Internet Service Providers' Association

Request for JINX hosting proposals (2009-2012)

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Attached is a call for proposals for the hosting of JINX for the 2009-2012 period.

ISPA hereby invites all parties interested in hosting JINX to submit proposals based on the specification below to proposals (at) ispa.org.za by 17:00 on Friday, 10 October 2008.

Warm regards,
Ant Brooks
ISPA General Manager

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2009 Call for JINX hosting proposals

Specification for JINX hosting proposals

This document is a specification for organisations wishing to submit proposals to host the Johannesburg Internet exchange (JINX) operated by the Internet Service Providers' Association.

A: MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

Prospective JINX hosts must be able to meet the following minimum requirements for the facility:

1. The site must have:
• 24 hours on-site access for all ISPA members using JINX,
• Fully redundant air-conditioning systems,
• Fully redundant UPS and power reticulation systems,
• Back-up generators, and
• Fire protection systems.
2. The site must provide full access to the following Telkom services: Martis, SDH and ATM.
3. The host must be able to provide sufficient space for eight racks growing to twelve over a three year period, with a right of refusal for a further four.
   Members requiring additional space over and above that offered by ISPA at JINX should be free to contract with the host to provide additional hosting space.
   Space allocated for telco service provisioning will not count against the contractual footprint required. The host must provide access to the site without prejudice to infrastructure providers connecting ISPA members to JINX.
4. The host must be willing to commit to a 24 month contract with an option for ISPA to renew for a further 12 months. At the end of this 36 month period, there must be an option for ISPA to renew the contract on a month-by-month basis for up to six months thereafter.

B: INFORMATION REQUIRED FROM PROSPECTIVE HOSTS

Proposals to host JINX should include the following information:

5. The name and contact details of the organisation proposing to host the facility, and whether or not that organisation is a member of ISPA.
6. The physical location of the site.
7. A report indicating that all of the minimum requirements are met and can be delivered, including:
   • Details of the access control system,
   • Details of the air-conditioning system,
   • Details of the power system,
   • Details of the fire protection system, and
   • Service availability levels and maximum time to repair each system unit in case of failure.
   The prospective must provide a specification of the maximum power supply and cooling capacity per rack.
8. A review of Telkom infrastructure available at the site, including the identity of local exchanges and ring infrastructure.
9. An indication of staff availability at the site, including times during which support staff are available on-site and times during which support staff are available only on call-out.
10. Availability of parking for ISPA members at the JINX hosting site.
11. Security and change management procedures for access to the JINX site, including:
• Logging procedures for persons accessing JINX;
• Availability of access logs to ISPA (ideally on-line); and
• Procedures for installation and removal of equipment from JINX.
12. The procedures the host will use to manage the JINX switch(es), including:
• The procedure to be used by ISPA members requesting configuration changes to their switch ports.
• Details of how software upgrades and configuration changes will be reported to ISPA.
13. All costs associated with the JINX site, including:
• Any up-front set-up costs for the facility.
• A fee (if any) for managing the transfer of ISPA members' lines from the existing facility to the new location.
• The monthly fee for hosting and maintaining JINX. This fee must include managing the installation of new lines from ISPA members into JINX and any other ongoing maintenance functions.
• Any incremental cost increases as JINX grows (e.g. a cost per additional rack needed).
14. Prospective hosts may offer to pay ISPA a monthly "benefit charge" which is essentially a donation by the prospective host to ISPA for the benefit of hosting JINX.
15. Any high-site facilities provided by the host, or any information about restrictions (including availability of space) the host intends to impose on ISPA members wishing to install wireless equipment at the JINX site.
16. Conditions for extending or cancelling the hosting contract, and any other contractual conditions that may apply.
17. The earliest date from which the site will be operational and meet the minimum requirements, once ISPA's Management Committee has approved the location.
18. A migration plan, detailing how the prospective JINX host will manage the transfer of lines from the current JINX location to the new site.
19. Proposals should include a consideration of access to facilities provided by all licensed ECNS.

C: BONUS POINTS

20. Proposals for sites which provide equal or better access to telco facilities than the current location will be viewed substantially more favourably than sites which do not provide the same level of access.
21. Proposals may contain information on any on-line camera monitoring capability that the host intends to provide for JINX.
22. Proposals may offer additional facilities such as remote console, traffic graphs, looking glass, NTP server, online access to security logs, etc..

D: NOTES

23. Hosting proposals from both ISPA members and non-members will be carefully considered.
24. ISPA's interconnection policies and fee structures will continue to apply to JINX, irrespective of the location and host.
25. Information on ISPA's interconnection policy is available at http://www.ispa.org.za/jinx/
26. Any questions regarding to this document or JINX should be addressed to proposals (at) ispa.org.za