Once this is turned up, Canada will have a 20Gb Vancouver to Montreal research/govt/edu network. Major interconnection points for Abilene are, afaik, Startap in Chicago and the Westin building in Seattle (2001 W. 6th). --------------------------------------------- Subject: [news] RFP for an additional wavelength for CA*net 4 for TransLight For more information on this item please visit the CANARIE CA*net 4 Optical Internet program web site at http://www.canarie.ca/canet4/library/list.html ------------------------------------------- [This document is also available in Word Format on request - BSA] Request for Proposals For the procurement of a CA*net 4 national lambda In support of the TransLight project 1.0 Purpose of document The purpose of this Request for Proposals (RFP) is to solicit offers from carriers, Optical Regional Advanced Networks (ORANs), and other telecommunications facility and/or service providers wishing to provide CANARIE Inc. an additional 10 Gbps lambda for the CA*net 4 network in support of CANARIE’s commitments to the TransLight project. See section 2.0 for additional details. 1.1 CA*net 4 Background and Objectives In August 2001, CANARIE issued an RFI for CA*net 4 network wavelengths and equipment services. The CA*net 4 network was designed as the successor to the highly acclaimed CA*net 3 network, with a similar objective of building a national backbone network infrastructure linking provincial research networks, universities, colleges, research centers, schools and other eligible sites for the facilitation of scientific and educational collaboration among these constituencies. In December 2001 Federal budget, Finance Minister Paul Martin announced $110 million funding for the CA*net 4 network program. Shortly thereafter, as an outcome of the RFI process, CANARIE awarded Group Telecom (now part of 360 Networks) and Big Pipe (a wholly owned subsidiary of Shaw cable) the business of provisioning the initial 10 Gbps wavelengths that make up the CA*net 4 network. These companies are not excluded for responding to this RFP. However, through this RFP process, CANARIE wishes to provide the opportunity for other carriers, ORANs and/or other organizations to participate in the deployment of CA*net 4 and in the development of the unique customer empowered technology that is part of that program. 1.2 TransLight Background and Objectives In April 2003, CANARIE, StarLight in Chicago and SURFnet in Netherlands entered into an agreement to create the TransLight global scale lambda networking initiative that will supports prototypes of the most aggressive e-science applications coming this decade. TransLight consists of many provisioned circuits (called lightpaths) interconnecting North American, European and Asian optical exchanges such as StarLight in Chicago and the NetherLight in Amsterdam. TransLight enables grid researchers to experiment with deterministic provisioning of dedicated circuits, and then compare results with standard and experimental aggregated Internet traffic. Methods to be tested and compared include moving large amounts of data, supporting real-time collaboration and visualization, and enabling globally distributed computing at rates that equal the fast proliferation of such facilities. During the first year, the parties to the TransLight collaboration have committed to the following: · University of Illinois Chicago is contracting SURFnet to provide a 10Gb transoceanic link between North America and Europe, with half the bandwidth for TransLight experimental networking purposes, and half for Abilene, CA*net4 and GÉANT production networking purposes, effectively matching the contributions by the European Commission/GÉANT to connect to US high-performance networks and to Canada’s CA*net 4. · Internet2 will provide a 10Gb domestic connection from Abilene’s Point of Presence (PoP) at Qwest’s facility in Chicago to StarLight, to connect to co-located or lambda-connected clusters and servers. · CANARIE will provide a CA*net 4 transcontinental 10Gbps lambda connection across Canada, from the StarLight facility to the New York and Seattle CA*net 4 PoPs. · Euro-Link partner SURFnet currently provides its own separate OC-192 link between NetherLight and StarLight, primarily intended for experimental networking purposes. In addition, SURFnet provides an OC-192 link to CERN, creating a “lambda triangle” to Chicago with the DataTAG/CERN link. · Euro-Link partner DataTAG/CERN will provide a 10Gbps link from CERN’s facilities in Geneva, Switzerland to StarLight, half for production networking and half for experimental networking. · The StarLight facility’s switching capacity, funded through other NSF awards and agreements, will be improved to handle several 10Gbps circuits and hundreds of lightpaths through electronic and optical switching. Other nations and entities will be invited to participate in TransLight. 2.0 Project Details and Objectives In the following sections, responders to this RFP are termed "applicants". The applicant is requested to provide pricing and other details, on a segment by segment basis, for the one time cost of provisioning a 10 Gbps lambda across Canada running in parallel with the existing CA*net 4 10 Gbps facilities. In particular, CANARIE and its partners are looking for a solution which addresses CANARIE’s immediate needs, but which can also be easily expanded at a later date, for a small incremental cost, to meet additional needs of CANARIE or of other organizations. The pricing should include all charges for maintenance, local loops, etc., and should be for a period of time coterminous with the contract for CANARIE’s existing lambdas provided by Group Telecom and Big Pipe. That contract is currently set to expire in September 2007. The applicant is responsible for the provisioning of all local loops, transponders and other equipment required to deliver the lambda to CANARIE’s CA*net 4 equipment. The CA*net 4 node locations are detailed in Appendix A. CANARIE reserves the right to contract for the 10 Gbps lambda independently, on a segment by segment basis and over a period of time. This includes the possibility of awarding contracts to different applicants for different segments and electing, at some future date, not to deploy one of the offered segments. The required segments, in order of deployment priority, are as follows: Segment 1: Chicago-Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal Segment 2: Seattle- Calgary or Seattle-Vancouver Segment 3: Chicago-Winnipeg-Regina-Calgary Segment 4: Calgary-Edmonton or Vancouver-Edmonton Segment 5: Vancouver-Calgary Segment 6: Montreal-New York or Toronto-New York 3.0 Review of Submissions and Next Steps CANARIE Inc. will be solely responsible for the review of the responses to this RFP and the decision as to the appropriate next step. CANARIE and its partners will pay particular attention to the following considerations in reviewing the responses to this RFP and in any subsequent round of proposal review: (a) The applicant’s overall price for functionality that addresses the collective needs of CANARIE’s clients' research needs and those needs of its TransLight partners; (b) A solution that allows for easy expansion, for a small incremental cost, to meet additional needs at a later date; and (c) The ability to deliver the facilities in a timely and efficient manner. As discussed above, the result of the RFP response evaluation will depend on a number of factors, and could include result in the issuing of one or more additional formal RFPs or the entering into of formal contracts with one or more applicant. Note that only respondents to this RFP will be eligible to respond to any subsequent RFP as a result of the evaluation of this RFP's responses. CANARIE and its participants also reserve the right to select and combine partial solutions from different vendor’s submissions. 4.0 How to respond Electronic submissions are invited from companies and organizations with an interest in participating in the proposed. Parties interested in responding to this RFP are requested to notify CANARIE by May 30, 2003 of their intent to do so. CANARIE staff are available to meet with individual applicants and discuss the details and requirements of this RFP. The formal closing date for this RFP and for the submission of detailed proposals to CANARIE is June 20, 2003 12:00 Noon EDT. All proposals should be submitted electronically using PDF, HTML, MS Word or PowerPoint formats. The official CANARIE contact for this RFP, to whom all requests and communications should be addressed, is: Bill St. Arnaud Senior Director, Advanced Networks CANARIE Inc. Bill.st.arnaud@canarie.ca Appendix A: CA*net 4 Node Locations CA*net 4 node location Montreal, Quebec Collocated with GTsuite 621 - 1000, rue Sherbrooke ouest,Montréal, QCContact is René Hatem (613) 944.5604 Ottawa, Ontario Collocated with GT264 Albert Street,Ottawa, ONContact is René Hatem (613) 944.5604 Toronto, Ontario Collocated with GT4th floor - 151 Front StreetToronto, ONContact is René Hatem (613) 944.5604 Winnipeg, Manitoba Collocated with GT1 Wesley AvenueWinnipeg, MBContact is René Hatem (613) 944.5604 Regina, Saskatchewan Collocated with GT1250 South Railway StreetRegina, SKContact is René Hatem (613) 944.5604 Calgary, Alberta Collocated with GT 115, 9th Avenue SECalgary, ABContact is René Hatem (613) 944.5604 Edmonton Alberta Collocated with GT Main floor - 10032, 103 StreetEdmonton, ABT5J 0X2Contact is René Hatem (613) 944.5604 Vancouver, British Columbia BCnetsuite 600 - 515 West HastingsVancouver BCSite contact is Marilyn Hay 604.822.4127 New York, New York Collocated with NYSERnet32 Avenue of the AmericasSite contact is Bill Owens 315.413.0345 Chicago, Illinois StarLightNorthwestern University710 North Lakeshore DriveChicago ILSite contact is Tim Ward 847.467.1449 Seattle, Washington Collocated with Colocenterssuite 1800 - 2001, 6th AvenueSeattle, WASite contact is René Hatem (613) 944.5604 ------------------------------------- To subscribe or unsubscribe to the CANARIE-NEWS list please send e-mail to: majordomo@canarie.ca In the body of the e-mail: subscribe news end ------------------------------------- These news items and comments are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect those of the CANARIE board or management. Bill St. Arnaud Senior Director Network Projects CANARIE bill.st.arnaud@canarie.ca +1 613 944-5603 --------- Bill.St.Arnaud@canarie.ca starnau@attglobal.net www.canarie.ca/~bstarn