C H A P T E R
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Cisco MDS 9000 Family NX-OS Storage Media Encryption Configuration Guide
OL-29289-01
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Storage Media Encryption Overview
Encrypting storage media in the data center has become a critical issue. Numerous high profile incidents
of lost or stolen tape and disk devices have underscored the risk and exposure companies face when
sensitive information falls into the wrong hands. To satisfy the most demanding requirements, Cisco
MDS 9000 Family Storage Media Encryption (SME) for the Cisco MDS 9000 family switches offers a
highly scalable, reliable, and flexible solution that integrates encryption transparently as a fabric service
for Fibre Channel SANs.
This chapter provides an overview of the SME and the hardware and software requirements for the product.
It contains the following sections:
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About SME, page 1-1
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About MIBs, page 1-9
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Software and Hardware Requirements, page 1-10
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SME Prerequisites, page 1-13
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SME Security Overview, page 1-14
About SME
The SME solution is a comprehensive network-integrated encryption service with enterprise-class key
management that works transparently with existing and new SANs. The innovative Cisco
network-integrated solution has numerous advantages over competitive solutions available today:
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SME installation and provisioning are both simple and nondisruptive. Unlike other solutions, SME
does not require rewiring or SAN reconfiguration.
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Encryption engines are integrated on the Cisco MDS 9000 18/4-Port Multiservice Module
(MSM-18/4), the Cisco MDS 9222i Multiservice Module Switch, and the 16-Port Gigabit Ethernet
Storage Services Node (SSN-16), which eliminates the need to purchase and manage extra switch
ports, cables, and appliances.
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Traffic from any virtual SAN (VSAN) can be encrypted using SME, enabling flexible, automated
load balancing through network traffic management across multiple SANs.
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No additional software is required for provisioning, key, and user role management; SME is
integrated into Cisco DCNM for SAN (DCNM-SAN), which reduces operating expenses.
Note
When using SME, SSI images should not be loaded and installed on 18+4 cards and SSN-16. Also the
bootvar should not be set to load these images
