Spectra T50e - Blue Scale Key Management; Understanding the Components

Chapter 10—Encryption and Key Management BlueScale Key Management
August 2017 User Guide—Spectra T50e Library
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BLUESCALE KEY MANAGEMENT
BlueScalekeymanagementistightlyintegratedintoyourSpectraT50e 
library.Encryptionishandledthroughencryption‐enabledLTO‐4andlater
generationdrives.BlueScaleEncryptionkeymanagementisprovided
throughthelibrary’suserinterface.
Understanding the Components
TheBlueScaleEncryptionkeymanagementsystemhastwomajor
componentswhichtogetherletyoueasilyimplementthestrongest
encryptionavailable,asrecognizedbytheUnitedStatesFederal
Government:AESencryptionusinga256‐bitkey.
 TheBlueScaleKeyManagementsoftwareThekeymanagement
featureisaccessedthroughthelibrary’suserinterface,eitherusingthe
operatorpaneloraremoteconnectionthroughtheBlueScaleweb
interface.Optionally,youcansecurethewebbrowserusingSSL.
SpectraBlueScalekeymanagementisavailableinStandardand
ProfessionalEditionstomeetyoursitesecurityrequirements(see
StandardEditionvs.ProfessionalEdition).
 TheencryptionchipintheLTO‐4andlatergenerationdrivesUsing
hardw areencryptionmakesencryptionextremelyfastandplacesno
burdenonyournetwork.Encryption‐enabledLTO‐4andlater
generationdrivesperformtheencryptionasthedataiswrittentotape.
Afterencryptionisenabled,dataisautomaticallyencryptedasitis
backedup.
Encryption and LTO-3 LTO‐3andearliergenerationdrivesdonotsupport
drive‐basedencryptionandcannotbeusedinapartitionconfiguredtouse
drive‐basedencryption.
LTO-4 and later commonality Theencryption‐enabledLTO‐4andlater
generationdrivesusethesameencryptionalgorithm,ensuringthatdata
encryptedbyanLTO‐4drivecanbereadbyanencryption‐enabledLTO‐5
drive.
Notes:  Youcanonlyuseonetypeofencryptioninapartition.
 BlueScaleEncryptionkeymanagementisnotcompatible
withSpectraSKLMkeymanagement,becausetheycannot
shareencryptionkeys.