Background of the project:
Petition work is quite important because it is a tie which connects the party & the government with the masses. On the one hand, the party & the government can further push forward the democratic process, understand the masses’ actual situation, and accept their supervision; on the other hand, the masses can reflect their reasonable requirements and protect their own interests. An excellent petition work will improve the party & the government's reputation and image.

The national petition system aims to serve the core work of the party & the government, offering a new working mechanism for Bureau for Letters & Calls of China, providing a platform to solve the problems of masses, as well as safeguard social stability.

The system will truly facilitate the petition activities of masses, help the leaders make scientific decisions, promote the reform of working mechanism, and provide a platform for citizens' complaints.

Customer requirements:
The overall objective of the project are: firstly, relying on the government network and the Internet, an info network covering the petition organizations of center, province, prefecture and county will be constructed within 2 years whose features are interoperability, info sharing, and security; secondly, the following subsystems will be established based on the info network mentioned above: a convenient, fast and open reception system for citizens’ complaints, a standardized system for businesses handling, a supervision system, an analytical and forecasting system for petition info, a severe system for the system’s security, a scientific standardization system, as well as a reliable system for the system’s operation and maintenance; finally, the project will realize the general management for petition work, as well as provide technical support for the core work of the party & the government, maintaining social stability, and building a harmonious society.

The goal of Phase I includes: firstly, an info network with interoperability, info sharing, and security will be established depending on the government network, realizing the communications between the national bureau and the working organizations which belong to the 31 provinces, Xinjiang Production & Construction Corps, as well as 60% of all prefectures and counties; secondly, both the website of Bureau for Letters & Calls and the website of reception center for complaints will be established elementarily, which will provide the petitioners with inquiring the petition issues and their progresses; thirdly, the portal website, which belongs to the center, the 31 provinces, as well as the Xinjiang Production & Construction Corps, will be established elementarily, providing the staff, administrators and leaders at all levels with online office environment; fourthly, the data center will be established elementarily in order to process businesses centralized, as well as realize the data storage and interaction; fifthly, the analytical and broadcasting system for petition info, through which the leaders can directly understand the relevant petition circumstances, will be established elementarily; sixthly, the system of this project will achieve 100% registration rate, 100% effective response rate, and more than 80% closing rate for admitted cases, meanwhile, the volume of petition cases belonging to center, province, prefecture and county shows a "pyramid" type; finally, the standard system of petition industry will be established elementarily which can guide the informatization construction.

Present state of the system:
About technology
The original system is loose and has a poor management concentration. The structure of modules were implemented in their own province respectively, therefore, there are many problems such as high transformation costs, complex coordination, difficult sync-control, and difficulties in the development of new businesses. Existing systems of software and hardware are old. Most of them have been beyond the warranty period and no longer meet the new demand of IT industry. The pressure of maintaining these old ones is getting larger and larger, and at the same time, their adaptation is getting worse and worse.

About business
Different versions of info system are not conducive to the unity of interface and the expansion of businesses; unified software could unify the interface of Foreign Service as far as possible and improve the government’s window image.

About management
It is difficult for different versions to be managed; through the unified deployment for real-time monitoring systems, the management of equipment can be strengthened and its efficiency can be played to the top; a unified system of statistical analysis will be good for management.

Solutions and deployment:
The National Petition System mainly includes:

• network system covering the whole country
• data center including 3 databases at national level
• extranet website of Bureau for Letters & Calls
• reception system for citizens’ complaints
• network website of Bureau for Letters & Calls
• 4 application systems for petition businesses
• multi-level and multi-faceted security system covering the entire system
• standard system for petition info

The overall structure of national petition system:

Deployment of software and hardware:

Application deployment:
The Red Flag Company put forward corresponding solutions in order to meet customers' requirements. Petition system uses Red Flag Linux DC Server 5.0 as operating system platform of database server and application server, respectively running commercial products of Oracle and Weblogic, showing the feature of stability and high efficiency. Through the deployment of Red Flag HA Cluster 5.0, Oracle, Weblogic and other key services are further protected; meanwhile, the availability and reliability of the system are improved also.

The following requirements have been satisfied through the use of Red Flag's products and services:
 

• Security

The system gets convenient services from network and makes sure to avoid virus attack and other factors of insecurity.
 

• Reliability

Both software and hardware are certificated which can guarantee the system’s reliability.
 

• Stability

Stability is essential for info system. The stable characteristics of Linux have fully guaranteed the system’s continuous operation.
 

• Low-cost

The combination of Linux and PC server not only provides users with powerful system, but also observably decreases cost.
 

• Scalability and flexibility

A good scalability of Linux and PC server means a value-added use in the aspect of system’s equipment, convenience in management, cost savings, as well as promotion in system's scalability, reliability and availability.

Cost-benefits:
The project, to the greatest extent, meets the users' needs in cost, performance, scalability and security based on Intel ® Xeon TM processor and Red Flag Linux, that is, Intel ® Xeon TM processor provides adequate performance assurance and scalability, meanwhile, Red Flag Linux, with good compatibility, stability, and excellent localization advantage, has supported the entire development process for users and provided them with thoughtful after-sale services. The leading open-source software has brought enormous IT investment returns to customers.

Versions/models of software and hardware products:
In the deployment and implementation of the system, the Red Flag Company has provided software and hardware products as follows and set up a highly efficient, stable and secure platform:

Hardware platform:
DELL 2900 server, DELL 6850 server, disk cabinet

Operating system and software platform:
Red Flag DC Server 5.0 X86, Red Flag HA Cluster 5.0 X864

Database products:
ORACLE Database 10g for Linux x86

Middleware products:
Bea Tuxedo 8.1 for Linux x86

Application system products:
Petition system, VERITAS NetBackup

Effects evaluations:
The key server with Intel ® Xeon ™ processor can achieve the excellent processing ability, while the products based on Intel ® architecture have open standards and high scalability, which are helpful for building a system that can meet the needs of future development to the greatest extent, and also helpful for decreasing the cost used in procurement and maintenance. Red Flag Linux has fully played the hardware's performance and strongly supported the middleware’s application, showing great commercial value of open source system.

It is believed that Linux technology, with its growing maturity and large-scale use, will bring greater convenience in high-performance, high reliability and flexibility. A powerful info system will support and protect the continuous improvement and optimization of business.


The final interpretation right of this document belongs to the Red Flag Software Co. Ltd.