Hardware accelerated tape encryption with Amanda backup software

By Monish Shah, CEO & CTO,
Indra Networks Inc.

Abstract

Encryption of backup data has been the most challenging task for a backup administrator in recent times. In particular, key management is the biggest difficulty. In terms of existing solutions, software encryption is slow and puts a lot of load on the CPU whereas most hardware solutions are very expensive and out of the reach of SMBs. For Amanda users, in particular, the challenge is compounded by the fact that Amanda merely provides hooks for external encryption. It does not provide the encryption software, nor does it do key management for you.

Indra Networks provides a readymade solution for Amanda users. It is based on StorSecure family of hardware accelerators, which offload both compression and encryption from the CPU. Further, these cards store keys in a secure location and Indra Networks provides a simple key management application. Everything required to integrate with Amanda is provided with the device driver. With prices starting below $1,000, this is a truly affordable hardware encryption solution for Amanda backup and Amanda Enterprise backup from Zmanda .

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