Full text of Electronic Currents : July 1997
The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.
~"""'IIPRITC .--v...... i1••• 11 •.,•• !: ■., ® An Update for Eighth District Federal Reserve Bank Electronic Customers July 1997 Should You Buy a New PC for Fedline? If So, When? If you are interested in purchasing a new computer for Fedline, the first step in identifying your need is to review your current Fedline workstation. Many Fedline users have 286 or 386 processors, which at one time was sufficient to run Fedline. But as technology advances, so does software and hardware requirements. The Federal Reserve has identified that most customers with 286 or 386 processors are having memory and disk space problems associated with the Fedline software. With those problems, Fedline customers cannot receive and/or implement Fedline FastPatch updates successfully or utilize sorting features in certain Fedline applications. In addition, they cannot utilize the PC for other software packages such as WordPerfect, ACH origination software, in-house mainframe software, etc. To let you know the direction the Federal Reserve is headed, the System has identified the need for more functionality with personal computers. Therefore, a new Fedline system for Windows 95 or Windows NT is currently in development. The new Fedline for Windows software is expected to be available to Fedline customers around the third quarter of 1998. If you have a PC that is in your institution with the minimum requirements for Fedline, you will not have to purchase new equipment. A PC with the minimum requirements will give you much more flexibility with your computer. You will be able to receive Fedline FastPatches successfully and utilize other software packages. Keeping this in mind, most of the older models (286 and 386 PCs) will not be functional with the new Fedline software. Therefore, if you are budgeting for next year, it would be in your best interest to allocate funds for a new computer. Equipment Specifications Attached are the "Minimum Required" and "Minimum Recommended" Fedline System requirements for both the current Fedline software and Fedline for Windows. If you would like to procure a PC that is faster than the "Minimum Recommendedt you can do so. The new JonesFuturex 347 Encryption Board is certified to work on Pentium PCs up to 200 megahertz. I Bought a PC for Fedline Processing; How Can I Make It Operationally Ready? There are two scenarios to this question. First, if you have a PC with DOS only, you should complete following tasks prior to your live date: 1. You should contact the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Fedline helpdesk at 1-800-333-0861 and ensure you have the necessary software and instructions. 2. You should have a Jones Futurex 336 or 347 encryption board.* 3. You should have a Federal Reserve Bank certified modem; e.g., AT&T Paradyne 3820 with a RS-232 cable. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 4. You should have a REKAP diskette (Version 3.0 for the 336 board or Version 3.2 for the 347 board) for the encryption key download. 5. You should have a printer and printer cable. 6. You should ensure each Fedline user has a HOST USER CODE. 7. Test connectivity of your Fedline workstation prior to your live date. Second, if your computer _has Windows 95 .as the .. operating _.system, then you should have the following: 1. Fedline software and instructions (contact the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis helpdesk at 1-800-333-0861). 2. Windows 95 Setup Diskette along with instructions 3. Jones Futurex 347 Encryption Board* 4. Device Driver for 347 board 5. AT&T Paradyne model 3820 along with an RS-232 cable 6. A printer and printer cable 7. In addition, ensure that each of your Fedline users has a HOST USER CODE, and test the connectivity of your Fedline workstation prior to your live date. If any of the prerequisites are not completed, this will delay your start-up date for Fedline. If you have any questions, please contact the Fedline helpdesk at (314) 444-8711 or 1-800-333-0861, and press 1 to speak with a Customer Accounts and Access Support representative. *Note: The Federal Reserve System is currently evaluating an advanced application of the Data Encryption Standard (DES), known as Triple DES, to protect data transmitted electronically between the Federal Reserve and financial institutions. If the new standard proves effective, you can expect an announcement in early 1998 about the actual implementation and how it will impact your current encryption hardware. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis • I Fedline for Windows System Specifications July 1, 1997 Minimum Recommended Minimum Required . . . Personal Computer Intel 80486DX2 66MHz or same class Intel Pentium MMX 166 MHZ or same class Memory (Cache) -- 256KB Memory (RAM) 16MB 32 MB for Windows 95 or 64 MB for Windows NT Workstation 500MB 2GB 3½" 1.44 MB 3½" 1.44 MB 3 full-size ISA slots 3 full-size ISA slots Super VGA (1024 x 768) with 1 MB VRAM Super VGA (1024 x 768) with 2 MB VRAM 14" SVGA 17" SVGA Multimedia 2X CD-ROM drive 8-bit sound card Speakers or headphones 8X CD-ROM drive 16-bit sound card Speakers or headphones Operating System Microsoft Windows 95 Microsoft Windows 95 1 or NT Workstation2 CPU Hard Drive Floppy Drive Expansion Slots Video Monitor I Modem Currently supported modem Modem AT&T Paradyne Model 3820 Printer Dot-matrix with tractor feed Printer Type Laser3, or dot-matrix with tractor feed Encryption/Communications Cards4 JFX ENC-336 OR JFX ENC-347 ISA Cards JFX ENC-347 Other Other Hardware Electrical surge protector including AC power and modem line protection Electrical surge protector including AC power and modem line protection 1 You must have versions 4.00.950 or 4.00.950a to execute the current Fedline DOS based software 2 The current DOS based Fedline software will not work on Windows NT. 3 The current DOS based Fedline software does not work well with a laser printer. 4 https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis See note on Page 2 concerning Triple DES encryption. Focus: Encryption Boards Have you ever wondered why an encryption board is needed? Is it really necessary? Every institution that communicates with the Federal Reserve Bank must use an approved encryption board. The major function of this board is to encrypt messages coming out of the PC before they reach the modem. Also, it decrypts data that the Federal Reserve Bank HOST system is delivering. Think of the encryption board as a communication security officer. It scrambles data being sent out, which, if ever intercepted by anyone, could not be interpreted. An algorithm, which is unique for each encryption board, is used to scramble the data. MOST USED -ENCRYPTION BOARDS: The Jones Futurex 336 encryption board was especially designed for personal computers with a CPU processing speed from 8 MHZ to 120 MHZ. This board no longer is available for purchase from Jones Futurex. However, if your current Fedline PC is operating with this board, it can be used to upgrade to a system which runs at the processing speeds mentioned above. Jones Futurex has certified the new 347 encryption board, and it is currently available for purchase. This board will allow you to operate Fedline on PCs with a processing speed up to 200 MHZ. It also fixes many problems associated with loading Fedline on these faster PCs; however, we still are experiencing communication problems on a few multimedia-equipped PCs. ADVANTAGES This new encryption board offers several advantages over the existing 336 board. The Jones model 347 board provides both cryptographic processing and SDLC communication support, which support multiple base addresses and four possible interrupt settings. The cryptographic portion of this board uses a block of eight movable addresses. The SDLC section of this board also uses a block of eight movable addresses. All of these improvements allow it to be more compatible with the internal structures of various personal computers. ORDERING Orders for the new 347 encryption boards should be directed to Jones Futurex at (916) 632-3456, ext. 331. Delivery time of the new board is approximately two weeks. The cost is $960 (new connection) and $643.20 (for upgrade). This board requires a new device driver and an updated copy of the ReKap software. So, once you have placed your order with Jones Futurex, please contact us at (314) 444-8711 or 1-800-333-0861, and press 1 for a Customer Accounts and Access Support representative. Just let us know you ordered the new board. We will ask about the new system before beginning the process of getting you the new device driver and ReKap software. Questions and Answers Q Upper management at my bank wants to wait to upgrade my Fedline terminal. I am currently working on a 286 IBM micro channel PC. Should I try to encourage them to upgrade before you implement Fedline for Windows? A Yes, if you are a customer who uses most of the functions on your Fedline terminal. We have many enhancements to the Fedline software that will require a substantial amount of memory. Loading the patches on this type of PC could cause the machine to crash, resulting in down-time for your institution. To avoid this potential problem, encourage your management to upgrade the PC sooner. Q I have been hearing that Fedline will operate on a Windows 9~ operating system. Is this true? A Yes, our current DOS based Fedline software will load and run on a Windows 95 PC in the DOS mode. Our future Fedline product, "Fedline for Windows," will run on a Windows 95 or Windows NT operating system. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Q I have a copy of the Fedline for Windows system specifications. Should I follow the minimum required or the minimum recommended given in this document when purchasing a new computer? If you are purchasing a new PC, keep in mind that PC technology is changing rapidly. Following the minimum recommended will mean investing in a more powerful computer. This will give you the flexibility to support evolving technologies. You may want to wait until the Fedline migration approaches to take advantage of evolving technologies. Q I am purchasing a new computer system. Should I consider upgrading my peripheral components, such as a faster modem and a laser printer? A Your new Fedline will continue to support most of the peripheral components of your current Fedline configuration, such as modems, dot matrix printers, encryption and communication cards. However, you may wish to upgrade these items to enhance the performance of your new system. Upgrades may include a faster modem (such as the AT&T Paradyne Model 3820) and the new Jones Futurex encryption card. Q My institution is looking forward to upgrading our Fedline terminal. We are currently operating with a 386 processor, and we have the 336 encryption board loaded. We want to keep this PC as a contingency PC. However, we do not want to pay the full price for the new encryption board without a trade in. What should we do? A Contact Jones Futurex directly to receive more information on what the trade in policy is. You can contact Jones Futurex at (916) 632-3456, ext. 331, and ask for Troy Nimmo. Q I have just purchased a new printer to use with my Fedline system. Do I need to adjust my Fedline PC? A Based on the type of printer purchased, you may need some adjustments, to make it compatible with the Fedline PC. If you are experiencing compatibility problems, please call Customer Access Support for assistance. Q Can I use more than one printer with my Fedline PC? A The "Printer Configuration" function allows you to designate up to three printers for Fedline output. You can separate message printing to each printer into three categories: incoming messages, outgoing messages and supervisory information. If you have more than one ·printer, you can assign multiple message categories to the same printer. Q I would like to upgrade my modem, but I need to talk my management into it. What are the benefits of upgrading? A If you have an older modem, most likely the transmission speed is 2400 bps. If you upgrade to a new modem, you can transmit at a speed of 14.4 kbps. This transmission speed will enable your ACH and MICR files to be received at an improved speed. In addition, your old modem can be used as a backup. Q I need to purchase a new modem for my Fedline PC. I have shopped around and found a lower priced AT&T Paradyne modem. Should I purchase this modem? A We recommend that you purchase the AT&T Paradyne modem from Lucent Technologies. Modems purchased from outside vendors are not capable of communicating with the Fed's HOST system until they are set up properly. To correct this problem, you will be referred to Lucent Technology for diagnostic testing. If communication strapping is needed, they will charge for this service. In the end this will result in more money being spent; thus, offsetting your initial savings. If you would like to place an order for a new modem, please call Lucent Technologies at 1-800-708-0843, ext. 5015. Be sure to indicate that the modem will be usedfor Fedline. This will insure that your modem has the correct strapping. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Choosing a Printer When purchasing a printer, it is best to buy a dot-matrix rather than a laser printer. There are a few disadvantages to buying a laser printer. First, you do not get a continuous feed audit trail of your transactions. Second, a funds transfer message could print on two pages leading to the possibility of information being missing from the report. Finally, there is a risk of pages getting out of order since there are no page numbers. On the other hand, the dot-matrix printer with tractor feed provides a better audit trail of your transactions. If you need to prove that a transaction was actually sent, we prefer an unbroken continuous feed printout of your transactions for the entire ·day. · We cannot recommend specific brand names of printers to purchase; however, we can give you printer specifications that are compatible with our system. Even though most printers are compatible, we recommend that you purchase your printer from a vendor who will let you return it if it is not compatible with Fedline. For more information, please call a Customer Accounts and Access Support representative. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis