NWS Soliciting Comments on Discontinuing EMWIN Internet Feed

NWS is accepting comments until October 24, 2017, on the proposed termination of the EMWIN ByteBlaster and HostMaster services on or about April 30, 2018.

ByteBlaster is a client-server software application which has been implemented in privately developed and commercial software offerings. The NWS operates four ByteBlaster servers as a public service, actively pushing all products appearing on the EMWIN satellite broadcast to users operating a ByteBlaster client or other compatible software over the Internet. Users may connect to the NWS ByteBlaster servers without the approval of, or intervention by, the NWS. HostMaster is a ByteBlaster server load-balancing software application used to manage the clients connected to ByteBlaster servers and automatically transfer connected clients from one known server to another in the event of a server failure.

Weather, water and climate products disseminated by the NWS ByteBlaster service include national and international watches, warnings, advisories, observations, forecasts and remote sensing information in text and picture (binary) formats. As an Internet-based service, ByteBlaster client-server connections can be operated from any location, worldwide, with Internet access.

The NWS is in the process of consolidating its dissemination services into a common architecture. Transitioning ByteBlaster into this new architecture will require significant NWS resources and time. Alternate public Internet-based methods are available for acquiring the products disseminated by ByteBlaster. These alternatives provide users with the opportunity to replace ByteBlaster in their local operations. A sample of these services and their comparative equivalence to ByteBlaster follows:

1. EMWIN File Transfer Protocol (FTP) Archive
- Interface: file pull initiated by user
- Text Products: all text files on EMWIN satellite broadcast, in ZIP file format
- Binary Product: all binary files sent on EMWIN satellite broadcast in ZIP file format
- Reference: click on the link "eEMWIN FTP Service Description draft v0.2 (Draft)," available here:
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/emwin/#documents

2. NOAA Weather Wire Service (NWWS) Operational Interface (OI).
- Interface: automated XMPP file push to registered users (no
fee)
- Text Products:  NWS US weather watches, warnings and advisories; does not include International products and non- weather emergency messages.
- Binary Products: none.
- Reference: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwws/

3. Global Telecommunication Service (GTS) Internet File Service
(GIFS)
- Interface:  user initiated web browser Graphical User Interface (GUI) and a command line interface over public Internet
- Text Products: limited to International products for North America, Central America and Caribbean; virtually no US WFO generated products
- Binary Products: none.
- Reference:  click on the "GIFS Open Access RMTN Users Guide"
link here: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/iscs/documents.html
Web browser link:
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/iscs/documents.htmlhttps://ra4-gifs.weather.gov/data/RMTN/

4. All EMWIN binary products may also be obtained by users directly from the web pages accessed by EMWIN, which are documented in the "EMWIN Image and Data Capture Catalog," here:
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/emwin/EMWIN_Image_and_Text_Data_Capture_Catalog_v1.0_r170301-1500a.pdf

The final disposition of the EMWIN ByteBlaster and HostMaster services will be determined after the NWS has reviewed all comments.  NWS will issue a Service Change Notice in the event termination is approved.

Partners and users are encouraged to email comments regarding this proposal to:

nws.emwin.support@noaa.gov

National Public Information Notices are online at:

 http://www.weather.gov/os/notif.htm