Eclipz From Optica Technologies

Native Performance and Investment Protection From an Inline ESCON Tape Encryptor

The cost of not protecting confidential information can result in negative publicity, irreparable harm to a company’s brand and reputation, lawsuits, and millions of dollars in costs and penalties. As the problem of lost and compromised data continues to grow, diligent companies must protect sensitive information at all stages of transmission, use, and storage. One new product that provides users with the means to implement best practices for securing mainframe tap data at rest is the Eclipz ESCON tape encryptor – Eclipz TM – from Optica Technologies Inc.

“As the problem of lost and compromised data continues to grow, diligent companies must protect sensitive information at all stages of transmission, use, and storage.”

Eclipz is an inline appliance that delivers hardware-accelerated encryption via native ESCON channels with fully transparent, high-performance data encryption for ESCON tape systems. Designed specifically for enterprise data centers, Eclipz provides many benefits, including:

• Native ESCON tape performance
• Preservation of legacy ESCON tape device investments
• Interoperability with leading appliance-based and mainframe-based key management solutions
• Supports four ESCON channels in single appliance (six channels in future release)
• Based on industry standard 2U Linux server
• Facilitates and provides security for backup and recover operations, and information sharing with business partners.

Optica is committed to open key management. As a consequence, Eclipz is architected to provide complete interoperability with leading appliance-based key management solutions designed for storage infrastructures as well as host-based key management applications through the IBM Cryptographic Services Facility (ICSF).

Competing inline encryptors require two appliances strapped back to back and replacement of ESCON tape systems with open systems tape. For these reasons, they are not cost-effective, do not have enterprise-class reliability, and are complex to configure, install, and maintain.

Leveraging Optica’s extensive IBM channel expertise, Eclipz is built upon the same Linux-based platform as the popular Prizm FICON-to-ESCON Converter appliance. Eclipz supports up to four native ESCON channels within a single appliance and provides encryption for a variety of ESCON tape drive models, including IBM 3490 and Sun 9840 and 9490.

Eclipz’s crypto-accelerator hardware supports the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) with a key size of 256 bits (the same encryption level approved by the U.S. government to protect top-secret information). The on-board compression delivers nominal throughput of 10MB to 14MB/second per channel, minimizing the impact on system throughput or latency. Eclipz was designed with ease-of-use and flexibility in mind and can be managed locally or remotely via a Web-based interface or Telnet.

In summery, Optica’s Eclipz delivers high-performance, transparent inline ESCON tape encryption that preserves investments in legacy tape devices. Eclipz gives users the means to fully secure their most sensitive information and resolves ever-expanding compliance obligations. Eclipz (patent pending) will be available in Q4 2006.

Download this article