Features - Storage Innovations:

NeoScale SHIPS CryptoStor FC AND CryptoStor FOR TAPE

NeoScale Systems Inc, a leading provider of enterprise storage security solutions for the burgeoning networked storage and data storage management markets, today announced the availability of its enterprise-class storage security appliances which uniquely address requirements for protecting data in both primary and secondary storage. NeoScale CryptoStor FC delivers unparalleled performance, transparency and deployment flexibility to secure data access and privacy for enterprise storage systems. CryptoStor for Tape delivers seamless backup compatibility, integrity and secure recovery to authenticate, encrypt and compress data on tape libraries and virtual tape systems.

NeoScale is the first company to offer a family of scalable storage security appliances that cost-effectively deliver protection designed specifically for primary and secondary storage infrastructures. Enterprise storage strategies are driven by requirements for greater capacity, consolidation, accessibility and availability. This implies that stored data may be accessible by multiple administrative functions within the data center; be significantly dispersed on portable media; be replicated or pooled on different systems at different locations; and be managed by service providers. As advanced storage processes reduce cost or provide competitive advantage, they also introduce complexity, risk and liability -- including unauthorized access to sensitive, trusted or regulated stored data. Furthermore, enterprises recognize that most of the costliest data theft occurs through internal breaches of systems, and often need to meet compliance requirements for the same. NeoScale delivers solutions to alleviate or eliminate these threats.

"Storage security is gaining momentum as the world has moved from a direct attached to networked storage model -- in which protecting the server alone is not enough. As companies seek greater accessibility and availability, security will be as important, it not more so, than it has ever been in the past," said Steve Duplessie, senior analyst at the Enterprise Storage Group. "By providing both primary and secondary storage security solutions, NeoScale is part of a very exclusive club that has a legitimate shot to contend for this market."

"Enterprises once took a simplified approach to security. Customers fenced, locked and guarded the network perimeter but often neglected backend storage and data," said Chris Christiansen, vice president at IDC Research. "Protecting critical networked and distributed storage formerly required in-depth knowledge. Moreover, home-grown solutions were expensive to build and costly to maintain. NeoScale has made it easy to add stored data encryption and privacy enforcement as an additional layer of defense -- and offers solutions which encompass primary, nearline and secondary storage security."

"As a large, global manufacturer, our storage must take into account safeguarding a variety of sensitive information of both company and customer," said Siva Kumar, senior technical specialist at Husky Injection Molding. "The NeoScale CryptoStor product works as promised -- quick to install, easy to configure, transparent to operate, and strong protection -- without impact on processes or resources. As an appliance, it can serve our immediate needs and can scale to meet future requirements."

Securing Primary and Secondary Storage

The core appliance deployment requirements for primary storage are high performance, low latency and network transparency; where as those for secondary storage must take into account application transparency, media management and lifetime data assurance.

CryptoStor FC employs a unique in-line hardware platform that: (1) is optimized for gigabit throughput with < 100 microsecond port-to-port latency, (2) can manage hundreds of security policies without performance degradation, and (3) is completely invisible to the existing data path. The platform- and application-independent appliance can be flexibly deployed according to business requirements: at the host, within the FC fabric, in front of storage subsystems, and behind storage gateways. It's the most flexible, scalable and manageable solution for transaction-intensive storage data confidentiality (see www.neoscale.com/primary).

CryptoStor for Tape is a readily deployable tape media protection appliance that: (1) transparently supports widely used backup applications and processes, (2) integrates compression for maximum utilization of media bandwidth, and (3) enables secure media recovery and integrity regardless of tape location or maturity. Multiple backup privacy policies are centrally/remotely managed to shield pooled, distributed, unattended, virtualized and vaulted tape applications. The appliance can be placed in-front of FC or SCSI tape libraries. CryptoStor for Tape enables companies to achieve scalable, enterprise-wide tape media protection (see www.neoscale.com/secondary).

"There is considerable complexity, cost and data risk in managing storage to meet increasing business needs with fewer resources. A security solution can reduce risk and also enable storage initiatives -- only if it is simple, reliable and secure," said Aseem Vaid, CEO of NeoScale. "This requires removing application, platform and management dependencies from the function of protecting stored data. Our unique evolutionary approach allows companies to effectively enforce strong confidentiality and access controls as data migrates within and outside their organization."

Security Best Practices

A stored data encryption appliance must implement best security practices and ultimately becomes a component within a layered storage security process. The CryptoStor family shares a common security architecture which meets or exceeds FIPS 140-2 (Federal Information Protection Standards) compliance. The product's security capabilities and intuitive GUI scale to support the entry level customer to the highly secure, distributed enterprise customer and service provider. Common security feature set includes:

• Custom/modified chassis for tamper-proofing, system zeroizing, and hardened O.S.
• Widely accepted, 5th-generation encryption and compression technologies
• Stateful Storage Processing for dynamic I/O inspection and policy enforcement
• Strong AES128/256, 3DES block-level encryption and SHA1/512 authentication
• 2-factor smartcard authentication for secure remote, roles-based administration
• Comprehensive key management (generation, protection, escrow and recovery)
• Clustered operation with secure enrollment, links and policy exchange / export
• Appliance or software-based secure data migration and data recovery options

Availability

NeoScale CryptoStor has undergone extensive performance, interoperability, and reliability testing with leading storage software applications and hardware devices. Both products are now shipping with prices starting at $35,000 per CryptoStor FC appliance and $15,000 per CryptoStor for Tape appliance. The products will be made available through a select storage and security system integration channels.

About NeoScale

Founded in June 2000, NeoScale Systems Inc is a leading provider of enterprise storage security solutions, which provide robust data protection for networked and distributed storage. NeoScale CryptoStor is a family of wire-speed, policy-based storage security appliances that delivers network storage and media privacy. Our solutions lower the cost of protecting highly accessible, distributed storage infrastructures, while also enabling greater efficiencies for the management of storage capacity, consolidation, continuity and availability. For more information, visit www.neoscale.com.

Contact: Jennifer Leggio of NeoScale Systems Inc, 408-395-3600, or jennifer@dovetailpr.com.