Date: May 29, Introduction

Transcription

1 Date: May 29, 2003 Introduction EDUCAUSE ( serves as the sole registrar and registry for the.edu top-level domain under a 5-year, renewable cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce. In accordance with this agreement, EDUCAUSE is now seeking proposals from qualified vendors for DNS services for the.edu domain in an open, competitive process. This document describes major characteristics of the.edu domain, the DNS services to be proposed by competing vendors, the specific information required in a proposal to offer these services, and the timeframe of the process. Characteristics of the.edu Top-Level Domain Under present policy ( ),.edu domain names are allocated to certain accredited institutions of higher education at the rate of one per institution. There are presently fewer that 10,000 names in the domain, with overall numbers expected to grow only slowly as rules of eligibility and the institutions themselves evolve. Thus the zone file for.edu is quite stable, experiencing few changes during a normal day. On the other hand,.edu domain names are in very active use on a daily basis, generating an estimated 200 calls for root-level domain name resolution per second on each of the current 9 root servers. DNS Services Required EDUCAUSE operates all functions of the registrar for.edu and all those for the registry up to the creation of the.edu zone file in its operations center in Boulder, Colorado. It is now seeking proposals from qualified vendors to support the remaining DNS services that distribute the information from the EDUCAUSE zone file to an appropriate constellation of DNS servers on the Internet to support reliable and up-to-date operations of domain names in the.edu domain. Timeline EDUCAUSE, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Commerce, proposes to complete the process of evaluations, business agreements, and operational transition in time for full operations before August, Return completed proposals to rfp@educause.edu or to Randy Richter EDUCAUSE 4772 Walnut Street, Suite 206 Boulder, CO / (fax) rrichter@educause.edu 1

2 no later than June 13, You may submit written questions to the same address by . Questions and answers will be shared with all respondents. Information Required in a Proposal Based on this RFP A. GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE APPLICANT A1. The full legal name, principal address, telephone and fax numbers, and address of the applicant, and the URL of its principal world wide web site. A2. A general description of the applicant's business and other activities. A3. The applicant's type of entity (e.g., corporation, partnership, etc.) and law (e.g., Delaware) under which it is organized. Please state whether the applicant is for-profit or non-profit. If it is non-profit, please provide a detailed statement of its mission. A4. Dun & Bradstreet D-U-N-S Number (if any) of the applicant. A5. The number of employees currently employed by the applicant. A6. The applicant's total revenue (in US dollars) in the last-ended fiscal year. A7. Full names and positions of (i) all directors, (ii) all officers, (iii) all relevant managers, and (iv) any persons or entities owning five percent or more of the applicant. A8. Provide the name, telephone and fax number, and address of the person to contact for additional information regarding this application. If there are multiple people, please list all their names, telephone and fax numbers, and addresses and describe the areas for which each should be contacted. B. Proposed DNS Services B1. Describe the particular DNS Services that you propose to meet the requirements of EDUCAUSE. B2. Describe the cost and pricing structures that you propose to provide these services to EDUCAUSE. B3. Describe the technical performance commitments that you propose to make for the services that you have proposed. 2

3 C. STATEMENT OF CAPABILITIES OF THE APPLICANT AND CONTRACTED SERVICE PROVIDERS A top priority of EDUCAUSE is to preserve the stable operations of the.edu top-level domain in the Internet. EDUCAUSE will place significant emphasis on the demonstrated ability of the applicant to operate TLD Root Zone servers in a manner that provides affordable services with a high degree of service responsiveness and reliability. This section of the.edu Proposal offers the applicant the opportunity to demonstrate its ability to operate the.edu Root Zone servers in that manner. Throughout this document, transfer of registry information from EDUCAUSE and the operation of the.edu Root Zone servers, is referred to as the "Root Server Function". C1. State whether the applicant intends to perform all aspects of the Root Server Function, or whether the applicant intends to outsource some or all aspects of the Root Server Function to other entities that will provide services or facilities under contract with the applicant. If any portion(s) of the services or facilities will be provided by another entity under contract, please describe which portion(s), state the time period during which they will be provided under contract, and identify what entity will be providing the services or facilities. C2. Identify by name each entity other than the applicant that will provide any of the following: all services and facilities used to perform the Root Server Function; any portion of the services and facilities used to perform the Root Server Function accounting for 10% or more of overall costs of the Root Server Function; or any portion of any of the services and facilities used to perform the following parts of the Root Server Function accounting for 25% or more of overall costs of the part: database operation, data capture from the EDUCAUSE zone file, zone file distribution and publication, data escrow and backup, and customer support. The identification of each entity should include: C3.1 The full legal name, principal address, telephone and fax numbers, and address of the entity, and the URL of its principal world wide web site. C3.2. A general description of the entity's business and other activities. C3.3. The entity's type (e.g., corporation, partnership, etc.) and law (e.g., Delaware) under which it is organized. Please state whether the entity is for-profit or non-profit. If it is non-profit, please provide a detailed statement of its mission. C3.4. Dun & Bradstreet D-U-N-S Number (if any) of the entity. C3.5. The number of employees currently employed by the entity. 3

4 C3.6. The entity's total revenue (in US dollars) in the last-ended fiscal year. C4. For each entity identified in item C3, please state the scope and terms of the contract under which the facilities or services will be provided and attach documentary evidence that the entity has committed to enter into that contract. C5. Describe in detail the abilities of the applicant and the entities identified in item C3 to perform the Root Server Function in a manner that provides affordable services with a high degree of service responsiveness and reliability. Your response should give specifics, including significant past or present achievements and activities of the applicant and the entities identified in item C3 that demonstrate the described abilities. It should also include information about key technical personnel (qualifications and experience), size of technical workforce, and access to systems development tools. D. TECHNICAL PLAN (INCLUDING TRANSITION PLAN) The fourth section of the.edu Proposal is a description of your technical plan. This section must include a comprehensive, professional-quality technical plan that provides a full description of the proposed technical solution for transitioning and operating all aspects of the Root Server Function. The topics listed below are representative of the type of subjects that will be covered in the technical plan section of the.edu Proposal. [EDUCAUSE will extensively review and analyze this section of the Proposal. The content, clarity, and professionalism of this section will be important factors in EDUCAUSE s evaluation of applications. We strongly recommend that those who are planning to apply secure professional assistance from engineers and/or other technical consultants to aid in the formulation of the technical plan and the preparation of the technical plan section of the Proposal.] D1. Technical plan for performing the Root Server Function. This should present a comprehensive technical plan for performing the Root Server Function. In addition to providing basic information concerning the proposed technical solution (with appropriate diagrams if needed), this section offers the applicant an opportunity to demonstrate that it has carefully analyzed the technical requirements for performing the Root Server Function. Factors that should be addressed in the technical plan include: D1.1. General description of proposed facilities and systems. Address all locations of systems. Provide diagrams of all of the systems operating at each location that would be implemented for the first time in order to meet this request. Address the specific types of systems being used, their capacity, and their interoperability, general availability, and level of security. Describe buildings, hardware, software systems, environmental equipment, Internet connectivity, etc. 4

5 D1.2. Root Zone transfer model and protocol. Please describe in detail, including a full (to the extent feasible) statement of the proposed method and implementation of transferring domain information from EDUCAUSE to your system. Provide a full description of the API(s) that EDUCAUSE would need to support for its part of this process. D1.3. Zone file distribution and publication. Locations of nameservers, procedures for and means of distributing zone files to them. D1.4. Data escrow and backup. Frequency and procedures for backup of data. Describe hardware and systems used, data format, identity of escrow agents, procedures for retrieval of data/rebuild of database, etc. D1.5. System security. Technical and physical capabilities and procedures to prevent system hacks, break-ins, data tampering, and other disruptions to operations. Physical security. D1.6. Peak capacities. Technical capability for handling a larger-than-projected demand for DNS resolution and/or Zone file updates. Effects on load on servers, databases, backup systems, support systems, escrow systems, maintenance, personnel. D1.7. English language technical and other support for EDUCAUSE as a customer. Describe technical help systems; personnel accessibility; web-based, telephone and other support; support services to be offered, time availability of support, etc. D1.8. Compliance with specifications. Describe the extent of proposed compliance with technical specifications, including compliance with at least the following RFCs: 1034, 1035, 1101, 2181, D1.9. System reliability. Define, analyze, and quantify quality of service. D1.10. System outage prevention. Procedures for problem detection, redundancy of all systems, back up power supply, facility security, technical security, availability of back up software, operating system, and hardware, system monitoring, technical maintenance staff, server locations. D1.11. System recovery procedures. Procedures for restoring the system to operation in the event of a system outage, both expected and unexpected. Identify redundant/diverse systems for providing service in the event of an outage and describe the process for recovery from various types of failures, the training of technical staff who will perform these tasks, the availability and backup of software and operating systems needed to restore the system to operation, the availability of the hardware needed to restore and run the system, backup electrical power systems, the projected time for restoring the system, the procedures for testing the process of restoring the system to operation in the event of an outage, the documentation kept on system outages and on potential system problems that could result in outages. 5

6 D2. Transition Plan. This should present a detailed plan for the transition of the Root Server Function from the current facilities and services provided by VeriSign, Inc., to the facilities and services you propose. Issues that should be discussed in this detailed plan include: D2.1. Steps of the proposed transition, including sequencing and scheduling. D2.2. The duration and extent of any interruption of any part of the Root Server Function. D2.3. Contingency plans in the event any part of the proposed transition does not proceed as planned. D2.4. The effect of the transition on (a).edu registrants and (b) Internet users seeking to resolve.edu domain names. D2.5. The specifics of cooperation required from VeriSign, Inc. and from EDUCAUSE. D2.6. Any relevant experience of the applicant and the entities identified in item C3 in performing similar transitions. D2.7. Proposed criteria for the evaluation of the success of the transition. E. SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION E1. The following documentation should be provided if requested by EDUCAUSE in support of your.edu Proposal: E1.1. Organizational documents of applicant. A copy of the organizational documents (articles of association, bylaws, enabling legislation, etc.) of the applicant. E1.2. Organizational documents of certain other entities. A copy of the organizational documents of each non-profit entity identified in item C3. E1.3. Business references. A list of significant trade and credit references of the applicant and each entity identified in item C3. E1.4. Annual reports. A copy of the most recent annual financial report (or similar document), if any, of the applicant and each entity identified in item C3. E1.5. Evidence of commitment. Any documentation requested by item C4. 6

7 Please sign and submit this signature page as part of your proposal. (Please mail or fax a signed copy of your proposal separately to Randy Richter of EDUCAUSE at the above address if your proposal is first submitted by .) By signing this.edu Proposal, the undersigned certifies (a) that he or she has authority to do so on behalf of the applicant and, (b) on his or her own behalf and on behalf of the applicant, that all information contained in this proposal, and all documents attached to this proposal, is true and accurate to the best of his/her/its knowledge and information. The undersigned and the applicant understand that any material misstatement or misrepresentation will reflect negatively on the application of which this proposal is a part and may cause cancellation of any award based on that application. Signature Name (please print) Title Name of Applicant Date