Pali High is a public K-12 secondary school, chartered by LA Unified School District, serving roughly 2,700 students and employing about 130 teachers and staff. The school operates an existing 10/100 Mbs LAN that is currently controlled by Los Angeles Unified School District [LAUSD]. Existing network performance is unacceptable. Some causes have been identified, including certain flaws in the physical layer, some use of sub-CAT5e components, and possible limitations of existing switches or their configurations. Proposals should include recommendations as to the most cost-effective approaches to upgrading network performance.
Palisades Charter High School [Pali High], in Pacific Palisades CA, seeks written proposals to provide the following Maintenance and Upgrades to its Local Area Network, to be completed in four Phases:
Phase I comprises the following scope of work.
It should be noted that Building A currently also houses an isolated, Token Ring subnet. LA USD will be replacing this subnet by new Ethernet drops during the same time period. The work contemplated here does not involve that network; any new network drops added by LA USD during the replacement of the Token Ring subnet should not be touched during this project, since they will be part of a special, administrative network, unrelated to the main "PaliNet" campus network.
Phase II comprises upgrades and repairs to the existing data network for all buildings except A, B, and Mercer Hall, based on results from Phase I. If some tasks did not significantly impact performance or reliability for the first three buildings, those steps may be eliminated from the scope of work for Phase II. Additional details are described below.
Phase III comprises new wiring and associated infrastructure for areas on the campus where access to the data network is currently limited or non-existent.
Phase IV comprises the addition of wireless access points to enable roving laptop usage without compromising network security.
Proposals for Phases II, III, and IV are not required at this time; but a proposal for Phase II is one of the deliverables for Phase I. Proposals for each Phase, when submitted, should show separate line items for: (1) physical layer; (2) patch cables; (3) switches; (4) configuration of active elements (including VLANs, if recommended). Pali High reserves the right to accept separate bids from different vendors, for different elements of this RFP; and bidders are not obligated to respond to all elements. However, other considerations being equal, slight preference may be given to vendors proposing to provide most or all required products and services through a single contract. It is anticipated, but not required, that all passive element materials and labor might be handled by a single vendor, with a single, separate vendor providing all of the active element electronics.
Preliminary analysis of existing cable infrastructure has revealed both minor and major flaws, requiring additional troubleshooting and correction. Proposals should include resolution of all known flaws, as well as sufficient additional testing to identify and correct any additional causes for slow, unreliable LAN performance on this campus. Electronic/hardcopy test results are expected for all new drops and all drops associated with work performed. Phase I applies only to Buildings A, B, and Mercer Hall; Phase II applies existing wiring in all other buildings except those.
The following rooms require installation of new copper data wiring:
Several rooms with existing data wiring need additional drops installed on the walls opposite existing runs; further details will be made available during walkthrough or via email interchange. Proposals should include all necessary materials, including additional racks or data cabinets as needed.
All wiring should use CAT5e, unshielded, twisted pair, punched to female RJ45 Type 110 patch panels and wall jacks. EIA-TIA T568B color code should be used, after confirming 1-1 consistency with color convention used in nearest existing wiring closet. All new drops should be verified using Siemon STM-8 or better test equipment, with all four pairs passing on every drop. Raceway should be installed as appropriate to protect all surface-mounted cabling and outlets. Punchdowns should be CAT5e compliant, performed by certified installation personnel, with at most 0.5" of untwisted cable at each termination. Electronic copies of test results, or signed certification of successful CAT5e T568 testing, is required for all new runs.
Historical test results for existing cabling are available for inspection, on site, to aid in troubleshooting and preparation of bids for Phases II and III.
The school currently operates approximately 700 networked computers, many of which are connected to the network using hand-crimped patch cables, ranging in length from 5 - 50 feet, depending upon classroom layouts and other considerations. Many of the existing patch cables may not be fully compliant with CAT5e data cable specifications. Vendor should propose to provide an adequate inventory of CAT5e, unshielded twisted pair [UTP] patch cables, in a suitable variety of lengths, to eliminate all hand-crimped cables on connections from computers (and from network printers) to RJ45 wall outlets. It is estimated that approximately 350-400 new cables, mostly ranging from 5 feet to 15 feet in length, will be required, total, for Phases I and II.
In many cases, the existing patch cables at MDF and IDF patch panels are also sub-CAT5e. Typically these cables are 1' to 3' in length. All such cables should be replaced by CAT5e cables. Upwards of 1000 such patch cables may be required to bring all racks up to CAT5e specifications (Phases I and II).
A sufficient number of patch cables for Phase III should also be included in a subsequent bid for Phase III.
Provide and install a sufficient quantity of full duplex, autosensing, high-quality, reputable, name brand Ethernet data switches. Fiber should be operated at gigabit speed. Copper may be operated at either 100 Mbs or gigabit, and should be auto-sensing for older workstations operating at 10 Mbs. Advanced management features are optional, unless recommended to address tangible performance bottlenecks. An example would be the use of VLANs to manage collision domains.
Both multi-mode and single-mode fiber runs exist, but the single-mode fiber is dark. Connections will be made using less expensive 62.5 micron, multi-mode fiber. When there is a cost-effective alternative on newly purchased equipment, SC connectors are preferred to ST connectors.
Existing 10/100 Mbs copper switches may be re-used, after testing to ensure correction operation with zero packet loss on all ports. Use of existing switches should be limited to local classroom and office connections, only, terminating at the nearest Intermediate Distribution Frame [IDF]. Connections between the Main Distribution Frame [MDF] and IDFs should use full duplex, gigabit fiber, with appropriate new switches providing sufficient fiber ports for all connections between racks, and sufficient copper ports for connections to other switches on the same rack. All connections should be CAT5e compliant, neatly labeled and dressed, and tested, and all costs for interconnect cables should be included in the proposal. Phase I should include only what is required for Buildings A and B, and Mercer Hall; Phase II should include the analogous costs for the existing wiring in all other buildings.
It is estimated that not less than one dozen new switches with combined copper and fiber capabilities totaling approximately 24 ports each, will ultimately be required for connections between racks, when all Phases are complete. Additionally, one dozen 24-port, stackable, all-copper gigabit switches will be required to populate those rooms requiring new wiring (Phase III). All switches are to be rack-mounted on standard 19" equipment racks. Data quality 19" surge suppressors should also be proposed, to protect all active elements on each rack, except in those locations where there is already adequate protection from existing Uninterruptible Power Supplies [UPSs].
Both new and existing IDF switches may need to be configured at all racks, campus-wide. Existing switches are 10/100, predominantly Cisco, and had previously been configured with a basic VLAN structure (academic versus administrative, for security purposes only). Passwords for the existing switches are not available, and so factory resets will need to be performed. It will not be possible to obtain any information about existing configuration except for empirical information as to the private IP address ranges currently in use.
Recommendations are sought at the proposal stage as to whether the use of VLANs is likely to improve overall network performance on this campus. If the use of VLANs is recommended, then some (not necessarily all) of the new switches, should be specified to include corresponding management features. A VLAN-based design should recommend the number of VLANs and take into consideration both performance and security factors. Similarly, a "flat" (non-VLAN) design should provide justifications as to why the use of VLANs will not significantly improve network performance, leading to a cost-savings through the specification of unmanaged gigabit switches.
Existing desktop and classroom switches should require no configuration, but testing of all existing switches for reliable operation and zero packet loss, on all data ports, is sought. Classroom switches with separate uplink ports or MDI/MDIX buttons should be checked to ensure deployment is correct, and labeled to discourage incorrect operation by end users. (Blocking unusable ports with RJ45 "blanks" is recommended.) Phase I involves performing this task for Buildings A and B, and Mercer Hall only; Phase II involves performing this task for all other buildings.
Spanning Tree should be disabled on any switches supporting this feature, since it interferes with AppleTalk protocol. Although the primary network protocol on this campus is TCP/IP, AppleTalk is still used by older Macs, for network browsing, and for accessing existing network printers. Use of AppleTalk is temporary, and will be phased out within one year; ultimately, only TCP/IP protocol will be supported.
Switches needed for each Phase should be installed and configured as necessary during that Phase. These labor costs should be taken into consideration in preparing the proposal for each phase. If unmanaged switches are advised, then minimal or no configuration may be required; but installation on the racks and verification of correct network operation after installation is still required.
Proposals for Phases II, III and IV, when prepared, should include options for annual maintenance agreements, for all cabling and electronics installed during that phase.
Phase I bids must be received within three weeks of the official posting date of this RFP, as shown above. Phase I work must begin within one week of contract award, and be completed within three weeks of contract award. Initial contract award will be for Phase I work only. Aggressive scheduling and firmness of commitment to schedule for later Phases will be a factor in vendor selection. It is likely, but not guaranteed, that the Phase I winner will be selected for subsequent Phases.
Minimization of downtime is essential. Hence, especially for Phase I, bidders are asked to provide an option for all work to be performed on days when school is not in session, and to indicate the incremental labor costs and possible schedule delays associated with this option.
Criteria for evaluation of proposals will be as follows:
Pali High reserves the right to withdraw this request, without placing any orders, at any time, or to negotiate changes to these specifications in consultation with qualified bidders. Please check this web site from time to time, in preparing your bid, since answers to clarification questions of general interest may be posted here, to ensure a level playing field and fair competitive process.
It is acceptable to decline to bid on the active element electronics. However, any such "labor and passive elements only" bids should still include all other necessary materials, including patch panels, wall outlets, jack inserts, raceways, cable ties, patch cables, etc., as well as the actual labor to install and configure all materials including the active elements, should the school purchase those separately.
Please specify where taxes or shipping costs are applicable and provide estimates for these amounts in your proposal.
Qualified bidders may request an appointment for a site
walk-through, as indicated below. All bids, walk-through
appointments, and requests for clarification should be submitted
by email or fax only to:
Other forms of submission will be considered non-responsive and will not be acknowledged, considered, or returned.
