SB QST @ ARL $ARLB029   
   ARLB029 FCC Now Says ULS, Other Systems, Will Not Return Until September 10   
      
   ZCZC AG29   
   QST de W1AW   
   ARRL Bulletin 29  ARLB029   
   > From ARRL Headquarters   
   Newington CT  September 8, 2015   
   To all radio amateurs   
      
   SB QST ARL ARLB029   
   ARLB029 FCC Now Says ULS, Other Systems, Will Not Return Until September 10   
      
   The FCC has announced that its Universal Licensing System (ULS) and some other   
   website applications remain offline for maintenance, but the Electronic   
   Comment Filing System (ECFS) is now back in service and the Electronic   
   Document Management System (EDOCS) should be available in a short time. The   
   remaining computer system upgrades scheduled to have been completed by today,   
   September 8, now are not expected to be done until September 10, the FCC said   
   in a Public Notice. As the ULS outage continues, it will not be possible to   
   file any Amateur Radio applications, including examination session documents,   
   or conduct any license or application searches.   
      
   "Over Labor Day weekend, a dedicated FCC team worked day and night to complete   
   major IT upgrades," the FCC's Chief Information Officer David A. Bray, said in   
   a statement. "This work included physically moving more than 200 different   
   legacy servers out of FCC's headquarters to a commercial service provider."   
   This move - a cost-saving measure, Bray explained - ran into trouble when it   
   was determined that additional cabling was needed to complete the transition.   
   "Unfortunately, this delayed completion of all of the system upgrades - even   
   with the FCC team working around the clock throughout the holiday weekend,"   
   Bray explained.   
      
   While the requirement to pay a regulatory fee for Amateur Radio vanity call   
   sign applications officially ended on September 3, prospective vanity   
   applicants now will have to wait until the ULS is up and running again to file   
   an application for an available call sign. The FCC has told ARRL that the   
   approximately 18-day vanity call sign waiting period will remain in place "for   
   now."   
      
   ARRL VEC Manager Maria Somma, AB1FM, said a lot of candidates and volunteer   
   examiners have begun asking why new call signs or license upgrades have not   
   yet been issued.   
      
   "We have a huge back log in our filing system that continues to grow!" she   
   said. "We already have approximately 75 examination sessions and over 500   
   applications waiting to be released to FCC."   
      
   Bray said it took seven moving vans to contain the servers being relocated.   
   "With a massive server move of this scale - even with detailed planning,   
   independent verification, and backup plans - the opportunity always exists for   
   surprises, especially with legacy IT systems, nearly 400 program applications,   
   and hundreds of servers," he pointed out.   
      
   The project will relocate the FCC's "legacy" computer systems to a commercial   
   service provider, helping to reduce maintenance costs, improve "resiliency,"   
   and allow the FCC to shift many of its legacy applications to the cloud, as it   
   has done with its Consumer Help Desk.   
      
   The FCC said in its Public Notice that it anticipates all systems and   
   databases to be back online by 1200 UTC on September 10. By that time, it   
   said, the Commission's website "will have returned to normal operations, with   
   full content and search capabilities available." FCC voicemail and e-mail also   
   should be back by then too.   
      
   "We will continue to work diligently and provide updates on these IT   
   upgrades," Bray said. "The entire FCC team and I truly appreciate your   
   patience and understanding as we work to complete all of the upgrades."   
      
   NNNN   
   /EX   
      
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   ... Celebrate Hannibal Day this year.  Take an elephant to lunch.   
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