Forum Discussion

CraigV's avatar
CraigV
Moderator
10 years ago

Hardware or software encryption...?

Hi NBU forum,   I've got a client asking for either hardware/software encryption for their tape backups, and the software they use is NBU. To my mind, I'd go with software encryption, but my...
7.5
Backup and Recovery
NetBackup
Not Applicable
  • sdo's avatar
    sdo
    10 years ago

    Hi Craig,

    I thoroughly recommend reading this:

    https://support.symantec.com/en_US/article.TECH203420.html

    ...afterwards it will all be very clear.

    I suspect the customer will go with NetBackup KMS, especially if they have LTO physical tape technology.

    HTH.

  • Marianne's avatar
    Marianne
    10 years ago

    Software encryption in NBU does not need additional license - it is included in NBU Standard Client license.

    Our recommendation is normally to go with KMS (hardware) encryption instead.

    Software encryption adds additional load on the client, needs to be configured on each client individually and encryption keys need to be added, maintained, stored for each client.
    It also offers only 56bit encryption.

    Some reading matter:

    NetBackup v7.x Whitepaper - Encryption and Key Management Solutions
    http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH203420 
    Download the pdf from the 'Attachments' link.

Marianne's avatar
Marianne
Level 6
10 years ago

Software encryption in NBU does not need additional license - it is included in NBU Standard Client license.

Our recommendation is normally to go with KMS (hardware) encryption instead.

Software encryption adds additional load on the client, needs to be configured on each client individually and encryption keys need to be added, maintained, stored for each client.
It also offers only 56bit encryption.

Some reading matter:

NetBackup v7.x Whitepaper - Encryption and Key Management Solutions
http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH203420 
Download the pdf from the 'Attachments' link.