Maintained for Historical Purposes

This resource is being maintained for historical purposes only and is not currently applicable.

SFA to the Internet Project

Publication Date: June 8, 2001

Author: General Manager: SFA School Channel

Summary: SFA to the Internet Project


Posted on June 8, 2001

SFA is pleased to announce the launch of the "SFA to the Internet" project. Beginning this fall you will be able to transmit Title IV data using your existing Internet Service Provider (ISP) connection. Over the upcoming weeks we will send out updates giving you all the details you need to migrate to this new version of EDconnect successfully.

In this first communication we will:
- Provide a summary of the solution highlighting security
- Outline the schedule for Migration
- Detail the minimum platform requirements

What is the SFA to the Internet Project?
SFA has taken the initiative to provide the education community with the tools necessary to move data transmissions from a proprietary network to the Internet. This project has been named "SFA to the Internet". The project objectives are to increase customer satisfaction by providing non-intrusive SFA solutions and to reduce overall cost of delivering student aid.

How do I know SFA has taken precautions to secure my data?
The data will be transmitted through the Internet using Secure Sockets Layer. This encryption and data protection methodology is used throughout the majority ofeBusiness, eCommerce, and eGovernment applications. In addition, userid and password authentication requirements will remain to gain access to your personal mailbox.

What is the schedule for migrating to SFA to the Internet?

05/07/01Bimonthly Communication to the Community Begins
07/30/01 - 08/15/01SFA Application Systems Migrate to SFA to the Internet
08/16/01 - 08/30/01Early Adopters Migrate to SFA to the Internet
08/31/01 - 12/18/01All Users Migrate to SFA to the Internet

What are the minimum platform requirements for transmitting data to SFA to the Internet?

- Internet connection which supports TCP/IP

If you send and receive using a personal computer:
- WIN95
- WIN98
- WinNT 4.0
- Windows 2000 Professional

If you send and receive using a mainframe or non-PC:
- OS/390 MVS/ESA (with LE/370 1.5)
- OS/400 4.2+ (Compiler Level 3.7)
- AIX 4.2+
- Digital UNIX 4.0 (DEC UNIX)
- DEC Open VMS 7.1
- HPUX 10.01+
- SCO UNIX 4.3+
- Sun Solaris 2.6+

How do I find out more about this project?

We will continue to send out communications twice a month through the month of July, 2001 and then weekly through the migration process. Each communication will be entitled "SFA to the Internet status update" and will be numbered just as this initial posting was. If you happen to miss any of the updates, all of this information will be kept collectively at http://ww.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/sfatech/sfafaq.html. We would encourage you to bookmark this location. You can also access this from the school portal (sfa7schools.sfa.ed.gov), SFATECH, or IFAP web sites. If you have questions you can contact CPS/WAN Technical Support at (800) 330-5947, or via email at cpswan@ncs.com. There is no charge for technical support from CPS/WAN Technical Support.