RFP#2618AB - AWARE Supercomputer Project

Agency:	University of California
State:	California
Type of Government:	State & Local
Posted Date:	Feb 24, 2026
Due Date:	Mar 24, 2026
Original Source:	Please Login to View Page
Contact information:	Please Login to View Page
Bid Documents:	Please Login to View Page

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Request for Proposal 2331AB

AWARE Supercomputer Project

University of California San Diego

1. Purpose of the RFP

The purpose of this Request for Proposal (“RFP”) is to invite qualified bidders to prepare and submit proposals to

deploy a supercomputer called AWARE at the University of California, San Diego (“UCSD” or “UC San Diego” or

“University”), in accordance with the requirements set forth in this RFP.

2. Background

The Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes (CW3E), which is at UCSD’s Scripps Institution of

Oceanography, plans to expand the supercomputer called AWARE, which stands for Advanced Warning for

Atmospheric Rivers Extremes. AWARE is installed and operated at UCSD’s San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC)

and is used for operational weather forecasting along the West Coast of the US.

The existing AWARE system is comprised of 60 Dell AMD CPU nodes in one rack and 72 HPE Cray CPU nodes in

another rack in addition to two login nodes, two data mover nodes, two management nodes, two home file system

nodes, and a BeeGFS file system that is composed of six data nodes and two metadata nodes. AWARE has two HDR

InfiniBand connections per node, one for the file system and the other for intra-rack node communication. Each

node is also connected to 25-GbE and 1-GbE management networks.

AWARE is being deployed in multiple phases. This solicitation covers the first deployment of nodes with GPUs and

requires delivery no later than September 1, 2026 with a total budget not to exceed $1.4M. A five-year

operational warranty is also required. A local cache of common components that are customer replaceable should

be provided, along with allowance for advanced shipment of failed parts that are not in the local cache.

3. Minimum Requirements

 Bidder must have extensive and proven experience in the field of high-performance computing.

 Bidder must possess all trade, professional, or business licenses as may be required to complete the work and

meet the requirements specified by this RFP.

 Bidder must be able to demonstrate the capability of providing the required products/services by possessing

adequate available resources, including personnel, facilities, systems, organization structure, operation

controls, quality control and other related factors.

 Bidder must demonstrate successful experience in providing the products and services specified in this RFP as

a primary supplier.

 If selected as an apparent awardee, Bidder must provide audited financial statements for the past three fiscal

years (or equivalent data) to establish the bidder’s financial capability to complete this project.

4. RFP Schedule and Point of Contact

Schedule of Events

Anticipated Action

Release of Electronic RFP

Deadline for Supplier Q&A via CalUsource

Discussion Forum

University’s Response to Supplier Q&A

Deadline for RFP Response

Evaluation of proposals

Request for Proposal 2331AB

AWARE Supercomputer Project

University of California San Diego

Anticipated Action Date

February 24, 2026

March 6, 2026 @ 5 pm (PT)

March 11, 2026

March 24, 2026 @ 5 pm (PT)

March 25 - April 8, 2026

The University reserves the right to modify the above schedule of events and make changes to other provisions in

this RFP. It is the Bidder’s responsibility to read the entire document and any addendums and to comply with all

requirements listed herein.

Exhibits

In addition to this document, the following exhibits contain the requirements along with terms and conditions for

this RFP:

 Required Supplier Information

 UC Terms and Conditions of Purchase

 Appendix DS

Any contract awarded pursuant to this RFP will be in writing and incorporate the RFP requirements and

specifications, as well the contents of the Supplier’s Proposal as accepted by the University.

Single Point of Contact

The University RFP Administrator is the sole point of contact regarding all procurement and contractual matters

relating to the requirements described in this RFP; and is the only office authorized to change, modify, clarify, etc.,

the specifications, terms and conditions of this RFP and any agreement(s) awarded as a result of this RFP. All

questions and requests for clarification concerning this RFP should be entered into the CalUsource Discussion

Forum by the question’s deadline indicated in the Schedule of Events.

Andrew Bunker

Sr. Commodity Manager - Technology

Integrated Procure-to-Pay Solutions

University of California San Diego

Abunker@ucsd.edu

5. Technical Specifications

To support operational weather forecasting, the system needs to be highly reliable, so the system components

should be chosen accordingly.

5.1. GPU nodes.

The main component of this AWARE expansion will consist of GPU nodes to be used with AI/ML weather models.

Request for Proposal 2331AB

AWARE Supercomputer Project

University of California San Diego

- The primary workload will be mixed single- and half-precision GPU inference jobs. These jobs are

embarrassingly parallel and so will run well on individual GPUs.

- Training of single- and half-precision models will also be conducted and will benefit from higher GPU memory.

A list of the key components for the GPU portion of the expansion system follows.

ORv3 Rack.

- An ORv3 rack that is 44 OU high and that accepts 480V power input from above and liquid cooling from below.

CDU.

- An in-rack CDU for liquid cooling.

GPUs.

‐ Each GPU node should have 8 GPUs, which could be from either AMD or NVIDIA depending upon their

price/performance. Alternative quotes for high-end GPUs would be welcome depending upon their expected

price/performance.

‐ For AMD GPUs, the following will be considered: MI325X and MI355X.

‐ For NVIDIA GPUs, the following will be considered: H100, B100, and B200.

If multiple GPU options are deemed competitive, two alternative systems may be proposed.

CPUs.

‐ Each GPU node should have two CPUs, which could be from either AMD or Intel depending upon their

price/performance. There is a preference for the following CPUs, but responses need not be limited to them:

‐ AMD 9684X CPUs to match previous deployments.

‐ AMD 9755 CPUs to potentially run WRF opposite the AI/ML models.

If multiple CPU options are deemed competitive, two alternative systems may be proposed.

Memory.

‐ At least 2 GB of RAM per CPU core.

‐ If not cost prohibitive, having two nodes with at least 1.5 TB of RAM total is desired.

Node-local storage.

‐ No node-local storage other than that for hosting the operating system.

Software.

‐ Bright Cluster Manager with a 5-y license for all GPU nodes.

Networking.

The new nodes will be connected to the existing InfiniBand HDR and GbE networks.

‐ HDR InfiniBand cards will be provided for each node by CW3E and need not be included in the quote.

‐ However, cards for the 25-GbE and 1-GbE management networks should be included.

5.2. VM cluster.

A small virtual machine cluster of 4 nodes will be used to run Proxmox.

Request for Proposal 2331AB

AWARE Supercomputer Project

University of California San Diego

‐ Each node should have at least 64 high-performance CPU cores (not counting threads), at least 2 GB of RAM

per CPU core (not including threads), 2 TB of NVMe disk, an SSD for the host OS, and a lights-out management

interface.

‐ Each node should support at least four PCIe devices: one should be a 25-GbE network connection, two will be

used for PCIe HDR InfiniBand cards (provided by CW3E), and the other left empty for future expansion.

‐ The virtual machine storage of the cluster will be hosted on an existing NFS server that runs over the 25-GbE

connection. The virtual machines need not be liquid cooled.

6. Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation and Award: Best Value Methodology

Responsive Proposals will be evaluated using a Best Value method, which means the most advantageous balance

of the following evaluation criteria:

‐ System capability,

‐ Technical solution,

‐ Sustainability and business profile, and

‐ Service and support.

University evaluators will determine the Proposal’s value by scoring the Proposals based on a uniform set of

weights for the evaluation criteria. Each Proposal’s Best Value Score will be the average of all evaluators’ total

scores awarded for the Proposal. The Proposal with the Best Value Score will be considered the most responsive

proposal.

Right to Cancel/Modify

The University reserves the right to change any aspect of, terminate, or delay this RFP, the RFP process and/or the

program outlined within this RFP at any time. Notice shall be provided in a timely manner thereafter. The

University may award the contract without further discussion or may enter into negotiations with the apparent

RFP winner. Should the apparent RFP winner fail to accept the award, the University may determine that that

Bidder has abandoned its Proposal. The University may then enter into negotiations with the responsible Bidder

whose proposal has the second Best Value Score. If that Bidder fails to accept the award, the University may

determine that that Bidder has abandoned its Proposal and enter into negotiations with the responsible Bidder

whose proposal has the third Best Value Score and so on to each successive responsible Best Value Bidder until an

award is made and accepted.

Right to Make No Award

The University reserves the right to reject all Proposals and to make no award. Unless stated otherwise in this RFP,

the University reserves the right to make multiple awards or to award items separately or in the aggregate as the

interests of University may appear.

Contract Form

Any contract awarded pursuant to this RFP will be in writing and incorporate the RFP requirements and

specifications, as well the contents of the Bidder’s Proposal as accepted by the University.

7. Additional Terms

Insurance

If selected for award, the awardee shall deliver the PDF version of the Certificate of Insurance to UC’s Buyer, by

email with the following text in the Subject field: CERTIFICATE OF INSURANCE – [Supplier name].

Request for Proposal 2331AB

AWARE Supercomputer Project

University of California San Diego

Invoicing method

UC San Diego has partnered with Transcepta Global Network for invoice automation. Participation is free and

registration and connection only takes a few minutes. Transcepta accepts invoices in the following ways: email,

virtual printer, cXML, and EDI. For more information on Transcepta refer to https://ipps.ucsd.edu/supplier-

resources/goods-services/payee-management/transcepta.html

Payment Method and Terms

As a UC San Diego supplier you have the opportunity to receive payment via our preferred payment option, Virtual

Credit Card. Virtual Credit Card is a card-less Visa credit card product. Credit card number and credentials are

emailed to your selected Accounts Receivable contact. Terms are net 10 days. Standard credit card processing fees

apply. For more information on this payment method refer to https://ipps.ucsd.edu/supplier-resources/goods-

services/payments/virtual-card.html.

8. Response Instructions

1. Register for a supplier account through CalUsource at www.calusource.net.

2. Log in and locate the RFP event on CalUsource. Review and accept all mandatory guidelines to access the

RFP in its entirety, including all attachments.

3. Review all requirements carefully and determine your ability to comply.

4. Submit requests for clarification in writing regarding the RFP through the CalUsource Discussion Forum by

the indicated deadline (search for the speech bubble icon in the upper right-hand corner). UC’s responses

will be released to all prospective bidders on or around the indicated Q&A response date.

5. Provide required completed forms and responses when prompted under the Questionnaire section.

6. Attach any additional files that are relevant to your bid response under Supplier Attachments. UC may

elect not to review material outside of what is explicitly requested in the solicitation.

7. Click the submit button to submit your proposal in CalUsource by the indicated response timeline.

This page summarizes the opportunity, including an overview and a preview of the attached documents.

RFP#2618AB - AWARE Supercomputer Project

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