An official website of the Tennessee Secretary of State.
Core Data
RDA Number
3046
Effective Date
Record Series Abstract
A High School Equivalency Diploma is a certificate issued to a student upon completion of the High Equivalency Exam, after the student took part in Adult Education services. The transcript is a record of the results, by subject area, a student earned on the equivalency exam. An individual can request their records for employment, higher-education, and personal use.
Record Series Active
Yes
Cut Off at End of
Calendar Year
Total Retention Years
0
Total Retention Months
0
Retention End Action
Permanent
Disposition Notes
The records are maintained onsite at Diploma Sender in Oklahoma. All files in hard copy format as well as electronic files are maintained by Diploma Sender.Older files are in micro-film, index cards, or paper files, while new files are stored electronically. If a hard file is requested, it is converted into electronic format. The files are maintained indefinitely and are the primary purpose of business for the Division of Adult Education.
Worksheet
Record Location
2745 Broce Drive Norman, OK 73072
File Arrangement
Alphabetical
Media Format Generated
Electronic
Date Range
1940 - Ongoing
Allotment Code
337.09
Annual Accumulation
2GB
Current Volume
1032 Cu. Ft.; 20GB
Record Value
Administrative
Audit Requirements
State
Information Shared Outside the State
Yes
Shared Agencies
Individuals
Essential Record
Yes - Original
Essential Record Stored
2745 Broce Drive Norman, OK 73072
Essential Record Media Type
Electronic
Confidential
No
Confidential Legal Citation
MTAS Q38 - Permanent
Does this Record Series Contain Sensitive Information?
No
Agency Retention
Permanently
Retention Legal Citation
MTAS Q-38
Electronic Records Plan Inventory
System Name
Diploma Sender
Hardware Description
Web Server: Dual Core 64 bit 2.5 GHz processor with 32 GB of RAM, hard drive is a RAID 5 Database Server: Dual Core 64 bit 2.5 GHz processor with 32 GB of RAM, there are 3 hard drive each is in separate RAID 1 group. Both servers are hosted by RackSpace, which is a third party which specializes hardware and network management, while providing 24-7 support and experts to assist should any issue arise.
Software Description
Both servers are running Windows Server 2008 R2 with Sophas Anti-Virus and are behind a VPN (required for direct access) which is managed by RackSpace. The web server is running Internet Information Services (IIS) and all websites are secured using an SSL certificate. The web server is also running FileZilla server for file transfers between jurisdictions and publishers. The database server is running Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 which is used for the database storage and processing of import and export files. All products are kept up to date with any available software updates. All code, scripts, and other programmatic files are stored in GitHub.
System Location
We use the level 3 data center located in Virginia. I have been to or heard of data centers like what we use, and they are unmarked buildings where most of the hardware is stored in underground concrete rooms with raised floors for ventilation and water damage prevention. The facility I have visited previously was an old Federal Reserve building in Dallas, which was truelly designed as a large bank vault and then converted for IT purposes. They have fully redundant systems so that if the power is lost, generators kick on; if cables are cut, backups are already available and are switched out and so on. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_center#Data_center_tiers
Backup Procedures
Daily backups of the MS SQL database are taken at noon every day. All of the code is managed in GitHub which is a repository tool for scoring projects, scripts, and other types of programmatic files and a history of all changes that occur on them. An updated or within a day or two of updated version of all code is also locally available on the development computers. A daily backup of all files on both servers going back 14 days is also available.
Disaster Recovery
Due to the hardware and network disaster recovery solutions offered by RackSpace and described already, I am assuming this question pertains to recovering the database. In the event of multiple simultaneous hard drive failures, RackSpace would replace our hard drives and we could then restore a database backup which would not be any older than 24 hours. In the event we did not have the database backup, we would move to the historical file system backup which would then have a copy of the database backups on it. The RackSpace data center would have to be completely destroyed for there to be any risk of data loss (multiple concurrent failures across multiple servers, or the - typically concrete and underground - building leveled).
Data Migration Description
Files are provided by the publishers, typically around 2am, 4am or 6am to the Diplomasender FTP which is on the web server. Those files are then pulled across by the database server for archiving and processing at 6:30am. In processing the file, once we know we have successfully received it, the original is removed from the FTP server, and a backup is stored on the DB server for archiving.
RDA Comments
Records Management Division (RMD)
01-14-2016
No recommended changes.
Tennessee State Library and Archives
01-14-2016
No recommended changes.
Comptroller Audit Review
01-14-2016
We have reviewed RDA 3046 from an audit standpoint. We concur with the recommended retention and disposition specifications.
Agency Records Officer
03-18-2016
Thank you.
RMD Director
04-15-2016
RDA 3046 is a request to revise an RDA. The retention period will remain permanent but the format will change to paper/electronic. Recommend approval of request to revise RDA 3046.
Public Records Commission
06-22-2016
PRC approves RDA 3046