PMC-Sierra: Controller-Based Encryption Products for Enterprise Storage

PMC-Sierra,
Inc. announced a new family of Tachyon storage
protocol controllers featuring its StorClad encryption technology
platform that significantly improves system performance, cost and
manageability compared to currently available data security solutions.

According to IDC, total spending on IT security hardware and software
will reach $65 billion by 2010, while only a fraction of critical data
is currently being secured due to the high cost and low performance of
today’s software or appliance-based solutions.

PMC-Sierra’s new
protocol controllers with integrated data encryption, the PM8031 QE8e+
for Fibre Channel and PM8002 SPCe 8x6G for SAS/SATA, enable storage
OEMs to deliver high-performance secure storage solutions without
introducing costly new components or equipment into the data center
(see Figures 1-3). PMC-Sierra’s StorClad controllers are capable of
delivering 400,000 IOPS performance per channel at a fraction of the
cost of today’s encryption appliances.

PMC-Sierra’s controllers with StorClad technology can be deployed
into existing storage system infrastructures, preserving years of IT
investment by eliminating the need for new and expensive disk-drive
technology or external security appliances. The StorClad architecture
supports the IEEE 1619.3 Key Management standard, is compatible with
Key Management Servers (KMS) and works seamlessly with key management
technologies from partners, such as RSA, to manage the keys and
encrypt/decrypt the data through an advanced key management interface.

"It is more critical than ever for companies to increase the
security and integrity of valuable information throughout the extended
enterprise. In order to help our joint customers better protect their
information, we are pleased to be working with PMC-Sierra through our
RSA Secured technology partner program to achieve interoperability
between PMC-Sierra’s Tachyon Fibre Channel and SAS controllers with
StorClad encryption technology and RSA Key Manager software," said
D.J. Long, senior director, Corporate Development at RSA, The Security
Division of EMC. "Our organizations are committed to help mitigate
risk to sensitive information throughout its lifecycle to ensure that
it is always an asset – and not a liability – in order to allow
organizations to accelerate their business objectives."

"PMC-Sierra worked closely with leading storage OEMs and Key
Management providers to develop these innovative controller-based
encryption solutions," said Mark Stibitz, vice president and general
manager for PMC-Sierra’s Enterprise Storage Division. "Integrating
StorClad technology into our Tachyon Fibre Channel and SAS/SATA
controller family enables our customers to offer advanced data
security in a practical encrypted storage system solution, while
maintaining their existing software and hardware infrastructure."

Security Technology Innovation with Industry Standards
PMC-Sierra’s StorClad storage architecture includes Tachyon
controller-based encryption, protocol controller software and an
advanced key management and programming interface, supported through
PMC-Sierra’s Tachyon Software Development Kit (TSDK). The StorClad
encryption architecture is scalable to thousands of HDDs and enables
the flexibility to encrypt at the Logical Unit Number (LUN),
Application or I/O level. It supports multiple servers and encryption
zones, and greater than one million keys in a single controller to
deliver high-performance controller-based encryption system solutions
at a fraction of the cost of using specialty storage appliances or
deployment of encrypted HDDs.

"Common arguments against data encryption, like performance,
management complexity, and cost, influence IT purchasing decisions and
leave the data center vulnerable," said Greg Schulz, founder and
senior analyst of StorageIO. "By integrating encryption capabilities
in their Fibre Channel and SAS/SATA protocol controllers, PMC-Sierra
makes it practical to encrypt all data in the enterprise, including
data at rest, in a cost and management friendly manner."

StorClad encryption and data security features include:

• Multiple IEEE 1619 compliant XTS-AES encryption engines;
• FIPS / NIST certified ECB-AES encryption mode;
• NIST recommended AES Key Wrap engines for each port;
• Data parity protection across cryptographic boundaries;
• Internal Data Encryption Key (DEK) cache;
• 256-bit encryption keys;
• Write-only encryption key registers;
• Support for 520 block sizes;
• External Key Management Interface and API;
• and I/O protocol independent APIs.

PMC-Sierra,
Inc.