GridPP Tier 1 Procurement Team Meeting 10 July 2007 Phone conference Draft Minutes Attended: Dave Britton (DB), David Corney (DC), Tony Doyle (TD, chair), Neil Geddes (NG), John Gordon (JG), Roger Jones (RJ), Dave Kelsey (DK, secretary), Norman McCubbin (NM), Dave Newbold (DN). Apologies: Glenn Patrick (GP), Andrew Sansum (RAS), Deb Miller (DM). 1. Review of minutes ==================== It was noted that the review of Action 2.2 was wrongly worded in the draft minutes in relation to the total and PP number of slots in the tape robot. This will be corrected in the final minutes. Otherwise, the minutes of the 11 June 2007 meeting were accepted. 2. Review of Actions and matters arising ======================================== Action 3.1 Experiment representatives to update all requirements, including tape, after CERN announces the new timetable for LHC startup. DN reported for CMS. 20th July is the submission date at CERN for the new plans. CMS planning figures are well advanced but have not yet been ratified by the management. In the meantime, DN has sent the draft numbers to DB and RAS. Several other Tier 1's have reduced their pledged resources in 2008 which complicates things. All requirements are now extrapolated out to 2012 and include disk, cpu, tape, i/o and costs (but based on CERN cost estimates). RJ reported for ATLAS. Their planning figures will not change much, so the action is essentially complete. GP was not present to report on LHCb, but from what was said earlier it is assumed that their requirements will also not change much. It was agreed to replace action 3.1 by four new actions (some of which may already be complete), one on each experiment and one on DB as follows. ACTION 4.1 DN to update all requirements for CMS and submit to DB/RAS/DC. ACTION 4.2 RJ to update all requirements for ATLAS and submit to DB/RAS/DC. ACTION 4.3 GP to update all requirements for LHCb and submit to DB/RAS/DC. ACTION 4.4 DB to provide output for the Tier 1 as a whole and adjust the current planning based on the new requirements. TD notes that the actual purchase orders are still some way off, so the planning and tenders can continue in parallel. DN is concerned that the procurement of equipment, particularly disk, is tight. It is agreed that we need to ensure that things do not slip. As a "matter arising" TD reviews where we are in the tender process, in RAS's absence. The preferred suppliers should have been selected by 11 July, but RAS has reported that we are one week behind. The evaluation document was supposed to be ready by 29th June, but this is still not ready. JG notes that RAS has asked some questions that need answering on the evaluation document. TD concludes that we are 3 weeks behind in preparing the evaluation document which is problematic. JG notes that there is some flexibility given that the document only needs to be ready for the actual evaluation. NG reports on a recent discussion he had had with RAS on the question of the contractual time limit at which point non-functioning kit would be rejected. In previous RAL procurements this time limit was not present. This issue was discussed at some length. TD says in his experience, the usual limit is 4 weeks, but JG notes that the testing and burn-in period is significantly longer than this. There are two different dates, the initial acceptance of the kit after testing and a get-out clause when kit is returned following major problems. TD notes that we are already addressing the management of risk by having two separate disk purchases. DK reminds that CERN tackles this issue, and RJ adds the related issue of ensuring ongoing high quality support, by the use of staged payments. It is agreed that the timetables in the procurement plan for installation and testing with the stated time contingencies are correct and that the question of contractual time limits should be agreed by RAS and the RAL procurement staff. ACTION 4.5 RAS to agree contractual time limits with RAL procurement. Back to reviewing the previous actions... Action 3.2 DC to purchase 50k of tape. Done. First deliveries arrived last week with the final delivery later this week. Action 3.3 DC to update tape plans once requirements are fixed. DC has discussed with RAS and other Tier 1 staff. They considered the latest UB information and concluded that in the short term all is OK. The longer term needs a review once input received. TD asks whether the RAS/DB tape model work has converged. DB has received nothing new on tape since Feb. So Action 3.3 remains ongoing. Action 3.4 DC to progress the tender for a framework agreement, using current GridPP3 planning Figures. DC reports this is going well. The tender is in place, closing date is 49 days from now. First orders therefore can be around November. In the short-term they have sufficient tape to meet the 2007 needs. Action 3.5 RAS to distribute the draft evaluation document. Ongoing. See above. The delay, as noted above, is problematic. 3. Tier-1 Review Status ======================= TD has discussed the plans for the Tier 1 review with NM, NG and DN. The "Tier 1 suppliers" should include NG and JG. The "Tier 1 reviewers" will be the other members of the Tier 1 Board plus two external invited people. Two names have been proposed, but have not yet been approached. TD/DB have started work on the draft questionnaire. This should be reviewed at the 15th August meeting for release in September with ~6 weeks allowed for the response, in good time for the 21st November Tier 1 Review meeting. 4. Tier-1 Board future interactions/meetings ================================================== The next meeting will be on 15th August 2007 in Glasgow (starting at 10:00). Discussion and approvals will be done by e-mail between now and then. The Tier 1 Review meeting will be at RAL on 21st November 2007 (all day). 5. AOCB ======= DC notes that they soon need to buy more tape drives (12 drives, plus servers, plus M&O). It is confirmed that this is within the current plan for FY07. It is agreed that this purchase is approved. 6. Ongoing and New Actions ========================== ACTION 3.3 DC to update tape plans once requirements are fixed. ACTION 3.4 DC to progress the tender for a framework agreement for tape. ACTION 3.5 RAS to distribute the draft evaluation document. ACTION 4.1 DN to update all requirements for CMS and submit to DB/RAS/DC. ACTION 4.2 RJ to update all requirements for ATLAS and submit to DB/RAS/DC. ACTION 4.3 GP to update all requirements for LHCb and submit to DB/RAS/DC. ACTION 4.4 DB to provide output for the Tier 1 as a whole and adjust the current planning based on the new requirements. ACTION 4.5 RAS to agree contractual time limits with RAL procurement. DPK 10 July 07