Distributed Terminology System (DTS)

General Information

Technologies must be operated and maintained in accordance with Federal and Department security and privacy policies and guidelines. More information on the proper use of the TRM can be found on the TRM Proper Use Tab/Section.

Website:	Go to site
Description:	The Apelon Distributed Terminology System (DTS) provides comprehensive terminology services in enterprise, regional, and national distributed application environments. Using a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), DTS provides support for national and international data standards as well as local vocabularies. Additionally, DTS includes a set of command line utilities for creating a Knowledgebase, importing, publishing, and exporting content, and generating content change reports. This technology utilizes a Knowledgebase (KB) to communicate concepts, terms, and relationships to clients in a network. This KB may be deployed in either a Microsoft Structured Query Language (SQL) Server 2016 database, version 12c of the Oracle database, or version 5.6 of the MySQL database. Users must ensure they only configure this technology with TRM approved technologies.
Technology/Standard Usage Requirements:	Users must ensure their use of this technology/standard is consistent with VA policies and standards, including, but not limited to, VA Handbooks 6102 and 6500; VA Directives 6004, 6513, and 6517; and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards, including Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS). Users must ensure sensitive data is properly protected in compliance with all VA regulations. Prior to use of this technology, users should check with their supervisor, Information Security Officer (ISO), Facility Chief Information Officer (CIO), or local Office of Information and Technology (OI&T) representative to ensure that all actions are consistent with current VA policies and procedures prior to implementation.
Section 508 Information:	This technology has not been assessed by the Section 508 Office. The Implementer of this technology has the responsibility to ensure the version deployed is 508-compliant. Section 508 compliance may be reviewed by the Section 508 Office and appropriate remedial action required if necessary. For additional information or assistance regarding Section 508, please contact the Section 508 Office at Section508@va.gov.
Decision:	View Decisions

Decision Source:	TRM Mgmt Group
Decision Process:	One-VA TRM v18.11
Decision Date:	11/28/2018 at 07:49:55 UTC
Introduced By:	TRM Request
Vendor Name:	Apelon

Vendor Release Information

The Vendor Release table provides the known releases for the TRM Technology, obtained from the vendor (or from the release source).

Version	Release Date	Vendor End of Life Date	Vendor Desupport Date
3.4	02/01/2008
3.5	12/01/2011
4.0	12/26/2013
4.0.1	02/28/2014
4.1	07/31/2014
4.2	01/31/2015
4.3	07/31/2015
4.4.x	06/09/2016
4.5.x	12/01/2016
4.6.x	10/01/2017

Current Decision Matrix (11/13/2018)

Users must ensure their use of this technology/standard is consistent with VA policies and standards, including, but not limited to, VA Handbooks 6102 and 6500; VA Directives 6004, 6513, and 6517; and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards, including Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS). Users must ensure sensitive data is properly protected in compliance with all VA regulations. Prior to use of this technology, users should check with their supervisor, Information Security Officer (ISO), Facility Chief Information Officer (CIO), or local Office of Information and Technology (OI&T) representative to ensure that all actions are consistent with current VA policies and procedures prior to implementation.

The VA Decision Matrix displays the current and future VA IT position regarding different releases of a TRM entry. These decisions are based upon the best information available as of the most current date. The consumer of this information has the responsibility to consult the organizations responsible for the desktop, testing, and/or production environments to ensure that the target version of the technology will be supported. Any major.minor version that is not listed in the VA Decision Matrix is considered unapproved for use.

Legend:

White	Approved: The technology/standard has been approved for use.
Yellow	Approved w/Constraints: The technology/standard can be used within the specified constraints located below the decision matrix in the footnote[1] and on the General tab.
Gray	Unapproved: This technology or standard can be used only if a POA&M review is conducted and signed by the Authorizing Official Designated Representative (AODR) as designated by the Authorizing Official (AO) or designee and based upon a recommendation from the POA&M Compliance Enforcement, has been granted to the project team or organization that wishes to use the technology.
Orange	Divest: VA has decided to divest itself on the use of the technology/standard. As a result, all projects currently utilizing the technology/standard must plan to eliminate their use of the technology/standard. Additional information on when the entry is projected to become unapproved may be found on the Decision tab for the specific entry.
Black	Prohibited: The technology/standard is not (currently) permitted to be used under any circumstances.
Blue	Planning/Evaluation Constraint:The period of time this technology is currently being evaluated, reviewed, and tested in controlled environments. Use of this technology is strictly controlled and not available for use within the general population. If a customer would like to use this technology, please work with your local or Regional OI&T office and contact the appropriate evaluation office displayed in the notes below the decision matrix. The Local or Regional OI&T office should submit an inquiry to the TRM if they require further assistance or if the evaluating office is not listed in the notes below.

Release/Version Information:

VA decisions for specific versions may include a ‘.x’ wildcard, which denotes a decision that pertains to a range of multiple versions.

For example, a technology approved with a decision for 7.x would cover any version of 7.(Anything) - 7.(Anything). However, a 7.4.x decision would cover any version of 7.4.(Anything), but would not cover any version of 7.5.x or 7.6.x on the TRM.

VA decisions for specific versions may include ‘+’ symbols; which denotes that the decision for the version specified also includes versions greater than what is specified but is not to exceed or affect previous decimal places.

For example, a technology approved with a decision for 12.6.4+ would cover any version that is greater than 12.6.4, but would not exceed the .6 decimal ie: 12.6.401 is ok, 12.6.5 is ok, 12.6.9 is ok, however 12.7.0 or 13.0 is not.

<Past

CY2023

CY2024

CY2025

Future>

Release

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

3.5

Unapproved

4.0

Unapproved

4.1

Unapproved

4.2

Unapproved

4.3

Unapproved

4.4.x

Unapproved

4.5.x

Unapproved

4.6.x

Unapproved

Decision Constraints


[1]	This Technology is currently being evaluated, reviewed, and tested in controlled environments. Use of this technology is strictly controlled and not available for use within the general population.

[2]	As of April 23, 2015, per the Deputy CIO of Architecture, Strategy and Design (ASD), all technologies in use by the VA require an assessment by the VA Section 508 office. Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998 is a federal law that sets the guidelines for technology accessibility. A VA Section 508 assessment of this technology has not been completed at the time of publication. Therefore, as of April 23, 2015 only users of this technology who have deployed the technology to the production environment, or have project design and implementation plans approved, may continue to operate this technology. In the case of a project that has implemented, or been approved for a specific site or number of users, and that project needs to expand operations to other sites or to an increased user base, it may do so as long as the project stays on the existing version of the technology that was approved or implemented as of April 22, 2015. Use of this technology in all other cases is prohibited.

[3]	Per the May 5th, 2015 memorandum from the VA Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) FIPS 140-2 Validate Full Disk Encryption (FOE) for Data at Rest in Database Management Systems (DBMS) and in accordance with Federal requirements and VA policy, database management must use Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-2 compliant encryption to protect the confidentiality and integrity of VA information at rest at the application level. If FIPS 140-2 encryption at the application level is not technically possible, FIPS 140-2 compliant full disk encryption (FOE) must be implemented on the hard drive where the DBMS resides. Appropriate access enforcement and physical security control must also be implemented. All instances of deployment using this technology should be reviewed to ensure compliance with VA Handbook 6500 and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards. It is the responsibility of the system owner to work with the local CIO (or designee) and Information Security Officer (ISO) to ensure that a compliant DBMS technology is selected and that if needed, mitigating controls are in place and documented in a System Security Plan (SSP).

[4]	Users should check with their supervisor, Information Security Office (ISO) or local OIT representative for permission to download and use this software. Downloaded software must always be scanned for viruses prior to installation to prevent adware or malware. Freeware may only be downloaded directly from the primary site that the creator of the software has advertised for public download and user or development community engagement. Users should note, any attempt by the installation process to install any additional, unrelated software is not approved and the user should take the proper steps to decline those installations.

[5]	Veterans Affairs (VA) users must ensure VA sensitive data is properly protected in compliance with all VA regulations. All instances of deployment using this technology should be reviewed by the local ISO (Information Security Officer) to ensure compliance with VA Handbook 6500.

[6]	Veterans Affairs (VA) users must ensure VA sensitive data is properly protected in compliance with all VA regulations. All instances of deployment using this technology should be reviewed by the local ISO (Information Security Officer) to ensure compliance with VA Handbook 6500.

[7]	Per the May 5th, 2015 memorandum from the VA Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) FIPS 140-2 Validate Full Disk Encryption (FOE) for Data at Rest in Database Management Systems (DBMS) and in accordance with Federal requirements and VA policy, database management must use Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-2 compliant encryption to protect the confidentiality and integrity of VA information at rest at the application level. If FIPS 140-2 encryption at the application level is not technically possible, FIPS 140-2 compliant full disk encryption (FOE) must be implemented on the hard drive where the DBMS resides. Appropriate access enforcement and physical security control must also be implemented. All instances of deployment using this technology should be reviewed to ensure compliance with VA Handbook 6500 and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards. It is the responsibility of the system owner to work with the local CIO (or designee) and Information Security Officer (ISO) to ensure that a compliant DBMS technology is selected and that if needed, mitigating controls are in place and documented in a System Security Plan (SSP).

[8]	This product can be configured with a MySQL Database, which currently has TRM constraints for intranet use only due to its many known security issues. If MySQL is selected for use with this product, these factors should be considered especially when an instance of this product will be considered a Moderate or High Risk system (Refer to MySQL Database TRM entry for more details).

References

The following reference(s) are associated with this entry:
Type	Name	Source	Description
Vendor Provided*	Document Repository		This site functions as a repository for user guides, installation manuals and release notes.
*NOTE: Vendor provided information is subject to the accuracy of the manufacturer.

Technology Components

Note: This list may not be complete. No component, listed or unlisted, may be used outside of the technology in which it is released. The usage decision for a component is found in the Decision and Decision Constraints.
Name	Description
Distributed Terminology System (DTS) Browser	The DTS Browser is a web-based user interface (UI) that is used to navigate, search and view a knowledgebase using the DTS Application Programming Interface (API).
DTS Core	DTS Core is comprised of utilities to manage the knowledgebase and APIs.
DTS Editor	The DTS Editor is a desktop UI used to navigate, search, view and manage a knowledgebase using the DTS API. Extensions can be added using plug-ins.
Graphic Viewer	The Graphic Viewer plug-in provides an alternate "graphical" presentation of concept hierarchies.
pSearch	The pSearch plug-in provides a progressive, also known as a "type ahead" search panel.
Root Manager	The Root Manager plug-in simplifies the addition and removal of root concepts in the Thesaurus Namespaces.
SubEx Wizard	The SubEx Wizard Plug-in provides a set of panels for exchanging (saving and restoring) Subset definitions.
Table Viewer	The Table Viewer Plug-In provides a table-based presentation of concept data.
Template Editor	The Template Editor Plug-In provides a form-based panel for the creation and editing of DTS Concepts.
Terminology Query Language (TQL) Editor	The Terminology Query Language (TQL) Editor plug-In implements a simple TQL for expressing statements (queries) that manipulate, display or export information found in DTS Namespaces.
Workflow Client	The Workflow Client is a client side plug-In for creating and designating assignments related to reviewing and editing concepts/terms using the DTS Editor.
Workflow Server	The Workflow Server is a server side plug-In for creating and designating assignments related to reviewing and editing concepts/terms using the DTS Editor.

VA Categories View the VA Categorization Framework

Domain Area	Category	Customer Guidance	Category Locked By ELT Date
Information Management Technologies Data Integration	Data in Motion (Common Message Terminology and Semantics)

Open Source

This entry is available as an open source technology.

Operating Systems Supported by the Technology

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) - Approved w/Constraints
Windows Client - Approved w/Constraints
Windows Server - Approved w/Constraints

Technologies/Standards Relationships

Runtime Dependencies:

Java Runtime Environment (JRE) - Oracle
JBoss Enterprise Application Platform (EAP)
Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) - (required for some configurations)
Microsoft Structured Query Language (SQL) Server - (required for some configurations)
Oracle Database - (required for some configurations)

Comparable Technologies:

No comparable entries have been identified.

Companion Technologies/Supported Standards:

General Analysis

Adoption Benefits

This is a mature, well-documented technology.
There are no known Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) associated with this product at the time of writing.
This product can be acquired without cost through open source licensing and supports VA`s open source initiative.

Adoption Risks

This technology has the potential to store, collect, or transmit Personally Identifiable Information (PII)/Protected Health Information (PHI).
Users must first create and register an account with the vendor in order to download this software.
This technology has a runtime dependency of version 1.7 of Oracle`s Java Development Kit (JDK) and Java Runtime Environment (JRE), which are no longer supported TRM technologies.

Architectural Benefits

This technology is portable as it runs on multiple VA approved platforms.

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VA Technical Reference Model v 24.7

General Information

Vendor Release Information

Current Decision Matrix (11/13/2018)

Decision Constraints

References

Technology Components

VA Categories View the VA Categorization Framework

Open Source

Operating Systems Supported by the Technology

Technologies/Standards Relationships

Runtime Dependencies:

Comparable Technologies:

Companion Technologies/Supported Standards:

General Analysis

Adoption Benefits

Adoption Risks

Architectural Benefits

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VA Technical Reference Model v 24.7

General Information

Vendor Release Information

Current Decision Matrix (11/13/2018)

Decision Constraints

References

Technology Components

VA Categories View the VA Categorization Framework

Open Source

Operating Systems Supported by the Technology

Technologies/Standards Relationships

Runtime Dependencies:

Comparable Technologies:

Companion Technologies/Supported Standards:

General Analysis

Adoption Benefits

Adoption Risks

Architectural Benefits

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