the modernization of Army intelligence operations at the tactical and operational levels in support of Multidomain Operations.

PM IS&A is interested in understanding industry partners’ approach to supporting the physical requirements of this goal through the development of edge computing capabilities. These solutions will provide a point-of-presence for intelligence processing and production at tactical and operational levels for Army Divisions and Corps as well as enable BDE, BN, and SOF units working in conjunction with those echelons.The primary purpose will be to provide small form factor hardware and support data access and limited functionality when connections are unavailable or unreliable (i.e., when Denied, Disrupted, Intermittent, and Low bandwidth [DDIL] environment conditions exist).

The edge computing capability needs to have a small, ruggedized compute form factor that supports tactical and operational formations in both garrison and deployed environments (limited infrastructure) where it can be assigned to an area of operations on short notice, and can conduct operations immediately upon arrival.

Edge devices will take on a minimum of three example compute form factors. At Corps and Division, edge devices may take the form factor of a half rack server.The weight of these half rack servers should not exceed 75 lbs with the ruggadized case being included in that weight. There should be an internal power source that can keep the edge nodes powered for no less than ½ hour. None of the weight limits mentioned below include the weight of an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS). The UPS should be in a separate case from the edge node to allow Soldiers to tailor the hardware to the mission. The edge device should work off US, European, African, and Asian plugs and should function when drawing power from either 50Hz or 60Hz sources.

Edge devices needs to support connections to a variety of communication networks (Upper Tactical Internet and Lower Tactical Internet). Existing Army radios should be options to provide the transport layer and the edge device should have the proper connections (or adapters) to allow for interface between radios and edge devices. Additionally, the edge devices should have an ability to connect to Integrated Broadcast System receivers.

The edge devices should have a built-in suite of tools for system health and maintenance minimizing or eliminating the need for system maintainers. It must be able to support information assurance requirements (availability, integrity, authentication, confidentiality, non‐repudiation) and be able to receive an Authority to Operate (ATO) that supports unit mission requirements/

5. MINIMAL REQUIREMENTS

The proposed solution should meet the minimum requirements as specified below:

10 User Configuration (laptop configuration preferred):

Requirement:

Minimum:

Maximum:

Chassis size (L x W x H in inches):

None

4U

Chassis weight (with ruggedized case):

None

35 lbs

Power requirements (Watts):

None

1500W

GPU support:

None

None

Compute (CPU):

64

None

Memory (GB):

416

None

Storage (TB):

70

None

Environment:

RHEL8 Compatible

Networking:

1G, 10G SFP+

None

25 User Configuration:

Requirement:

Minimum:

Maximum:

Chassis size (L x W x H in inches):

None

4U

Chassis weight (as configured for testing):

None

75 lbs

Power requirements (Watts):

None

1500W

GPU support:

RTX A2000 12G

None

Compute (CPU):

100

None

Memory (GB):

448

None

Storage (TB):

73

None

Environment:

RHEL8 Compatible

Networking:

1G, 10G SFP+

None

50 User Configuration:

Requirement:

Minimum:

Maximum:

Chassis size (L x W x H in inches):

None

4U

Chassis weight (as configured for testing):

None

100 lbs

Power requirements (Watts):

None

1500W

GPU support:

RTX A2000 12G

None

Compute (CPU):

112

None

Memory (GB):

544

None

Storage (TB):

75

None

Environment:

RHEL8 Compatible

Networking:

1G, 10G SFP+

None

6. QUESTIONS TO INDUSTRY

Instructions: Please respond to the RFI using the questionnaire below to the best of your ability. If you do not have a response for a particular question, please respond with “unknown.” If the specific question does not apply to your hardware, please respond with “N/A.”

1. General:

Vendor:

Model number:

Date:

Vendor POC:

2.0 Chassis:

Chassis size (L x W x H in inches):

Chassis weight (as configured for testing):

Power requirements (208V, 120V, DC):

Power draw at spin up:

Power draw at idle:

Power connector (208V, 120V, NEMA plug type):

BIOS access key:

BIOS tuning (fans):

BIOS tuning (voltage):

Motherboard chipsets:

PCI slots:

PCI compatibility (PCI 3, PCI 4, etc.):

Out of band management support (IDRAC, etc.):

Out of band management default login:

Rack mountable:

Environmental specifications (Mil Spec 810 G, etc):

On board graphics support/type:

GPU support:

Installed GPU:

Built in UPS:

3.0 Compute:

CPU vendor:

Model:

Cores:

Threads:

Frequency (base):

Frequency (boost):

Cache:

TDP:

Max memory:

Memory types supported (DDR4, DDR5, etc.):

Max memory speed:

ECC support:

Hyperthreading:

4.0 Memory:

Memory Vendor:

Memory type:

Max memory speed:

ECC:

Memory voltage:

Memory density:

Memory form factor:

Dual/Quad channel:

5.0 Storage:

M.2 storage:

M.2 Vendor:

M.2 model:

NVME support:

SATA chipset vendor:

RAID chipset vendor:

SCSI chipset vendor:

SSD storage:

SSD vendor:

SSD model:

Mechanical storage:

Mechanical vendor:

Mechanical model:

Number of 3.5” slots:

Number of 2.5” slots:

3.5” write speeds:

3.5” read speeds:

2.5” write speeds:

2.5” read speeds:

M.2 write speeds:

M.2 read speeds:

SSD read speeds:

SSD write speeds:

Mechanical read speeds:

Mechanical write speeds:

Max storage:

USB support:

USB types:

Number of USB ports:

MicroSD support:

6.0 Networking:

1G networking chipset vendor:

10G networking chipset vendor:

25G networking chipset vendor:

40G networking chipset vendor:

Number of 1G ports:

Number of 10G ports:

Number of 25G ports:

Number of 40G ports:

PXE support:

WOL support:

Total copper ports:

Total fiber ports:

Wireless chipset vendor:

Wireless type:

NFC support:

7.0 Fielding/Deployment:

User serviceable (upgrade memory, CPU, PCI cards, etc.):

Proprietary components:

RMA/field support available (CONUS):

RMA/field support available (OCONUS):

Highest accreditation level hardware supports (UNCLASSIFIED, SECRET, TOP SECRET, JWICS, etc.):

Form factor scalability (proprietary connectivity, network connectivity, etc.):

8.0 Administrative:

Is hardware available in CHESS:

Is hardware available on another approved purchasing listing:

HCI platforms supported:

Operating systems supported:

Hypervisors supported:

Containerized solutions supported (K8S, etc):

Base cost of model under test:

Cost of model under test as configured:

Additional considerations for your submission are below. Please keep the responses technical and brief.

1. Hardware and System Architecture
2. 1. How would the proposed solution support applications installation and maintenance?
      1. What are the middleware tools needed to support or are included with the proposed solution?
      2. What are the benefits and the limitations of the proposed approach to third-party software?
   2. What tool packages and licensing considerations would affect the cost of the proposed solution?
   3. How would the proposed solution leverage existing lower Tactical Internet (TI) communication platforms, using existing Army radios, on the battlefield?
   4. Has the proposed hardware been given an ATO to operate on multiple enclaves (i.e. MPE, SIPR, JWICS)
   5. Are the hard drives for the solutions being proposed solid-state hard drives?
3. Connectivity Capabilities:
4. 1. What physical ports will the proposed solution have to connect to existing Army radios and external hard drives (maps, graphics, mission tailored data, etc.) to meet the needs of different units?
   2. How is the proposed solution designed to support routing, network isolation/firewall switch, port forwarding /routing?
   3. How will the proposed solution support switching from pre-configured networks?

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