Data Storage & Virtualization Securing the Data Centers of Tomorrow

As today’s hybrid enterprise scales towards tomorrow’s AI-dominated compute domain, the importance of mass data storage and cyber resilience comes to the forefront.  Securely storing enterprise data across global data centers to drive daily business operations, while protecting sensitive training models from compromise, so they can continuously automate is a complex task for any enterprise IT organization.  

Storage, compute capacity and cybersecurity will drive tomorrow’s enterprise at a scale never seen before

Data protection strategies for tomorrow’s mass compute operations won’t change but they will need to scale. More workloads require more digital signatures to maintain integrity and more keys to provide confidentiality. Seamless security, authentication and authorization will drive tomorrow’s availability and user experience. Signing and encryption key depth across tomorrow’s enterprise will increase exponentially. Having an automated, centralized key management system will be paramount to separate the keys from the data they are protecting and to issue them upon request and “with assurance” to applications, agents, workloads, etc. in mass and at scale!

Utimaco x IBM - Utilizing Key Management Power for Long-Term Data Security

Utimaco and IBM have formed a technology partnership designed to deliver unparalleled security for enterprise and data center storage which is crucial for the protection of sensitive data stored throughout global data footprints.  

The Power of Two…

IBM is addressing these needs with Storage Virtualize, a software defined storage solution that powers IBM Flash System, enhancing the way businesses manage their data storage. By virtualizing the storage, data can be managed independently from its location (on-premises or in the cloud) as if it was consolidated in one single storage place.

The validation of Utimaco’s Enterprise Secure Key Manager (ESKM) with IBM Storage Virtualize separates the cryptographic keys from the store, encrypted data – eliminating any risk of exposure to data-at-rest.  Together, they resolve the secure storage security challenges facing all enterprise IT organizations today.  

IBM’s Storage Virtualize combined with Utimaco’s ESKM offers a number of benefits to the enterprise data security operations to include:  

• Centralized Management
  Flexibility to unify different storage systems under one management interface, simplifying operations and allowing data mobility across different storage tiers and vendors.
• Broad Virtualization Support
  Works with VMware, OpenShift, and Kubernetes environments, including a plugin to manage storage directly within vCenter.
• Cost Efficiency
  Utilizes AI-enabled, in-line data reduction, including compression and deduplication, to store up to five times more data, reducing physical infrastructure costs.
• Availability 
  Enables non-disruptive operations, seamless migration and volume management without taking applications down, enhancing availability.
• Cyber Resilience
  Features AI-powered ransomware detection and IBM Safeguarded Copy to create immutable snapshots, allowing fast recovery from cyberattacks.
• Improved Performance
  Employs IBM Easy Tier to automatically move hot data to faster storage (flash) and cold data to lower-cost tiers, optimizing performance and cost.
• Hybrid Cloud Capability
  Supports storage virtualization in the cloud with IBM Storage Virtualize for Public Cloud, facilitating data replication and disaster recovery between on-premises and platforms like IBM Cloud, Azure, and AWS.
  By integrating Utimaco’s Enterprise Secure Key Manager (ESKM) with IBM’s Storage Virtualize, the keys utilized to encrypt the data in Flash Systems can also be managed independently and centrally through one central access point.
• Reliable Data Protection
  The security of encrypted data is influenced by the security of the data encryption keys. By protecting the crypto keys separate from the virtual or physical storage clusters, data security is significantly enhanced.
• Central Key and Data Access Management 
  By utilizing the capabilities of ESKM, the encryption keys to server-stored data are accessible and manageable through one single pane of glass. This provides the capability for central access control.
• Compliance Fulfillment 
  Through its highly secure architecture ESKM enables reliable key protection enabling compliance with corporate, regional and various global requirements.
• Standards The Key Management Interoperability Protocol (KMIP) 
  Represents a single protocol supported by many of today’s enterprise data security solutions whether storage arrays, servers, databases or applications - enabling versatility and scale throughout the enterprise data security domain.
• Automation 
  Is a critical for today’s digital enterprise but table stakes tomorrow as AI takes compute and storage to another level.  ESKM must be able to store and serve keys to IBM Storage Virtualize to enable reliable, automated, secure access to data at rest stored on IBM Flash Systems throughout the global data footprint.

Utilizing ESKM’s central protection and management capabilities for data encryption keys, unlocks the highest protection levels for server-stored data for IBM Storage Virtualize.

-> You want to learn more about how ESKM enables a significantly higher level of data security for IBM Storage Virtualize? 
Download our Joint Solution Brief to get a deeper understanding on all combined benefits.

Are you ready to unlock the potential of centralized Key Management for enhanced protection of your digital environment? 

Discover Utimaco’s Key Management System portfolio. Either deployed on-premises as hardware or virtual appliances, or as fully hosted cloud-based as a Service-option—our solutions provide the single pane of glass for all your cryptographic keys.

At Utimaco, we provide superior Key Management Solutions offering robust, interoperable key management—on-premises or in the cloud—to ensure secure storage for data-at-rest (DAR). With Enterprise Secure Key Manager we deliver the most interoperable and integrated Key Management System in the market, providing a single pane of glass for all cryptographic keys. 

Enterprise Key Manager as a Service is our as a Service-based solution providing enhanced management and control over cryptographic keys based on converged KMS and HSM capabilities.

Get in touch with our experts and discover how Utimaco’s solutions can make your cryptographic key migration secure and effortless—laying a trusted foundation for your organization’s digital future.

About the Author

David Phister

Director Product Management, Utimaco