The fax modem disseminates certain types of textual and graphical products to users without processing capability. The LDAD servers and processors, though, need to communicate and pass data between the internal and external networks. All bulletin board users are assigned a restricted shell at the time they log on that will constrict them within the bulletin board system. All other users will be authenticated by the operating system's security system. Users will be allowed to perform only specific functions on specific directories.
All applications transmit data transfers from the internal side to the external side.
The Gateway software links the internal and external sides of LDAD and controls the transfer of information across the firewall. Basically, most of the acquisition processing occurs on the internal side, while most of the dissemination processing occurs either on the external side or on the clients' systems. The five major components of the LDAD Gateway include the Scheduler, User Interface, Communication Server, Inter-Gateway Communications, and hmFactor Server. The user interface component provides the forecaster access to the LDAD Gateway. The InterGateway communications function provides a link across the firewall between the internal and external sides of the Gateway.