UK SBS IT17513 Tape Media

**PLEASE DO NOT RESPOND DIRECTLY TO THE BUYER**

Please note this tender will close 14:00 on 13/02/18.

1. Background to the Requirement

STFC runs two 10,000 slot Oracle - StorageTek SL8500 tape libraries for the storage of scientific data from a range of high profile sources such as the LHC experiment in CERN, the Diamond facility at RAL as well as data from various satellites, laser, and atmospheric projects. STFC is seeking to purchase of media to be utilised in the libraries for these facilities.

2. Scope

This tender is for the purchase of 250 units T10000KT2 tape data cartridges.

The price of the media should include the labelling of the media if required and delivery of the order.

The following must be included:

The media must be read and write compatible with either the Oracle T10000KC or T10000KD tape drives.

The media must be capable of being able to store 5Tbytes of data per cartridge native on the C drive or 8.5TB of data per cartridge native on the D drive.

The tape media must be compatible with the STK SL8500 tape library.

The media will be un-initialised. The tapes may be labelled before delivery; the label range(s) will be specified before the order is placed if labels are required.

The media will be new and unused.

All media will be sourced through the appropriate Oracle tape media channels (Mandatory)

Evidence should be given that the media has been sourced through the appropriate Oracle tape media channels (Desirable)

ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA

A random selection of the media will be chosen and a series of read/write tests carried out.

Verify that read and write data transfers occur correctly and without data loss. Data will be written to tape from disk and then back to disk. The original data will be compared to the data written from tape to verify that the two data sets are identical.

Verify that during the tests media perform to the manufacturer's specifications and within error rates specified for this media type. A further test will involve a continuous write to fill an empty tape, to verify that the native capacity of a tape meets the manufacturer's specification.

Verify that data transfers to tape take place at an average rate of 240MBytes/sec for a minimum volume transfer of 5TB for the media on the C drives, and 240MB/sec for a minimum volume transfer of 8.5TB for media on the D drives

3. Timetable

Delivery before 15th March 2018 is imperative for the order. The order will be cancelled if the delivery is delayed beyond this date.

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