Gone forever are the chemicals, photographic papers and lamination tools needed to make old-fashioned licenses. Unfortunately, the images are stored in a central computer in Little Rock, the state capital. The image transmissions are necessary because Arkansas and other states have problems with teenagers trying to obtain unauthorized duplicate licenses so they can purchase alcohol. To overcome the bandwidth problem, the agency is changing to frame-relay technology, which the state has begun to use for its wide area network. Soon, a driver's image will be zipping to DMV offices across the state at 56Kbps rather than the pokey 9.6Kbps common with SNA applications.
Packet switching breaks up messages into smaller packets for transmission.
Arkansas' Departments of Education, Human Services, Finance and Administration, Corrections and the State Police all have, or soon will be using, frame relay to speed up the transfer of information. Not only do the agencies get a big boost in their bandwidth by using frame relay, but it doesn't cost them a whole lot more than slow-moving lines dedicated to SNA traffic. Other states, including Nebraska, Utah and Massachusetts, are using frame relay, which has become widely available none too soon. And as they race to build these systems, cities, counties and states are running into a log jam when they begin to transfer files and information from one LAN to another. Accustomed to working with a small number of remote sites and sending short bursts of alphanumeric data, agencies now find that with the new applications they need to transfer big chunks of data between many offices with LANs.