State Agencies Bulletin No. 5

Subject
1) Printer Requirements
2) Specifications of Centrally Purchased PCs
3) Procedures for PC Purchase and Delivery
4) Citrix WinFrame Client
5) Data Transmission Options
6) Service Level Agreement
7) Technical Issues Meeting
Date Issued
January 26, 1997

Purpose

This Bulletin provides information on various hardware, software and data transmission issues. Combined with Bulletin No. 4 (issued November 26, 1997), this will provide more information for those agencies wishing to purchase additional hardware to support PaySR and NYSTEP; describe data transmission options for sending and receiving files; announce a Technical Issues meeting for February 11, 1998 at 1:00 for Agency Technical Contacts; and inform agencies about printers, Citrix WinFrame and Service Level Agreements.

1) Printer Requirements

The minimum printer requirements for PaySR and NYSTEP are:

Hewlett-Packard LaserJet, or compatible, laser printer that supports True Type fonts and has at least 1.5 Mb of memory to produce graphic images for panel printouts. Hewlett-Packard compatible printers are printers that use printer drivers that support Hewlett-Packard printer control language. In addition, your PC must use a Windows printer driver to print the online reports if you choose to print them. PaySR will only provide electronic reports. The output produced is 180 character-wide using the HP Lineprinter font.

2) Specifications of Centrally Purchased PCs

Listed below are the specifications of the PaySR/NYSTEP PCs which will be provided to agencies as indicated in Bulletin No. 4 and will be available for purchase.

Specifications of PCs provided by OSC/Office For Technology (OFT)

  • Model: DELL Optiplex Gn+/M 5166M
  • Intel Pentium Processor: 166 MHZ Pentium Processor with MMX Technology
  • Memory: 32MB EDO DIMM RAM
  • Hard Drive: 2.1 GB EIDE
  • Network: Integrated 3Com 10/100Mb EtherLink XL
  • Operating System: Win/95
  • Monitor: 14" Color Monitor
  • Service Contract: 3 Year On-site Warranty
  • Application Integration: PaySR and NYSTEP Client
  • CD-ROM: 12-24cx CD-ROM
Options Available

33.6/56kb Modem (for Dial-UpUsers) Cost: $80.00

Windows NT workstation version 4.0 Cost: $78.00

17 Inch Monitor: Cost: $185.00

Specifications of PCs available for agencies to purchase through OSC/OFT are identical to those above except PCs will not be provided with a CD-ROM. A CD-Rom will be available as an option at a cost of $103.00. The base cost of a PC without any option is $1317.00.

3) PC Acknowledgment, Purchase And Delivery Process

Each agency obtaining and or purchasing a PC from OSC/OFT must complete the following steps.

  1. By February 6, 1998, notify your PaySR Representative if you wish to select an option (as shown above) on the PC(s) you will be provided.
  2. By February 6, 1998, notify your PaySR Representative if you wish to purchase additional PCs; you will be instructed on the procedure at that time.
  3. By February 21, 1998, provide your PaySR Representative with the following: name, address and phone number of the person that the PC(s) will be delivered to. PCs will be delivered beginning approximately March 16, 1998.

4) Citrix Client Diskette and Instructions

The Citrix Client to be installed on all PaySR/NYSTEP PCs will be provided to all agencies with instructions in March. (Note: The Citrix Client will already be installed on the PCs provided by OSC/OFT). Some additional configuration will be necessary on all PCs and instructions to do this will be included in the Citrix package being provided.

5) Data Transmission Options For Files

This section concerns those agencies planning to send data files to and/or receive data files from PaySR. Agency Liaisons should share this information with the appropriate technical staff who may coordinate data file exchange with OSC.

PaySR offers three options from which agencies may select to transmit or receive files. Additionally, the supported specifications and data character types are listed for each of the options.

Delivery Options
A. Electronic File Transfer via TCP/IP FTP (File Transfer Protocol)

Agencies may use TCP/IP FTP to send or receive files. This option is available to all agencies through the PaySR network. Any operating system platform (e.g., MVS, Unix, Windows/NT, etc.), that supports TCP/IP FTP may be used. PaySR will use a UNIX FTP server that agencies will use to deliver and pickup interfaces. Agencies electing this option will be assigned a PaySR ID and password that must be used to gain access to the UNIX FTP server.

Guidelines for agencies that elect this option:

  1. Agencies will be provided the TCP/IP address for the UNIX FTP server to support this delivery option.
  2. Agencies will be responsible for initiating interface transmissions, both sending and receiving. The UNIX FTP server will not initiate a send or receive transmission.
  3. Each agency will have access to a designated directory on the UNIX FTP server to send and receive files.
  4. The Software Package PKZIP will be supported to compress and uncompress files that have large size requirements (5MB or greater).
  5. Agencies will be required to use PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) to encrypt files prior to delivery and decrypt files upon receipt. PGP is a high security cryptographic software that encrypts and decrypts data. (See the internet web site, www.pgp.com for additional information regarding this product). PGP specifications will be provided to agencies which elect this delivery option. Agencies must provide private security keys to allow PaySR to decrypt agency files. PaySR will provide private security keys to allow agencies to decrypt PaySR files.

Supported interface media and data character types for Delivery Option A:

Agency and PaySR files will be transmitted to or from the UNIX FTP server in ASCII data character type.

B. Electronic File Transfer via NetView FTP

Agencies may use Netview FTP to send or receive files. Netview FTP is a host subsystem used to transfer data between an agency host environment and OSC's IBM host environment.

Guidelines for agencies that elect this option:

  1. Agencies must provide Netview FTP from their host system.
  2. Agency files will be delivered to PaySr via PaySR Netview FTP processes initiated from OSC's IBM host environment.
  3. PaySR files will be delivered to agency host systems via PaySR Netview FTP processes initiated from OSC's IBM host environment.

Supported data character types for Delivery Option B:

All files must be in EBCDIC character type.

C. Tape

Agencies may use electronic tape to send and receive files, following these guidelines:

  1. Files may be in ASCII or EBCDIC character type form.
  2. PaySR prefers that agencies use either 3490E or 3480 cartridges. However, 3420 tape reels may be used if agencies cannot produce 3480 and 3490E cartridges.
    1. External labels must include file name(s), agency code/name, and media type. Data may be compressed.
    2. 3420 reel tapes - Tape density must be 1600 or 6250.
  3. Agency tape files must be sent to OSC, PaySR, 365 Jordan Rd., Troy NY 12180-8347.

Agencies should contact their PaySR Representatives by February 27 to identify the option selected for file transmission or receipt.

6) Service Level Agreements

OSC will distribute a Service Level Agreement (SLA) during February which will document the respective roles and responsibilities of OSC and your agency. The SLA will cover the following topics:

  • the software to be used and the responsibilities for installing and testing;
  • client hardware and operating system requirements;
  • connectivity responsibilities;
  • system performance expectations;
  • Agency and OSC responsibilities and procedures for resolving technical problems, including the role of the OSC Help Desk;
  • system access and security and integration support.

OSC will ask each agency to review and concur with the Service Level Agreement.

7) Technical Liaison Meeting

A meeting will be held at the Empire State Plaza Meeting Room Number 1 on February 11, 1998 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. to discuss issues related to this bulletin and other technical matters. Topics to be covered include: PaySR/NYSTEP network connectivity; hardware and software requirements; Citrix WinFrame client installation; Service Level Agreement; and printers. Additional details on the meeting will be sent in early February.

NOTE: This bulletin is being distributed to PaySR liaisons only. Please distribute as appropriate within your agency. Please contact your PaySR Representative if you have any questions regarding this bulletin.

REMINDER:

  1. By February 5, 1998, advise PaySR (518-473-4869) of the number of attendees at the February 11, 1998 Technical Liaison meeting
  2. By February 6, 1998, notify your PaySR Representative if you wish to purchase additional PCs or select PC options.
  3. By February 21, 1998, provide the name and address of the person to whom the PCs will be addressed and delivered.
  4. By February 27, 1998, advise your PaySR Representative of your Data Transmission choice.