3000 systems can encrypt, with the right backup
April 19, 2007
HP 3000s are used in many mission-critical environments. More and more these uses require top-flight security, the kind only advanced encryption of data can ensure. A longtime supplier of backup software is rolling out such advances in the newest release of Backup+/iX.
Orbit Software has clients whose data carries financial weight: banks, assets management firms and the like. These companies demand the best in encryption. Even though this kind of functionality is available from other platforms, the 3000 customer in financial sectors knows about the costs and payback of migration. It's likely to be a longer path to transition for this kind of user, according to Orbit's Keith Wadsworth.
Backup+/iX has offered password-protection, a proprietary encryption method and the 64-bit Data Encryption Standard (DES) algorithm for many years. The encryption phrase (or keyword) is clear readable text (unencrypted by itself) and identical on store and restore. To be frank, 64-bits can be easily breached by expert hackers.
Now Orbit's new Backup+/iX release is implementing Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) 256-bit encryption. Wadsworth says the financial customers in the US have until September to beef up their security through encryption. What's more, the technology is so essential, and such a competitive advantage, that few customers want to go on the record about using it.
But Wadsworth reports that Orbit has sold new licenses of Backup+/iX as a result of AES encryption. New licenses of HP 3000 software in 2007 are notable for two reasons. Of course, they show the lifespan of the computer is well beyond what HP first forecast in 2001. Second, and perhaps more important, the new sales show that new technology applied to MPE/iX has meaningful return on investment. Especially when standards compliance is in the picture.