5 reasons to implement self-encrypting server drives

A couple weeks ago, Seagate added FIPS 140-2 certification to its Momentus line of laptop drives. Today, Seagate added FIPS 140-2 certification to its enterprise class Savvio, Cheetah, Constellation, and Constellation ES drives. Instead of going into what FIPS means for these drives (you can read that here), I thought I would list the top 5 reasons to integrate self-encrypted drives in your server or storage system:

• True government grade security – not just a tag-line…the government says so.
• Instant secure-erase – in a matter of seconds cryptographically erase the entire drive with no possible way to get remnant data off of it.  Perfect for drive disposal and/or repurposing.
• Auto-lock – once the drive is powered down or removed from the system, it’s locked with no way of accessing it without the key. This is an additional layer of protection in the event of smash and grab theft of servers or storage, and internal theft of bare drives.
• High Performance – even with Seagate Secure, you get the same Seagate performance you experience with non self-encrypting drives.
• Compatibility & Standards – when bundled with a TCG compliant controller like LSI’s MegaRAID, be rest assured 100% compatibility and set standards for the technology….no niche technology here.

For more details on this announcement, check out David Szabados blog on Inside IT Storage.

Security Resources:

Storage Effect Blogs on Security
Inside IT Storage Blogs on Security
Seagate.com/security
Seagate Secure Enterprise drives