SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE The architecture of the system will in most ways be decided or dictated by the users' requirements, available resources, and best practices and standards. Where multiple architectural systems solutions are available, it will be of critical importance to ensure adequate representation from each agency, to facilitate detailed technical discussion, and, most important, to arbitrate disputes and make authoritative and final decisions. The Committee on House Oversight has recently completed an information systems plan which provides a useful statement about the technical environment and direction of the House, which will be a key guideline, along with HIR standards and procedures, for integration of the legislative information system in the House. The Senate Rules and Administration committee has recently begun a similar effort at technical planning, which, along with Senate Computer Center standards and procedures, will guide implementation in the Senate.
An essential accomplishment of the Working Group must be the development of a system architecture which will continue to evolve toward common technology during the rest of the decade. At the outset each agency will bring its own technology specific architecture and its near-term technology plans to the Working Group. This plan requires an open systems architecture so that the diverse technologies already in use or being procured can be coupled in such a manner that they communicate with each other while still allowing each agency to capitalize on its own current technology and staff skills.
It is critical that this level of openness be provided at the beginning so each agency can assume an appropriate role in the development of a future shared system architecture. Thus, the details of the system architecture components noted below will be determined from the Working Group sessions. In time, as new technology is phased in and legacy systems are replaced, the system architecture choices will become more unified and will fulfill the goal of reaching a common system architecture across agencies.
Desktop Standards
While it will take some time for all congressional offices to acquire the technology needed to support a modern legislative information system, this is an excellent time for Hill-wide coordination. All organizations are moving toward common standards and open architectures for both the desktop as well as for large systems. Ongoing coordination and communication among organizations would help ensure that this important trend continues. Equally important will be the willingness of Member offices and committees to agree to recommended standards. A range of options is important in the congressional environment, but a wide range of variations and a large number of waivers impedes the ability of the entire Congress to operate as cost-effectively as possible.
Telecommunications
As with data standards, the Working Group will involve the appropriate technologists from each of the Legislative Branch agencies to establish clear guidelines and documentation of telecommunications standards to be met in design and implementation of the system(s). A major goal of the Working Group will be to leverage investments already made in telecommunications infrastructure within the legislative branch agencies in recent years. While technically complex, issues pertaining to telecommunications standards are fairly well understood on Capitol Hill, and it is believed likely that the agencies will be able to build on the cooperative work that is already under way to facilitate implementation of the system.
The networking capability already in place, which connects different types of networks used in each agency, has proven to be a coherent logical network because of the telecommunications standards being followed by all agencies. This system will be enhanced in future years as the volume of data traffic increases and as newer technologies become available. Estimates of the volume of data traffic and its frequency, decisions on redundancy for backup configuration support among the agencies, and physical infrastructure requirements will be determined when laying out the plan for interconnectivity of the agencies.
Servers
It is expected that modern client-server architecture and sophisticated storage management systems will provide the base technology for development of the system. Each of the legislative agencies is now involved, to varying degrees, in development of systems of this kind. How we configure these servers (i.e. a central server site, distributed servers, mirrored servers in multiple locations, or some other solution or combination) will depend on the requirements, both for services and security.
Modern server and storage management equipment and techniques, capable of meeting the requirements to be defined, are under study and consideration. Major issues will include data retention requirements, access requirements, environmental requirements, availability, reliability, and cost.
Equally important considerations will be the current staff skills and the legacy systems each agency is porting to the client server environment. Since physical location of information in such a networked environment becomes less important than access to it, agencies may host each others need for storage and serve as 'hot' backup sites in emergencies.
Specifications for servers will include a global system view where the networks across agencies are viewed as a whole and all servers are seen as potentially accessible. The technology capabilities will help to shift the system architecture focus from individual agency views to a shared global one, and will emphasize the value gained from a more common system architecture. Important considerations are the operating system versions in use, data storage standards for directories and file structure, storage media and strategy for management of files by frequency of use. The Working Group will need to relate current practices to a global view of servers in order to project future technology decisions and directions.
Security
The Working Group must and will be sensitive to the implications that modern system and telecommunications technologies pose for securing the confidentiality and reliability of the information and communications shared between agencies of the legislative branch, as well as with the public. In fact, numerous discussions among CapNet implementation teams have focused on the differences among the agencies both in terms of policies and missions as related to security issues. Despite these differences, it is essential that users be assured that they are receiving data that is verified and authenticated.
Differences in the missions of the legislative branch organizations make issues of security particularly thorny. The degree of security required can vary among agencies. It will be necessary that the Working Group establish a subteam to work cooperatively to ensure that each design solution considered will satisfy the variety of security and access concerns that exist within the branch. The system will be designed and implemented with consideration of the unique security requirements of each Legislative Branch agency, and with consideration given to the difference in their missions. Ultimately, each legislative agency must be confident that it can protect itself to whatever level the organization requires, based on the inevitable tradeoffs between services offered and resources required. The Working Group will examine the alternatives and find reasonable compromises and/or solutions to the level of security required of the system and the institutions.
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