PROGRAMS AND PLANS--AFIMS PAY/PERS Backup Procedures
To: "DC - All District Chiefs",
"AO - All Administrative Officers",
"SA - All System Administrators",
"TK - Time Keepers"
cc: "Catherine L Hill, ACH/Operations, Reston, VA ",
"Stephen F Blanchard, Deputy ACHO, Reston, VA ",
"Kimberly S Rogers, Computer Specialist, Reston, VA ",
"Melinda M Lanza, Computer Specialist, Reston, VA ",
"Patrick D Smith, Computer Specialist, Reston, VA ",
"Isabelle Halley des Fontaines, Chief, Br. Admin. Mgmt. Sys., Reston, VA ",
"Alice A Sabatini, Administrative Officer, Reston, VA ",
"David C Madril, Acting Admin Officer, Reston, VA ",
"Alice C Dilandro, Secretary (S), Reston, VA ",
"Carole Nethaway, Secretary (OA), Reston, VA ",
" , WRD Archive File, Reston, VA "
Subject: WATER RESOURCES DIVISION MEMORANDUM NO. 97.04
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Date: Tue, 11 Feb 1997 16:12:20 -0500
From: "Carole Nethaway, Secretary (OA), Reston, VA "
In Reply Refer To:
Mail Stop 447
February 10, 1997
WATER RESOURCES DIVISION MEMORANDUM NO. 97.04
SUBJECT: PROGRAMS AND PLANS--AFIMS PAY/PERS Backup Procedures
This memorandum provides backup procedures to ensure that
computerized time and attendance (T&A) data can be forwarded within
the time frame designated by Payroll and the Water Resources Division
(WRD) each pay period as outlined in email ("AFIMS PAY/PERS Payroll
Procedures," dated November 26, 1996).
Under normal circumstances, WRD's Administrative Financial Management
System (AFIMS) software delivers the T&A data from the Prime computer
used by each cost center to the Prime located in Reston, Virginia
(QVARSA), via the Distributed Information System (DIS) network. The
data are then transmitted from QVARSA to the Bureau of Reclamation's
IBM computer in Denver, Colorado, for PAY/PERS processing. When the
entire system is operating properly, messages are routed back to the
originating office, via email, indicating that the data have been
received and processed on QVARSA.
For pay periods that do not require early payroll due to a holiday,
current procedures state that each payroll site is to send a
preliminary T&A data file to the Headquarters Prime by close of
business on the Friday prior to the final processing deadline of
11:00 a.m. on Monday. The necessity and importance of sending the
preliminary file cannot be overstated. As several recent instances
confirm, there is a very real potential that payroll may not be
processed for a site where machine failure prevents transmittal of
the final file, and where no preliminary file exists on QVARSA. A
preliminary payroll file should be sent to QVARSA every pay period
as a precautionary measure.
A number of situations can occur that will prevent transmission of
T&A data to the IBM computer. For example, your local Prime computer
may not have access to the DIS network; there may be failure in the
network; or, your local Prime computer or QVARSA may fail to
operate. Should any of these problems occur, please follow the
backup procedures described in Attachment 1. These procedures are
written for someone who is familiar with the operation of the Prime
computers.
If you have any questions regarding the backup procedures or
suggestions for improving the contingency plan, please contact
Kimberly Rogers (krogers) in the Branch of Administrative Management
Systems in Reston, Virginia, at 703-648-5221.
/signed/
Catherine L. Hill
Assistant Chief Hydrologist
for Operations
Attachment 1
Distribution: DC, AO, SA, TK
This memorandum supersedes WRD Memorandums No. 85.01, 86.90, and
89.63.
This memorandum is being distributed only by electric mail.
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Attachment 1 PAY/PERS BACKUP PROCEDURES
In the event of: NETWORK FAILURE AT AN INDIVIDUAL SITE
Software is available to allow a site to extract data from another
site by means other than the DIS, and to enter the data into the
network.
The TERMEM (TERMinal EMulator) software gives the ability to log into
another site through a dial-up modem and pull data back to the
originating system. If the network is down at an individual site,
the data can be processed to the point of transmittal, then one of
the designated sites with TERMEM should be contacted. The site with
TERMEM would then dial into the site having network failure, pull the
T&A data over to itself, and then transfer it to QVARSA.
Additionally, the ability to telnet to the Prime site may be available,
in which case, the file could be ftp'd to QVARSA.
In the event of: PARTIAL OR ENTIRE NETWORK FAILURE
For partial or entire network failure, the Prime sites which are
unable to transmit their T&A's should create a magnetic tape of the
PAY/PERS data. A CPL BACKUP-T&A has been written specifically for
this purpose. It will pick up all employees' time and attendance
data for the Prime site and copy it to a single file on tape in a
standard format that can be processed by the IBM. It can be
retrieved from AFIMS_UPDATES on QVARSA and should reside at AFIMS
level on the District Primes. When BACKUP-T&A.CPL has been loaded
onto a system, it can be executed by attaching to AFIMS and keying:
R BACKUP-T&A nn
where nn is the pay period to be copied to tape. Instructions on
where and how to mail the tape are incorporated in the CPL and are
displayed each time it is executed.
In the event of: MACHINE FAILURE AT AN INDIVIDUAL SITE
Each Prime site must: (1) identify a "buddy Prime," (2) be a
registered user at the "buddy" site with access to AFIMS, (3) have
at least one modem at the site to dial-up the "buddy," and (4) be
able to bring up its cost center(s) under the AFIMS directory on its
"buddy" system. This can be done either by using ADDISK and copying
the CCcccc subdirectories under directory ACCESS and each AFIMS_cccc
directory to the "buddy" AFIMS directory (cccc represents the cost
center number), or by mailing the "buddy" a tape containing the same
information. Two CPL's have been written to help in creating and
loading these data: PAYPERS-BACKUP.CPL will MAGSAV to tape all files
needed for T&A processing, and PAYPERS-RESTORE.CPL will load under
AFIMS at the "buddy" site all files needed for T&A processing. Both
CPL's can be retrieved from AFIMS_UPDATES on QVARSA and should reside
at AFIMS level on the District Primes.
If a site is down, and appears unlikely to come back up before
payroll is processed, the site should implement the following steps:
(1) notify the "buddy" that it is going to use the Prime, (2) dial its
"buddy" Prime and enter its T&A's, and (3) send the T&A's to QVARSA
from its "buddy" site and make sure the transmission went
successfully. When the Prime site becomes operational again, the
T&A's created at the "buddy's" site will have to be moved to or
recreated at the site so that the data base is kept up-to-date. Each
site should also have a copy of its AFIMS_cccc directory(ies) and
CCcccc subdirectory(ies) stored in-house on tape in case the "buddy"
site has equipment failure at the same time. The tape can then be
mailed or carried to the closest operational site, loaded, and the
data can then be processed and transferred to Reston. Because the
main file used for T&A processing, the Employee Schedule File, is
fairly static, the buddy site would not have to be updated every pay
period. The frequency of updating would be decided by the two sites
involved.
In the event of: FAILURE OF THE QVARSA (Headquarters) PRIME
In this event, payroll processing would be moved to the backup
payroll Prime located in Denver, Colorado (DCOLKA) which has the
needed software to process payroll. Should this occur, notification
would be sent to each site as to the steps necessary to complete
payroll.