EMC’s Storage Array Boasts New Encryption Capabilities

EMC Symmetrix VMAX Adds Encryption Capabilities and Supports up to 5 million Virtual Machines

EMC today announced new capabilities for its Symmetrix® VMAX™ storage systems, including new hardware-based encryption for safeguarding data-at-rest with no performance impact. The systems make use of built-in RSA Data Protection Manager technology which provides drive-level data security. Combined with hardened key management, and when combined with existing VMAX security technologies, the solution provides a secure multi-tenancy storage infrastructure.

Additionally, Symmetrix® VMAX™ updates include upgraded software which dramatically increase performance. EMC claims the latest version of its Symmetrix Enginuity™ software doubles system performance with no hardware upgrade required. Leveraging Intel® Xeon® technology integrated into VMAX, the system is able to deliver up to twice as many OLTP transactions and DSS queries.

Other Key EMC VMAX Updates Include

• New virtual server integration scales up to 5 million virtual machines on a single VMAX. In addition, new VMware API support provides 800% faster management and provisioning and 300% faster replication and mobility.

• New EMC FAST VP (Fully Automated Storage Tiering with Virtual Pools) software optimizes Symmetrix VMAX for performance, utilization, and cost. Compared to single-tier systems, FAST VP delivers up to 40% more application performance at a 40% lower cost while requiring 87% fewer disks and 75% less power. The energy efficiencies of VMAX with FAST VP will enable customers to reduce power consumption in 2011 by over 270 million kilowatt hours – enough to power 24,400 homes.

• New Federated Live Migration software creates a new storage category by introducing built-in array-based functionality for technology refreshes that require zero application downtime and 75% less migration time, planning, and resources.

• New native 10 Gigabit Ethernet, supporting network convergence across all host platform types, including virtual servers, open systems, and Mainframe environments. In addition, native Ethernet support can be used for remote replication over extended IP networks and provides a more than 50% connectivity cost savings compared to competitive alternatives.

“Just a few years ago, the features that EMC is delivering would have required a new hardware platform. EMC, in many ways, has changed the game with the processing power and scalability of Symmetrix VMAX, making storage software the key to automation that makes it easier than ever for customers to get value out of existing enterprise-class storage investments and to drive adoption of technologies like flash drives and virtualization of mission-critical applications,” said Brian Garrett, Vice President, ESG Lab, Enterprise Strategy Group, Inc.

Related Reading

VM Introspection: Know Your Virtual Environment Inside and Out – Knowledge is power and, when it comes to security – the more information you have about your environment – the more effective you can be at protecting it.

Ten Criteria for Evaluating Virtualization Security Solutions – Security practitioners know the requirements and functionality, which define each criterion for the physical network, but not nearly as much is known or understood about the parameters that make for a sound virtualization security solution choice.