Whitfield County Schools Quote

Title: Technology - VMware Backup Solution

Deadline: 6/17/2024 2:00 PM   (UTC-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)

Status: Awarded

Quote Number: WCS-IT-2024-031

Description: Whitfield County Schools District, hereinafter referred to as "the Company," invites qualified vendors to submit a quotation for the implementation of a comprehensive VMware backup solution that ensures reliable data protection, recovery, and management for our virtual environments. 

Documents:

Documents as of 6/3/2024
RFQ_VMware_Backup_Solution_WCS_IT_2024_031.pdf
Addition 1

Posted: 8/8/2024

Type of Addition: Award Information

Overview: Awarded to CDW-G at June 18th Board Meeting

Amount: $18,675.00

Question 1

Posted: 6/4/2024

Question: Hello for this bid could you please provide me with the Previous Contract # as well as the # of cores.

Response: We have 192 cores, I will need more information on why you need my Contract #.

Question 2

Posted: 6/5/2024

Question: What is the total number of servers, the total number of workstations (like windows 10 VMs), and the total number of non-virtualized machines (like a mission critical PCs, etc).

Response: ~150 VMs. No workstations or non-virtualized machines.

Question 3

Posted: 6/5/2024

Question: How many virtual servers in your environment?

Response: 6 hosts with 150 VMs

Question 4

Posted: 6/5/2024

Question: What is the capacity of storage for your current backups?

Response: 116TB usable

Question 5

Posted: 6/5/2024

Question: How many TB is the VMware environment (FETB)?

Response: 24TB usable

Question 6

Posted: 6/5/2024

Question: What are your retention requirements? Number of Daily, Weekly, Monthly and Annual

Response: 7 days of hourly snapshots, 4 weekly, 12 monthly, 4 Annual

Question 7

Posted: 6/5/2024

Question: Please declare the Database version and Exchange version (on-site or M365)?

Response: We have SQL 2016 to the current versions. No Exchange as we are a GSuit district.

Question 8

Posted: 6/6/2024

Question: Of your 24TB of Vmware Storage, how much are your currently using (actively in use)?

Response: As of today, we are using 10.8TB

Question 9

Posted: 6/6/2024

Question: Do you currently have end-to-end encryption, as well as immutability in your current backup environment? Is end to end encryption and immutability of backups a requirement to help protect against ransomware?

Response: No, we do not and yes it is a requirement.

Question 10

Posted: 6/6/2024

Question: From your current backup retention, are you also wanting to replicate a copy to a secondary site, and if so what is the retention at the secondary location?

Response: We would be replicating this back to an off-site server that we already have in place. No need for a secondary location at this time.

Question 11

Posted: 6/6/2024

Question: In addition to your local retention, do you also require an offsite, out of region, fully air-gapped backup copy with immutability and object lock to align with NIST and FBI best practices?

Response: Part of this question was already answered. We would expect the server to be air-gapped (except during backup times) with immutability and object lock if possible. If not possible on a single off-site solution, please provide this as an add-on to your quote.

Question 12

Posted: 6/6/2024

Question: What level of ransomware detection is required in your new backup solution? Do you require built-in visibility to the last clean snapshot?

Response: Due to not knowing the "level of ransomware detections" available, please provide your recommended solution.

Question 13

Posted: 6/6/2024

Question: Given the high level of security vulnerabilities that exist with Windows, do you require a full hardened OS to ensure your backups are not dependent upon Windows OS?

Response: Please provide more detail with this question. I am assuming you mean the backup appliance having a hardened OS but I do not want to assume.

Question 14

Posted: 6/6/2024

Question: Is a single pane of glass user interface a requirement to manage end to end backup & recovery software, backup storage, and security for both on prem and cloud?

Response: Yes.

Question 15

Posted: 6/6/2024

Question: Would you like a 1, 3, or 5 year proposal?

Response: all three options, please.

Question 16

Posted: 6/11/2024

Question: Hom many vcenters are you running? And how many clusters on each vcenter?

Response: 1 VCenter with 2 clusters.

Question 17

Posted: 6/11/2024

Question: Are you currently using Veeam? If so, why are you looking to replace it?

Response: We have a very small deployment of Veeam. We are interested in adding on but also interested in evaluating other solutions that may better fit our needs.

Question 18

Posted: 6/12/2024

Question: How do we propose the appliance, do you already have hardware that could be used and you are looking only for software, or this should be a fully turnkey solution?

Response: Without knowing your solution it would be hard to answer this question. If you are bidding software then we are ok if you bid just the software and add hardware on as an optional addon.

Question 19

Posted: 6/12/2024

Question: Is Google Workspace or G Suite or any Google data part of the desired solution?

Response: No

Question 20

Posted: 6/12/2024

Question: What are the existing backup targets (hardware or cloud destinations/repositories) today? Are there any hardware assets that exist that will be leveraged in any future solutions? Is a backup and recovery appliance preferable?

Response: Hardware Unsure how to answer the second question. We are open to options. It's up to you on how to respond.

Question 21

Posted: 6/12/2024

Question: To confirm the totals already answered: 116TBs is the existing full backup & archive environment today and this is on-premise? 24TBs is the amount of storage available to the 6 x VMware hosts and 150 VMs today? of the 24TBs usable, 10.8TB's is what VMware is consuming for Production Data today?

Response: Correct.

Question 22

Posted: 6/12/2024

Question: Are any metrics on Daily Change Rate and Annual Growth Rate available?

Response: no

Question 23

Posted: 6/12/2024

Question: Do you use a reporting/monitoring tool for your Veeam environment to ensure backups are successful, clean and recoverable?

Response: We receive an email if the backup fails but that is it.

Question 24

Posted: 6/12/2024

Question: What does your disaster recovery process look like currently? Are there changes to this on your roadmap for the next 5 years?

Response: We have dual data centers that can run independently. If both are compromised we have a cold site to restore to and get things back up. No.

Question 25

Posted: 6/12/2024

Question: Are you currently using a solution for DR automation and orchestration for testing and failovers?

Response: No

Question 26

Posted: 6/12/2024

Question: Veeam supports 8 different hypervisors for backups today; what hypervisor are you currently using and do you foresee any changes with this over the next 5 years?

Response: We are currently using VMware and are looking to move to Proxmox or some other alternative.

Question 27

Posted: 6/12/2024

Question: Veeam uses an instance-based license model instead of capacity-based providing more flexibility and lowers costs to the end user; can you please provide a full count of all workloads you will need to back up? This is includes cloud-based workloads, physical and virtual machines, workstations, etc.

Response: We have already responded to this question. Please see the public solicitation.

Question 28

Posted: 6/12/2024

Question: • Do you use a reporting/monitoring tool for your Veeam environment to ensure backups are successful, clean and recoverable? • What does your disaster recovery process look like currently? Are there changes to this on your roadmap for the next 5 years? • Are you currently using a solution for DR automation and orchestration for testing and failovers? • Veeam supports 8 different hypervisors for backups today; what hypervisor are you currently using and do you foresee any changes with this over the next 5 years? • Veeam uses an instance-based license model instead of capacity-based providing more flexibility and lowers costs to the end user; can you please provide a full count of all workloads you will need to back up? This is includes cloud-based workloads, physical and virtual machines, workstations, etc.

Response: We have already responded to this question. Please see the public solicitation.

Posted: 8/8/2024

Type of Addition: Award Information

Overview: Awarded to CDW-G at June 18th Board Meeting

Amount: $18,675.00

Posted: 6/4/2024

Question: Hello for this bid could you please provide me with the Previous Contract # as well as the # of cores.

Response: We have 192 cores, I will need more information on why you need my Contract #.

Posted: 6/5/2024

Question: What is the total number of servers, the total number of workstations (like windows 10 VMs), and the total number of non-virtualized machines (like a mission critical PCs, etc).

Response: ~150 VMs. No workstations or non-virtualized machines.

Posted: 6/5/2024

Question: How many virtual servers in your environment?

Response: 6 hosts with 150 VMs

Posted: 6/5/2024

Question: What is the capacity of storage for your current backups?

Response: 116TB usable

Posted: 6/5/2024

Question: How many TB is the VMware environment (FETB)?

Response: 24TB usable

Posted: 6/5/2024

Question: What are your retention requirements? Number of Daily, Weekly, Monthly and Annual

Response: 7 days of hourly snapshots, 4 weekly, 12 monthly, 4 Annual

Posted: 6/5/2024

Question: Please declare the Database version and Exchange version (on-site or M365)?

Response: We have SQL 2016 to the current versions. No Exchange as we are a GSuit district.

Posted: 6/6/2024

Question: Of your 24TB of Vmware Storage, how much are your currently using (actively in use)?

Response: As of today, we are using 10.8TB

Posted: 6/6/2024

Question: Do you currently have end-to-end encryption, as well as immutability in your current backup environment? Is end to end encryption and immutability of backups a requirement to help protect against ransomware?

Response: No, we do not and yes it is a requirement.

Posted: 6/6/2024

Question: From your current backup retention, are you also wanting to replicate a copy to a secondary site, and if so what is the retention at the secondary location?

Response: We would be replicating this back to an off-site server that we already have in place. No need for a secondary location at this time.

Posted: 6/6/2024

Question: In addition to your local retention, do you also require an offsite, out of region, fully air-gapped backup copy with immutability and object lock to align with NIST and FBI best practices?

Response: Part of this question was already answered. We would expect the server to be air-gapped (except during backup times) with immutability and object lock if possible. If not possible on a single off-site solution, please provide this as an add-on to your quote.

Posted: 6/6/2024

Question: What level of ransomware detection is required in your new backup solution? Do you require built-in visibility to the last clean snapshot?

Response: Due to not knowing the "level of ransomware detections" available, please provide your recommended solution.

Posted: 6/6/2024

Question: Given the high level of security vulnerabilities that exist with Windows, do you require a full hardened OS to ensure your backups are not dependent upon Windows OS?

Response: Please provide more detail with this question. I am assuming you mean the backup appliance having a hardened OS but I do not want to assume.

Posted: 6/6/2024

Question: Is a single pane of glass user interface a requirement to manage end to end backup & recovery software, backup storage, and security for both on prem and cloud?

Response: Yes.

Posted: 6/6/2024

Question: Would you like a 1, 3, or 5 year proposal?

Response: all three options, please.

Posted: 6/11/2024

Question: Hom many vcenters are you running? And how many clusters on each vcenter?

Response: 1 VCenter with 2 clusters.

Posted: 6/11/2024

Question: Are you currently using Veeam? If so, why are you looking to replace it?

Response: We have a very small deployment of Veeam. We are interested in adding on but also interested in evaluating other solutions that may better fit our needs.

Posted: 6/12/2024

Question: How do we propose the appliance, do you already have hardware that could be used and you are looking only for software, or this should be a fully turnkey solution?

Response: Without knowing your solution it would be hard to answer this question. If you are bidding software then we are ok if you bid just the software and add hardware on as an optional addon.

Posted: 6/12/2024

Question: Is Google Workspace or G Suite or any Google data part of the desired solution?

Response: No

Posted: 6/12/2024

Question: What are the existing backup targets (hardware or cloud destinations/repositories) today? Are there any hardware assets that exist that will be leveraged in any future solutions? Is a backup and recovery appliance preferable?

Response: Hardware Unsure how to answer the second question. We are open to options. It's up to you on how to respond.

Posted: 6/12/2024

Question: To confirm the totals already answered: 116TBs is the existing full backup & archive environment today and this is on-premise? 24TBs is the amount of storage available to the 6 x VMware hosts and 150 VMs today? of the 24TBs usable, 10.8TB's is what VMware is consuming for Production Data today?

Response: Correct.

Posted: 6/12/2024

Question: Are any metrics on Daily Change Rate and Annual Growth Rate available?

Response: no

Posted: 6/12/2024

Question: Do you use a reporting/monitoring tool for your Veeam environment to ensure backups are successful, clean and recoverable?

Response: We receive an email if the backup fails but that is it.

Posted: 6/12/2024

Question: What does your disaster recovery process look like currently? Are there changes to this on your roadmap for the next 5 years?

Response: We have dual data centers that can run independently. If both are compromised we have a cold site to restore to and get things back up. No.

Posted: 6/12/2024

Question: Are you currently using a solution for DR automation and orchestration for testing and failovers?

Response: No

Posted: 6/12/2024

Question: Veeam supports 8 different hypervisors for backups today; what hypervisor are you currently using and do you foresee any changes with this over the next 5 years?

Response: We are currently using VMware and are looking to move to Proxmox or some other alternative.

Posted: 6/12/2024

Question: Veeam uses an instance-based license model instead of capacity-based providing more flexibility and lowers costs to the end user; can you please provide a full count of all workloads you will need to back up? This is includes cloud-based workloads, physical and virtual machines, workstations, etc.

Response: We have already responded to this question. Please see the public solicitation.

Posted: 6/12/2024

Question: • Do you use a reporting/monitoring tool for your Veeam environment to ensure backups are successful, clean and recoverable? • What does your disaster recovery process look like currently? Are there changes to this on your roadmap for the next 5 years? • Are you currently using a solution for DR automation and orchestration for testing and failovers? • Veeam supports 8 different hypervisors for backups today; what hypervisor are you currently using and do you foresee any changes with this over the next 5 years? • Veeam uses an instance-based license model instead of capacity-based providing more flexibility and lowers costs to the end user; can you please provide a full count of all workloads you will need to back up? This is includes cloud-based workloads, physical and virtual machines, workstations, etc.

Response: We have already responded to this question. Please see the public solicitation.