2006 DPS Annual Report - Arizona Department of Public Safety

Criminal Justice
Support Division
Information Technology Bureau
DPS’ first disaster recovery test turns out to be a real success
The Department’s first data center disaster-recovery exercise proved to be a success. DPS personnel were able
to work from IBM’s Phoenix facility to access the Disaster Recovery site housed in Boulder, CO. The Disaster
Recovery test consisted of two separate and distinct recoveries. The first was the restoration of the DPS mainframe
operating system and the second was the processing of transactions on
the Arizona Criminal Justice Information System (ACJIS).
The technical staff of the Information Technology Bureau (ITB) conducted
a communications pre-test consisting of establishing communications from
DPS to IBM’s disaster recovery site in New Jersey. While the pre-test was
conducted with the New Jersey location, the actual disaster testing was
conducted with IBM’s Boulder, Colorado, location. This test confirmed
that in the event of a disaster, DPS can recreate critical DPS computer
systems at the Boulder location and resume DPS computer mainframe
application access.
The second disaster recovery test involved the Department’s management
information system and ACJIS. This test allowed ITB to test transactions
to the National Crime Information Center in West Virginia and the International
Justice and Public Safety Information Sharing Network (NLETS) backup site
in Idaho. ITB personnel were able to test transactions to other states via NLETS.
DPS technical personnel continue to meet with ADOA, DES and other key stakeholders in an effort to collaborate
and plan future disaster recovery tests.
Highway Patrol district offices receive communication upgrades
The Information Technology Bureau connected all Highway Patrol District Offices throughout the state to
the DPS wide area network (WAN) and analog devices were
removed. The last District Office was completed in August
2005. The District Offices now have the capability of accessing
all of the DPS information systems via T1 circuits
rather than remote dial-up access. Each District Office can
now access the high speed Internet, Lotus Notes, and the
DPS mainframe in a secured environment. The benefits of
connecting each District Office to the WAN includes higher
performance of personal computers, a faster exchange of
downloading and uploading files and information, and a significant
cost savings by removing modems and monthly telephone
line usage fees. The Highway Patrol Area Offices
are currently being upgraded to provide the same functionality as the District Offices.
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