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 PUBLIC  NOTICE  Federal  Communications  Commission  445  12  th  St.,  S.  W.  Washington,  D.  C.  20554  News  Media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  TTY:  1-  888-  835-  5322 
 DA-  03-  2667 
 August  19,  2003 


 RESPONSE  TO  TECHNICAL  QUESTIONS  REGARDING  THE  INTERNATIONAL  BUREAU  FILING  SYSTEM 


 The  International  Bureau  has  received  numerous  inquires  requesting  technical  information  concerning  the  Federal  Communications  Commission’s  information  technology  infrastructure,  as 
 it  relates  to  IB  Docket  No.  02-  34,  Amendment  of  the  Commission’s  Space  Station  Licensing  Rules  and  Policies.  For  a  copy  of  some  of  the  specific  questions  received,  please  refer  to  the 
 docketed  proceeding  identified  above. 
 To  the  extent  that  the  information  requested  does  not  negatively  impact  the  Commission’s  computer  security  posture,  the  following  response  is  provided. 


 Area  1  -  Synchronization 
 The  National  Observatory  (NO)  uses  Data  Name  Server  (DNS),  and  as  a  result  the  FCC  cannot  determine  which  NO  server  is  used  to  synchronize  the  FCC  servers.  The  protocol  used  by  the 
 Commission  to  synchronize  time  between  the  NO  server  and  the  Commission’s  time  server  and  between  the  time  server  and  all  other  servers  in  the  FCC  network  is  Extended  Network  Time 
 Protocol  (XNTP),  which  is  part  of  the  native  Sun  utility  suite.  The  NO  Internet  site  used  by  the  Commission  to  sync  its  time  is  tick.  usno.  navy.  mil.  The  FCC’s  time  server  dials  out  to  the  NO 
 every  three  (3)  hours  starting  at  12:  00  midnight.  Additionally,  each  of  the  internal  data  servers  contacts  the  time  server  hourly  (five  minutes  past  the  hour)  to  update  their  time.  The 
 Commission’s  web  servers  used  by  IBFS  contact  the  NO  hourly  (on  the  hour)  over  the  Internet  to  update  their  time.  The  external  servers  use  the  average  time  latency  between  the  FCC  server  and 
 the  NO  server  to  adjust  the  time  for  accuracy.  (Note:  A  spike  might  influence  the  latency.) 
 In  order  to  assist  filers  in  synchronizing  filing  times  with  IBFS,  the  FCC  will  adjust  the  time  and  web  server  synchronization  scripts  to  run  at  11:  45  p.  m.  on  the  evening  before  the  freeze  is  lifted. 
 Additionally,  the  IBFS  database  server  will  be  synchronized  with  the  FCC  time  server  at  11:  50  p.  m.  on  the  evening  before  the  freeze  is  lifted. 
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 Area  2  -  Processing 
 The  date  and  time  stamp  (to  the  millisecond)  is  generated  by  the  IBFS  server  as  soon  as  an  application  is  received  by  IBFS.  The  IBFS  system  will  not  “time  out”  an  applicant  if  the  “OK” 
 button  is  not  pressed  within  a  certain  period  after  pressing  the  “File  a  Form”  button.  The  maximum  concurrent  connections,  used  by  the  IBFS  web  servers,  are  512.  The  Commission  has 
 a  T3  data  circuit  connecting  the  FCC  to  the  Internet.  The  official  IBFS  filing  date  and  time  associated  with  an  application  establishes  an  application’s  place  in  the  queue.  All  potential  filers 
 can  only  gain  access  to  IBFS  via  the  established  FCC  Internet  connection. 
 No  information  pertaining  to  FCC  server  names,  flow  diagrams,  scripts,  software  or  hardware  devices  will  be  provided,  as  this  information  is  deemed  highly  sensitive  and  could  potentially  be 
 used  to  launch  a  cyber-  attack  on  the  FCC. 
 If  you  have  questions  about  this  Public  Notice,  please  call  Mary  Jane  Solomon  on  202-  418-  0593. 
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