INFORMIX DYNAMIC SERVER USED IN NEW U.S. PASSPORT SYSTEM.Informix Corporation (Nasdaq:IFMX IFMX Informix Corporation ), a technology leader in enterprise database-powered solutions, has announced that the U.S. Department of State is debuting its new U.S. passport system, utilizing new technologies and equipment, including Informix Dynamic Server. Informix database technology is being used for storage and handling of textual information and digitized photographs in the new U.S. passport system. The Bureau of Consular Affairs The Bureau of Consular Affairs is a bureau of the United States Department of State within that department's management office. The mission of the Bureau is to administer laws, formulate regulations and implement policies relating to the broad range of consular services and , Passport Services of the U.S. Department of State will be conducting a ribbon-cutting ceremony to launch the first of 15 sites to issue the new, more secure U.S. passports at the National Passport Center. The new U.S. passport issuance system produces passports that include digitized, printed photographs that significantly enhance the security of the passports. Informix Dynamic Server was chosen as the database engine for this system. "Informix technology helps Passport Services to deliver one of the most important improvements in producing U.S. passports," stated Pat Ward, U.S. Dept. of State account manager at Informix. "By providing an efficient way to handle digitized images, Informix facilitates the processing of passport photographs with no decline in production schedules." The Informix database technology recognizes and processes the digitized images through its efficient handling and replication of BLOBS (binary large objects (database) binary large object - (BLOB) A large block of data stored in a database, such as an image or sound file. A BLOB has no structure which can be interpreted by the database management system but is known only by its size and location. ). Informix Consulting Services were also contracted to set up and configure the operating environment In computing, an operating environment is the environment in which users run programs, whether in a command line interface, such as in MS-DOS or the Unix shell, or in a graphical user interface, such as in the Macintosh operating system. for the new system. "The ability of Informix Dynamic Server to efficiently replicate the digitized images on any server is an important feature of the new passport system," stated Ward. "Replication enables our customers to effectively distribute the workload across the servers, and ensures continuous operation through a backup server A computer in a network used to store copies of files from client machines or other servers. Such servers typically have their disks set up in a RAID configuration to provide fault tolerance. See backup program, RAID, SAN and LAN free backup. ." Informix Dynamic Server, running on Sun Solaris Intel platform edition, supports 250 users at the National Passport Center in Portsmouth. This center produces up to 60,000 passports in one week. To generate the new U.S. passport, photographs are electronically scanned into the Informix database and stored as BLOBs. Passport application information is loaded into the Informix database as well. The end result is a printed passport book containing the textual data and digitized photograph. Informix will be the database platform at all U.S. passport agencies for the production of the new passports. While production of the existing version of the U.S. passport will be phased out gradually, all domestic passport agencies will be equipped to produce the new passport by the end of 1999. In the meantime Adv. 1. in the meantime - during the intervening time; "meanwhile I will not think about the problem"; "meantime he was attentive to his other interests"; "in the meantime the police were notified" meantime, meanwhile , both versions of the U.S. passport will be issued, and bearers of the passports now in circulation will not be required to exchange them for the newer version. About Passport Services In Fiscal Year 1997, the Passport Services Directorate of the Bureau of Consular Affairs issued over 6 million U.S. passports to American citizens. Passport Services operates 15 passport issuance agencies in 14 different cities including the National Passport Center in Portsmouth. About Informix Informix Corporation, based in Menlo Park Menlo Park. 1 Residential city (1990 pop. 28,040), San Mateo co., W Calif.; inc. 1874. Electronic equipment and aerospace products are manufactured in the city. Menlo College and a Stanford Univ. research institute are there. 2 Uninc. , Calif., provides database products that assist the world's major corporations to attain competitive advantage. Informix is widely recognized as the technology leader for corporate computing environments ranging from small workgroups to very large parallel processing parallel processing, the concurrent or simultaneous execution of two or more parts of a single computer program, at speeds far exceeding those of a conventional computer. applications. Informix's database server, application development tools, and strong partnerships enable the company to be at the forefront of major information technology solution areas including data warehousing See data warehouse. data warehousing - data warehouse , high performance OLTP (OnLine Transaction Processing) See transaction processing and OLCP. OLTP - On-Line Transaction Processing , and Web/e-commerce. For more information, call 650/926-1046. |
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