William Jennings Bryan Dorn Veterans Admin Medical Center, Chief, Acquisition & Facilities Planning Service(90C), 6439 Garners Ferry Road, Columbia, SC 29209-1639

U -- NETWORK TROUBLESHOOTING COURSE SOL RFQ544-081-00 DUE 073100 POC Candi Wood, Contracting Officer The Dorn VA Medical Center, Columbia, SC, intends to award a contract for a Network Troubleshooting Course at the Decatur, GA, VA Medical Center. This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in FAR Subpart 12.6, supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; Request for Quotes are being requested and a written solicitation will NOT be issued. Solicitation documents and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 97-18. This procurement is set aside 100% for small business. SIC 8243 applies with a size standard of $5 million. The procurement is being conducted under the Subpart 13.5 test program, simplified acquisition procedures apply, and the procurement will be conducted according to Part 13. Provide an all-inclusive price to include travel, lodging and any necessary materials. Item One: Provide 5-day Network Troubleshooting Course for 15 people. $_______ Item Two: Price per additional student. $________ per additional person. Maximum of 5 additional students for a course total not to exceed 20 students. Statement of Work: Vendor to provide instructor, course materials and student books for a five day, on-site Network Troubleshooting Course for 15-20 students. Course to be delivered at Decatur, GA, VA Medical Center during the week of August 28 -- September 1, 2000. Topics covered to include: 1. Network Analysis: Covers OSI model; IEEE Addressing; Overview of protocol stacks; LAN encapsulation -- Etype, SAP, SNAP, RAW; Building packets layer by layer; Problems described by OSI layer. 2. Switched Network Analysis & VLANs: Covers Learn, Flood, Forward and Filtering; Bridge/Switch Concept Test; Special Protocol Concerns IP, IPX local routing; MAC Address anatomy; Analyzing Bridged traffic across WANs; Spanning Tree Loop Detection & Blocking; Root selection, Designated Bridge selection; Priority and Path Cost block scenarios; Switch Applications -- how to avoid problems; Full Duplex Issues and Auto-negotiation problems; Measuring Latency and Throughput Testing; Port Span and Mirror Issues and other methods; VLAN Theory and Operation. 3. Ethernet Operation & Analysis. Covers Manchester, NRZI, MLT-3 & 4b/5b encoding; Overhead beyond the packet headers; Collision zone connectivity rules; Bit budget calculations using PMG's Tool Kit; Media access timing and back-off algorithms; Link enable and SQE explained; Auto-negotiation; Packet transmit time and collision examples; Performance impact of collisions, fragments and CRC errors. 3. Throughput & Latency Analysis. Covers Sources of latency; How some protocols overcome latency and some don't; Pinpointing theoretical latency -- Tool Kit exercise; Reliable transport layers TCP, NSP, SPX, LLC2, SPP; Reliable application layers Sun NFS, NCP burst; Measuring latency -- multiple methods; Burst vs, request reply optimization; Hands-on optimization labs. 4. IP Operation & Analysis. Covers IP technical design history; Configuration essentials, ARP, Proxy ARP, RARP; Addressing made simple using Tool Kit and Tables; Broadcasts, subnet masks; Fragmentation illustrated; IP routing algorithm -- how it all works; Router operation and design history; ICMP explained by example; Tracing IP packet flow; Packet transmit time and router port buffer queue size. 5. Hands-on, multi Vendor Tool Training. Covers Fluke LANMeter and NAI Sniffer. By the conclusion of the course students should be able to demonstrate the ability to: Analyze and troubleshoot common network problems on the LAN (Local Area Network); Distinguish between problems with the LAN and problems with the WAN (Wide Area Network); Set up and use LAN monitors and probes to monitor LAN parameters and recognize indicators of impending problem conditions; Configure LAN equipment for various applications, (e.g., data, voice, video); Monitor network traffic, recognize indicators of impending bottlenecks, and recommend appropriate corrective action (e.g., equipment reconfiguration, add more equipment, etc.) Course should incorporate a mix of lecture and hands-on lab sessions to enable students to participate in case studies and troubleshooting exercises. Instructor should have background of actual network troubleshooting experience in a commercial, production setting, and not simply academic knowledge. The specific course content should focus on the network topology, switches, routers, monitors, and probe equipment in use in VISN 7. The equipment in VISN 7 includes: Netscout OC3 ATM probes; Xylan (Alcatel) LAN equipment; FORE (Marconi) WAN equipment; VISTA systems; NT servers; Ethernet probes. The following incorporated clauses and provision are applicable to this acquisition. 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors -- Commercial Items (Mar 2000); 52.212-2 Evaluation Commercial Items (Jan 1999) The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers: 1. Personnel Qualifications and 2. Past Experience. These factors combined are moreimportant than price. 52.212-3 Offeror Representations and Certifications -Commercial Items (Feb 2000) Alternate III (Jan 1999); 52.212-4 Contract Terms And Conditions -- Commercial Items (May 1999); 52.212-5 Contract Terms And Conditions Required To Implement Statutes Or Executive Orders Commercial Items (July 2000) to include 52.222-21, Prohibition of Segregated Facilities (Feb 1999); 52.222-26, Equal Opportunity (E.O. 11246); 52.222-35, Affirmative Action for Disabled Veterans and Veterans of the Vietnam Era (38 U.S.C. 4212); 52.222-36, Affirmative Action for Workers with Disabilities (29 U.S.C. 793); 52.222-37, Employment Reports on Disabled Veterans and Veterans of the Vietnam Era (38 U.S.C. 4212); 52.232-34, Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer -- Other than Central Contractor Registration (31 U.S.C. 3332). VAAR 852.219-70 Veteran-Owned Small Business (Dec 1990) and 852.270-4 Commercial Advertising (Nov 1984). Offerors must include a completed copy of the provision at 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications Commercial Items, and 852.219-70, Veteran-Owned Small Business, with its offer. Submit a technical proposal addressing: 1. Personnel Qualifications. Include resume of instructor. 2. Past experience. Provide a brief description of similar contracts including a point of contact with phone number. Award will made to the offer most advantageous to the government. Original proposals shall be submitted on company letterhead or on Contracting Officer's preferred Form, SF1449. Offers may be faxed to the attention of the Contracting Officer at 803-695-6781. All responsible sources will be considered. Posted 07/14/00 (W-SN475047). (0196)

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