Internet Connection for MLS?

[Mikerowaved]

What do you find confusing?

A CCN will use a common DSL or cable broadband connection. There should not be a broadband connection except that it has the Cisco PIX box to make it a CCN. No one/ward/stake should be installing their own Internet access. So there shouldn't be any Internet connection outside of a CCN.

Last month I sent an email to our STS about the Church's "clarified" position of stretching a broadband connection from our Family History Library to the rest of the clerk's offices in the building. (He was unaware of this.) I also forwarded to him the memo from Bro. Higbee stating the conditions which must be met for this to be considered for approval. This is a snippet from his his reply to the Stake Clerk...[INDENT]"I'm pretty sure that our Family History Library (and the stake office) does not have a CCN connection. I think it is a normal business connection through comcast."[/INDENT]I'm not in a position to verify if this is true or not, but if it is, then perhaps not all of the Family History Centers are using a CCN connection (yet).

[JamesAnderson]

I'm wondering then if the CCN is between the connection with Comcast and the computers that it is for?

I would think they would be using commercial companies for the basic Internet connectivity, then using the CCN for the Church's VPN, etc.

[Mikerowaved]

It's possible, but since he's the STS I would assume he would know. It's not my building, so I have no way of verifying one way on another. (I will still receive the blessings of dialup for some time to come. :rolleyes:)

[russellhltn]

[INDENT]"I'm pretty sure that our Family History Library (and the stake office) does not have a CCN connection. I think it is a normal business connection through comcast."[/INDENT]

It may be a semantics issue. I have no doubt that it's a comcast connection. What he may not be aware of is that the Cisco PIX box makes it a CCN. Until that memo came out, I didn't know know there was a "CCN". I knew about the box and what it did, I just didn't know this setup had a name.

But ...... I've also seen where folks have been told to get a Internet connection and so they call up the local provider and get a Internet connection. They don't know they're supposed to go though channels and so they may not have that Cisco PIX box. In that case they need to make a phone call to SLC and get straightened out.

Or, to put it another way, while it's possible that not all FHCs are on a CCN, they should be! And I can think of no acceptable reason they wouldn't be.

[SheffieldTR]

Hopefully I can shed some light on this conversation.

The Church Communications Network (CCN) is a network that is setup and managed by Church headquarters. If you have a department sponsored family history center or an FM office or a department sponsored employment center, then they will have a CCN connection. The easiest way to verify this is if there is a firewall device (Cisco PIX 501) on the connection. Church IT policy states that all broadband internet connections must go through a Church-managed firewall device. If there is a broadband connection (e.g. DSL, cable, etc...) that does not have a Church-managed firewall then it is not part of the CCN and may be out of policy.

Now, there has been some confusion about this latest notice about being able to share a CCN connection (as described above) with stake and ward clerk computers. If there is a CCN connection in a meetinghouse then the wards and stakes also in that building can connect to them (at their own costs, not the FM's). A communication will be sent out soon to all FM's explaining how this can work. They will then be more able to assist stakes and wards in doing this. Again, remember that the stake or ward is to pay for all costs associated in extending this connection to the MLS computers.

Where there are Stake sponsored family history centers they most likely will not have a Church-managed firewall. Hopefully it will have some sort of protection, but most likely it won't have one from headquarters. There are plans for future changes that will help these locations as well.



I hope this helps...

[russellhltn]

Church IT policy states that all broadband internet connections must go through a Church-managed firewall device.

[snip]

Where there are Stake sponsored family history centers they most likely will not have a Church-managed firewall. Hopefully it will have some sort of protection, but most likely it won't have one from headquarters. There are plans for future changes that will help these locations as well.

I'm confused. Is it acceptable for Stakes to have broadband that is not in compliance with Church IT policy, or are you just stating a fact of life?

What should these stakes be doing?


On another question, do you know the recommended way to deal with a multi-building stake center? Our FHC, Bishops Offices and Stake Offices are in different buildings. Many of them are connected via the Satellite "cable" system. I'm running the question up though the FM group, but I thought I'd give a forewarning to the top.

[SheffieldTR]

I guess the best way to state this is that there is a policy regarding broadband internet in meetinghouses. The hope would be that stake presidents would follow it. We do understand the needs and that is why you are seeing some of the changes that have been talked about as well as others not yet announced.

Regarding the multi-building locations, I would think that there are ways to network these buildings together, but I am not the authoritative voice on that. The FM would be the right channel to communicate that need, I would think.

[RutzJW]

I'm confused. Is it acceptable for Stakes to have broadband that is not in compliance with Church IT policy, or are you just stating a fact of life?

What should these stakes be doing?

On another question, do you know the recommended way to deal with a multi-building stake center? Our FHC, Bishops Offices and Stake Offices are in different buildings. Many of them are connected via the Satellite "cable" system. I'm running the question up though the FM group, but I thought I'd give a forewarning to the top.

......Internet in meetinghouses is evolving similar to the Church web site consolidation. As a FM, I find everything from soup to nuts when local units install their own technology. Security and cost are paramount when installing internet in meetinghouses. Security is adressed by installing the pix firewall directly after the ISP modem. Cost (use of sacred funds) is a very important issue. As a ward clerk, I question whether a one minute MLS send/receive is worth the upgrade cost in the ethernet medium (pix firewalls, switches, cable, wireless access points, wireless adapters). These are questions Stake Presidents will have to resolve, since they now bear the responsibility and cost for upgrades of existing CCN installations.

[unixguy]

I question whether a one minute MLS send/receive is worth the upgrade cost in the ethernet medium (pix firewalls, switches, cable, wireless access points, wireless adapters). These are questions Stake Presidents will have to resolve, since they now bear the responsibility and cost for upgrades of existing CCN installations.

I don't disagree with you regarding the method of determining the value of upgrading, but I most definitely disagree with you regarding the time savings, and the time cost of remaining on dialup.
Fifteen minute transimissions are common in my building, and I've had several which took either 30 minutes to run or which took multiple attempts and added up to 30 minutes trying to get the transmission through. My ward is only one of 4 wards in our building, too.
The other wards have similar experiences.

I am curious what the church will use now that the PIX is being discontinued. When we looked into switching to a PIX at work, we learned that the PIX was going to be discontinued and the next product at the time was about twice the cost (or more-- it's been a year since I looked into it).

[jbh001]

Pehaps this has become relevant (or is the source of the confusion).

As a ward clerk, I question whether a one minute MLS send/receive is worth the upgrade cost in the ethernet medium (pix firewalls, switches, cable, wireless access points, wireless adapters).

In our case, I think the cost would be worth it. We are the only unit in our building. Our unit covers a rural area of 1.5 counties. Many ward members do not have internet access or have dial-up. We operate an unofficial Family History Center out of our building. When our temple district switches over to nFS, our Temple Ready software will be obsolete. We will still need a way to train members how to use the new software, and maybe even provide access to it for those that want to work on family history and submit names to the temple, but can't afford a computer or dial-up internet. Repurposing the computers currently used for Temple Ready to act as portals to nFS connected to CCN makes a lot of sense to us.