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Transylvania County |
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Information Technology
In
FY 05 Transylvania County began implementing the Strategic
Information Technology Plan (SITP) that County staff had
developed the prior year in conjunction with the Institute of
Government’s Center for Public Technology. The scope of the
plan extends beyond merely replacing existing capabilities to
(1) fully integrating applications software to improve the flow
and quality of information, (2) installing a wide-area network
to facilitate and secure interdepartmental communications, and
(3) using the internet to offer the public on-line access to
various records and governmental forms and to expedite
communications with other constituents of local government.
The plan was approved by the Board of Commissioners in October
2004. Since then the County has redesigned its website, giving
citizens greater access to government information and the
ability to submit some forms online; selected and successfully
installed a new Register of Deeds Integrated Land Records
System;
Data Center: The
County IT Data Center was completed in Mid January 2006 and
includes the following: its own backup power generator as well
as climate control, two server racks, each with a 5000 watt
battery backup. The two server racks contain ten (10) servers.
Security includes but is not limited to a surveillance camera as
well as a secure keypad entry system.
Disaster Recovery:
Backups are done daily. We implement a DD2T (Disk-Disk to Tape)
scheme. Data is backed up at 7:00 pm nightly across the fiber to
a 1.2 terabyte NAS (Network attached Storage) located in the new
library. Every morning at 9:00 am data is copied from the NAS to
tape located in the Data Center. On weekends images are made of
each server and stored on the library NAS. If the library NAS is
unavailable then the backups roll over to a failover NAS located
in the data center.
Help Desk:
We have implemented a Help desk to better track and service
requests for support. Since the help desk inception in September
of 2005 the IT department has handled approximately 1800
requests for service. We also implemented a remote management
system (LogMeIn) whereby we can take over any computer and
provide service. This is not limited to PC’s attached to our
network but applies to any PC that has an Internet connection.
Firewall:
We have installed a firewall for protection from outside
interference as well as monitoring. Our firewall also does Web
Filtering and Content Filtering. Meaning we are able to block
sites that are deemed inappropriate or are not necessary for
daily work. We also have monitoring capability to determine
where an attack against out network may be coming from.
Postini: All
incoming email first goes through a mail wash service and is
checked for virus and spam. This is done prior to any email ever
reaching our county email servers.
Virus Protection: The
virus protection chosen for the County was Mcafee ASAP. This is
a web based virus protection program and we are able to monitor
all computers to ensure that they have the latest virus updates.
From any where in the world we can instantly tell which
computers are infected or which computers need updates. Updates
are done daily and automatically as well as upgrades.
Fiber/Infrastructure: When
we began implementing the SITP there was no connectivity between
departments. In order to accomplish connectivity we need to
build out the infrastructure. After much planning, (fiber and
wireless solutions were looked at) a fiber network was built.
The following locations have been connected to the data center
with fiber: Child Development, New Library, Jail, Sheriffs
Dept., Old Library, Board of Elections, Community Services
Building, Administration Building and the Courthouse. The
following departments are now connected to the county network:
Child Development, Library, Board of Elections, Social Services,
Transportation, Building and Permitting, Economic Development,
Vocational Rehab, Soil and Water, NC Co-Op,
Finance/Administration.
EMS: Implemented
a VPN (Virtual Private Network) for EMS to access their records.
This was done at the Brevard location as well as the
Quebec location. This ensures a private, secure connection and
HIPPA compliance.
Intranet: Implemented
a county intranet site. Basically the intranet is a web site for
county employees only. This website is not accessible for users
who are not on the county network. It contains useful
information and news specifically related to the county and its
employees.
Internet Connectivity: The
county has installed a 3mb connection for internet access for
our employees. We had numerous meetings with Citcom regarding
connections. Initially they provided us pricing for an OC3
connection (3mbs) at a cost of approx. $2600.00 per month. We
felt this was unacceptable for 350 users. After numerous
meetings we decided on a Nextellus solution that gives us
the same bandwidth but at a price of $900.00 per month. Also a
tremendous savings was realized by disconnecting each
departments DSL connection they were paying for.Additional
monies will be realized from Co-Op, Social Services, Vocational
Rehabilitation, as the state will provide funds for
connectivity.
New Library: We
installed approx.40 public computers in the new library. We also
installed wireless access throughout the library. Previously all
public computers were on the county network. We felt this was a
security risk as well as a use of a large amount of our
bandwidth. To this end we installed a T1 line specifically for
the public access terminals. We also installed a product call
Deep Freeze. Deep Freeze allows users to enjoy their session
and save files or whatever they desire. At the end of their
session Deep Freeze reset the computer to its pristine state.
This saves us a tremendous amount of support time. We also setup
various logins for restricted use as well as un-restricted use.
Folder synchronization and departmental shared folders:
Each user has their own personal folder that only they
can access. As new users are added to the county system we
automatically copy their files and documents to the server. In
this way all workstation documents are backed up daily in case
of a failure. Also, each department has a departmental folder
that is just for their department. Here they can place documents
that can be shared by all users in their department.
Parks and Rec: Assisted Parks and Recreation in launching
their website which citizens can access information about all
the programs offered in the county as well as registration
information.
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