NWSC-3 RFP | NCAR's Next-Generation HPC Procurement

New NCAR supercomputer built by Hewlett Packard Enterprise

NCAR announced in January 2021 that Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) would build the next supercomputer to be installed at the NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Delivery was initially expected that fall, with the new Derecho system to become operational early in 2022. As a result of supply chain issues and delays related to Defense Priorities and Allocations System requirements, however, hardware deliveries did not begin until December 2022 and were completed in January 2023. NCAR planned to make the new Derecho system available to the user community in the next few months while keeping the Cheyenne system in service through the end of the year.

Read the 2021 news release.

Request for proposal

This site contains information about NCAR's next-generation HPC environment to be installed at the NCAR Wyoming Supercomputing Center (NWSC). This new system, called NWSC-3 for procurement purposes, will be the successor to the Cheyenne system that has been in production since January 2017. The procurement for NWSC-3 is being led by UCAR on behalf of the Computational and Information Systems Laboratory (CISL) at NCAR.

Interested parties are invited to submit a proposal to UCAR in response to this RFP for delivery of the NWSC-3 system.

Deadline

Proposals are due by 3:00 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time (MDT) on Friday, 29 May 2020.

The following list provides all current versions of documents for the NWSC-3 RFP (UCAR RFP000074). Where applicable, amendments to these current versions are noted in red within the documents, and a summary of all amendments is provided in the NWSC-3 Amendments document.

Current Versions of RFP Documents	Version	Date
NWSC-3 Amendments	v1	27 Apr 2020
NWSC-3 RFP	v1.1	27 Apr 2020
Attachment 1 NWSC-3 Technical Specifications	v1	02 Apr 2020
Attachment 2 NWSC-3 Benchmark Rules	v1.1	27 Apr 2020
Attachment 2A NWSC-3 Benchmark Results Spreadsheet	v1.1	27 Apr 2020
Attachment 3 Representations & Certifications	v1	02 Apr 2020
Attachment 4 Terms & Conditions	v1	02 Apr 2020
Attachment 4A NSF Flow Downs	v1	02 Apr 2020
Attachment 4B Statement of Work	v1	02 Apr 2020
Attachment 4C Contact Information	v1	02 Apr 2020
Attachment 4D Subcontractor Proposal	v1	02 Apr 2020
Attachment 4E Deliverable Requirements	v1	02 Apr 2020
Attachment 4F Acceptance Criteria & Testing	v1	02 Apr 2020
Attachment 4G Project Management Requirements	v1	02 Apr 2020
Attachment 4H Request for Proposal Technical Documents	v1	02 Apr 2020
Attachment 5 Cheyenne Workload and Usage Analysis	v1.1	02 Apr 2020
Attachment 6 NCAR GLADE Integration Guide	v1	02 Apr 2020
Attachment 7 NWSC Module A and B Layout (AutoCAD file)	v1	02 Apr 2020

For reference, the following list provides all superseded versions of documents for the NWSC-3 RFP (UCAR RFP000074). Refer to the Amendments document listed above for a summary of all amendments to these documents.

Superseded Versions of RFP Documents	Version	Date
NWSC-3 RFP	v1	02 Apr 2020
Attachment 2 NWSC-3 Benchmark Rules	v1	02 Apr 2020
Attachment 2A NWSC-3 Benchmark Results Spreadsheet	v1	02 Apr 2020

Q&As

All questions and answers (Q&As) regarding the NWSC-3 RFP will be provided via Communications documents and posted in the table below as they become available.

Note that each new version of the document replaces the previous version; therefore, please always refer to the latest version of the document (indicated by the highest version number and most recent release date).

Q&A Documents	Version	Release Date
NWSC-3 Communications v1.5	v1.5	08 May 2020
NWSC-3 Communications v1.4	v1.4	04 May 2020
NWSC-3 Communications v1.3	v1.3	27 Apr 2020
NWSC-3 Communications v1.2	v1.2	20 Apr 2020
NWSC-3 Communications v1.1	v1.1	13 Apr 2020
NWSC-3 Communications v1.0	v1.0	06 Apr 2020

Updates

Subsequent to the release of the NWSC-3 RFP in early April 2020, all updates regarding the NWSC-3 RFP will be provided here. Prospective bidders are encouraged to check back frequently for announcements.

27 January 2021 - New NCAR supercomputer to be built by Hewlett Packard Enterprise

NCAR has announced that Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) will build the next supercomputer to be installed at the NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

08 May 2020 - Final NWSC-3 RFP Q&A Available and Reminder for Proposal Due Date

Prospective Offerors, please note that the final Q&A regarding the NWSC-3 RFP is available in the updated NWSC-3 Communications document, v1.5. Please see the Q&As tab to access the new document.

As a reminder, proposals for the NWSC-3 RFP (UCAR RFP000074) are due by 3:00 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time (MDT) on Friday, 29 May 2020.

04 May 2020 - Updated NWSC-3 RFP Q&As Available

The latest Q&As regarding the NWSC-3 RFP are available in the updated NWSC-3 Communications document, v1.4. Please see the Q&As tab to access the new document.

27 April 2020 - Updated NWSC-3 RFP Documents, NWSC Virtual Site Visit Materials, and Q&As Available

Prospective Offerors, please note the following updates and additions to this website:

Presentations and videos delivered during the NWSC Virtual Site Visit for prospective NWSC-3 Offerors: please see the Resources tab to access these materials.
An NWSC-3 Amendments document (v1) is available via the RFP Documents tab and includes the following changes:
- Modification of the NWSC-3 RFP document, including an update to the Q&A due date, the proposal due date, and the period for acceptance of proposals
- Modification of Attachment 2A, Benchmark Results Spreadsheet
- Modifications to the NWSC-3 Benchmarks
- Modification of Attachment 2, NWSC-3 Benchmark Rules
New Q&As regarding the NWSC-3 RFP are available in the updated NWSC-3 Communications document, v1.3; please see the Q&As tab to access the new document.

20 April 2020 - Updated NWSC-3 RFP Q&As Available

The latest Q&As regarding the NWSC-3 RFP are available in the updated NWSC-3 Communications document, v1.2. Please see the Q&As tab to access the new document.

13 April 2020 - Updated NWSC-3 RFP Q&As Available

The latest Q&As regarding the NWSC-3 RFP are available in the updated NWSC-3 Communications document, v1.1. Please see the Q&As tab to access the new document.

06 April 2020 - NWSC-3 RFP Q&As

Prospective Offerors, please refer to the Q&As tab for updated NWSC-3 Communications documents. Note that UCAR does not plan to wait until 01 May 2020 to provide responses to all questions; thus, any additional questions regarding the NWSC-3 RFP that are time-sensitive will be posted to the Q&As tab with a UCAR response as soon as possible.

02 April 2020 - NWSC-3 RFP Released

The NWSC-3 Request for Proposals (UCAR RFP000074) has been released.

NWSC resources and background

The resources provided in the table below give a brief overview of NCAR's HPC systems, including the current computing environment, the Cheyenne workload and usage analysis, and the Globally Accessible Data Environment (GLADE).

NCAR's current computing environment

An overview of NCAR's computing environment is provided via the Cheyenne System link. These systems are installed at the NWSC in Cheyenne, Wyoming. They were put into production in January 2017 and are expected to run through 2022. The successor NWSC-3 systems will also be installed at the Cheyenne facility.

Cheyenne workload and usage analysis

CISL has prepared a Cheyenne workload analysis to help provide insights into how the current HPC environment is being used. This information may be useful to those who are considering a submission to the NWSC-3 solicitation.

GLADE

CISL has also prepared a description of the current NCAR GLADE environment to provide additional details on the current hardware and software infrastructure and connectivity.

The following list provides links to related resources and documentation.

Resource

Description

Draft Technical Specifications

Draft technical specifications that were released to vendors for feedback in preparation for the NWSC-3 procurement (superseded by the NWSC-3 RFP on 02 Apr 2020)

Cheyenne System

Technical description of the Cheyenne system and related computing environment

Cheyenne Workload and Usage Analysis

Presentation on the important performance characteristics of the current Cheyenne computing environment; this document (updated 13 Mar 2020) is also included with the RFP packet

NCAR GLADE Integration Guide

Overview and technical summary of NCAR's Globally Accessible Data Environment (GLADE), the primary high-performance file system for the Cheyenne environment; this document (updated 23 Mar 2020) is also included with the RFP packet

NWSC Module A and B Layout

Provided for Offerors submitting proposals in response to the NWSC-3 RFP, this JPEG file shows the existing equipment and suggested areas (gray boxes) for the location of the forthcoming NWSC-3 PFS and HPC system (referred to in this image as HPS) within the floor plan of the NWSC Modules A and B. Note that the AutoCAD version of this file is included with the RFP packet.

NWSC Virtual Site Visit

Presentations and videos delivered during the NWSC Virtual Site Visit for prospective NWSC-3 Offerors. Hosted online by UCAR from 0800 to 1200 Mountain Daylight Time (MDT) on Friday, 24 April 2020, the NWSC Virtual Site Visit included an overview and video tour of the NCAR Wyoming Supercomputer Center (NWSC) located in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Presentations:

NWSC Virtual Site Tour (Introduction), Elahi, I.

NWSC Facility Overview, Kercher, M.

Overview of NWSC-3 HPC & PFS Systems (Production & Test), Kercher, M.

Videos:

NWSC Virtual Site Visit (main video)

Visitors Center to Module B (ancillary video 1)

Module B: NETS Racks (ancillary video 2)

Module B: North and storage racks (ancillary video 3)

Module B: Window to Visitors Center (ancillary video 4)

Dock to Module A (ancillary video 5)

Dock (ancillary video 6)

Module B: Under the floor (ancillary video 7)

Module A: Under the floor (ancillary video 8)