PowerFlex and CloudLink: A Powerful Data Security Combination
Mon, 17 Aug 2020 21:41:08 -0000
|Read Time: 0 minutes
Security and operational efficiency continue to top IT executives’ datacenter needs lists. Dell Technologies looks at the complete solution to achieve both so customers can focus on their business outcomes.
Dell Technologies’ PowerFlex is a software-defined storage platform designed to significantly reduce operational and infrastructure complexity, empowering organizations to move faster by delivering flexibility, elasticity, and simplicity with predictable performance and resiliency at scale. PowerFlex provides a unified fabric of compute and storage with scale out flexibility for either of these ingredients to match workload requirements with full lifecycle simplification provided by PowerFlex Manager. Dell Technologies’ CloudLink, data encryption and key management solution, supports workload deployments from edge to core to cloud, providing a perfect complement to the PowerFlex family that enables flexible encryption tailored to the modern datacenter’s needs.
With increasing regulatory and compliance requirements, more and more customers now realize how critical encryption is to securing their data centers and need solutions that are built into their platforms. CloudLink, integrated with PowerFlex, provides reliable data encryption and key management in one solution with the flexibility to satisfy most customer's needs.
Built-in, not bolt on
CloudLink’s rich feature set integrates directly into the PowerFlex platform allowing our customers access to CloudLink's encryption and key management functionality, including data at rest and data in motion encryption, full key lifecycle management, and lightweight multi-tenancy support.
- Encryption for PowerFlex
CloudLink provides software-based data encryption and a full set of key management capabilities for PowerFlex, including:
- Policy-based key release to ensure data is only unlocked in a safe environment
- Machine grouping to ensure consistent policy configuration across drives
- Full key lifecycle management to maintain proper encryption key hygiene
- Key Management for Self-Encrypting Drives (SED)
SEDs offer high performant hardware-based Data-at-Rest Encryption ensuring that all data in the deployment is safe from prying eyes. On a PowerFlex platform, CloudLink can manage the keys for each individual drive and store them safely within our encrypted vault where customers can leverage CloudLink's full key lifecycle management feature set. This option, also integrated and deployable with PowerFlex Manager, is ideal for your sensitive data assets that require high-performance.
- Encryption for Machines
Sometimes Data-at-Rest Encryption is not enough, and our customers need to encrypt their virtual machines. CloudLink provides VM encryption by deploying agents on the guest OS. CloudLink's agent encryption gives our customers the ability to move encrypted VMs throughout their environment making tasks such as replication, deployment to production from QA, or out to satellite offices, safer and easier.
CloudLink’s encryption for machines agent can also encrypt data volumes on bare metal servers allowing customers to keep their data safe even when deployed on legacy hardware.
- Key Management over KMIP
When 3rd party encryptors need external key management, they turn to solutions that implement KMIP (Key Management Interoperability Protocol). This open standard defines how encryptors and key managers communicate. CloudLink implements the KMIP protocol both as a client and a server to provide basic key storage and management for encryptors such as VMware’s native encryption features, or to plug-in to a customer’s existing keystore. These capabilities provide the flexibility required for today’s heterogenous environments.
Supporting the modern datacenter
There is a sea change occurring in data centers brought on by the relatively new technology of containers. 451 Research, a global research and advisory firm, released the results of its 2020 Voice of the Enterprise survey, which indicates that as companies consider the move to containerized deployments, security and compliance concerns are top of mind. However, for so many of the new container technology products from which to choose, proper security is not built-in.
Given the extreme mobility of containers, keeping customers’ data safe as applications move throughout a deployment – especially within the cloud – is a challenge. To address this gap, we introduced file volume encryption for Kubernetes container deployments in our CloudLink 7.0 release, which has been validated with PowerFlex 3.5. Our container encryption functionality is built on the same full lifecycle key management and agent-based encryption architectural model that we currently offer for PowerFlex. We deploy an agent within the container such that it sits directly on the data path. As the data is saved, we intercept it and make sure it is encrypted as it travels to and then comes to rest in the data store.
Data security doesn’t need to mean complex management
Hand in hand with PowerFlex, CloudLink provides data encryption and key management with unmatched flexibility, superior reliability, and simple and efficient operations complete with support from Dell as a complete solution. The PowerFlex Manager is a comprehensive IT operations and lifecycle management tool that drastically simplifies management and ongoing operation. CloudLink is integrated into this tool to make the deployment of the CloudLink agent a natural part the PowerFlex management framework.
Are you interested in PowerFlex and CloudLink? Please visit our websites for PowerFlex or CloudLink or reach out to your Dell Technologies sales representative for help.
Related Blog Posts
PowerScale Security Baseline Checklist
Sat, 01 Oct 2022 23:21:56 -0000
|Read Time: 0 minutes
As a security best practice, a quarterly security review is recommended. Forming an aggressive security posture for a PowerScale cluster is composed of different facets that may not be applicable to every organization. An organization’s industry, clients, business, and IT administrative requirements determine what is applicable. To ensure an aggressive security posture for a PowerScale cluster, use the checklist in the following table as a baseline for security.
This table serves as a security baseline and must be adapted to specific organizational requirements. See the Dell PowerScale OneFS: Security Considerations white paper for a comprehensive explanation of the concepts in the table below.
Further, cluster security is not a single event. It is an ongoing process: Monitor this blog for updates. As new updates become available, this post will be updated. Consider implementing an organizational security review on a quarterly basis.
The items listed in the following checklist are not in order of importance or hierarchy but rather form an aggressive security posture as more features are implemented.
Table 1. PowerScale security baseline checklist
Security Feature | Configuration | Links | Complete (Y/N) | Notes |
Data at Rest Encryption | Implement external key manager with SEDs | PowerScale Data at Rest Encryption |
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Data in flight encryption | Encrypt protocol communication and data replication | PowerScale: Solution Design and Considerations for SMB Environments PowerScale OneFS NFS Design Considerations and Best Practices PowerScale SyncIQ: Architecture, Configuration, and Considerations |
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Role-based access control (RBACs) | Assign the lowest possible access required for each role | Dell PowerScale OneFS: Authentication, Identity Management, and Authorization |
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Multi-factor authentication | Dell PowerScale OneFS: Authentication, Identity Management, and Authorization Disabling the WebUI and other non-essential services |
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Cybersecurity |
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Monitoring | Monitor cluster activity | Dell CloudIQ - AIOps for Intelligent IT Infrastructure Insights |
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Secure Boot | Configure PowerScale Secure Boot | See PowerScale Secure Boot section |
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Auditing | Configure auditing | File System Auditing with Dell PowerScale and Dell Common Event Enabler |
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Custom applications | Create a custom application for cluster monitoring |
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Perform a quarterly security review | Review all organizational security requirements and current implementation. Check this paper and checklist for updates Monitor security advisories for PowerScale: https://www.dell.com/support/security/en-us |
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General cluster security best practices
| See the Security best practices section in the Security Configuration Guide for the relevant release at OneFS Info Hubs |
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Login, authentication, and privileges best practices |
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SNMP security best practices |
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SSH security best practices |
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Data-access protocols best practices |
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Web interface security best practices |
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Anti-Virus |
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Author: Aqib Kazi
Learn About the Latest Major VxRail Software Release: VxRail 7.0.400
Thu, 22 Sep 2022 13:11:44 -0000
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As many parts of the world welcome the fall season and the cooler temperatures that it brings, one area that has not cooled down is VxRail. The latest VxRail software release, 7.0.400, introduces a slew of new features that will surely fire up our VxRail customers and spur them to schedule their next cluster update.
VxRail 7.0.400 provides support for VMware ESXi 7.0 Update 3g and VMware vCenter Server 7.0 Update 3g. All existing platforms that support VxRail 7.0 can upgrade to VxRail 7.0.400. Upgrades from VxRail 4.5 and 4.7 are supported, which is an important consideration because standard support from Dell for those versions ends on September 30.
VxRail 7.0.400 software introduces features in the following areas:
- Life cycle management
- Dynamic nodes
- Security
- Configuration flexibility
- Serviceability
This blog delves into major enhancements in those areas. For a more comprehensive rundown of the features added to this release, see the release notes.
Life cycle management
Because life cycle management is a key area of value differentiation for our VxRail customers, the VxRail team is continuously looking for ways to further enhance the life cycle management experience. One aspect that has come into recent focus is handling cluster update failures caused by VxRail nodes failing to enter maintenance mode.
During a cluster update, nodes are put into maintenance mode one at time. Their workloads are moved onto the remaining nodes in the cluster to maintain availability while the nodes go through software, firmware, and driver updates. VxRail 7.0.350 introduced capabilities to notify users of situations such as host pinning and mounted VM tools on the host that can cause nodes to fail to enter maintenance mode, so users can address those situations before initiating a cluster update.
VxRail 7.0.400 addresses this cluster update failure scenario even further by being smarter with how it handles this issue once the cluster update is in operation. If a node fails to enter maintenance mode, VxRail automatically skips that node and moves onto the next node. Previously, this scenario would cause the cluster update operation to fail. Now, users can run that cluster update and process as many nodes as possible. Users can then run a cluster update retry, which targets only the nodes that were skipped. The combination of skipping nodes and targeted retry of those skipped nodes significantly improves the cluster update experience.
Figure 1: Addressing nodes failing to enter maintenance mode
In VxRail 7.0.400, a Dell RecoverPoint for VMs compatibility check has been added to the update advisory report, cluster update pre-check, and cluster update operation to inform users of a potential incompatibility scenario. Having data protection in an unsupported state puts an environment at risk. The addition of the compatibility check is a great news for RecoverPoint for VMs users because this previously manual task is now automated, helping to reduce risk and streamline operations.
VxRail dynamic nodes
Since the introduction of VxRail dynamic nodes last year, we’ve incrementally added more storage protocol support for increased flexibility. NFS, CIFS, and iSCSI support were added earlier this year. In VxRail 7.0.400, users can configure their VxRail dynamic nodes with storage from Dell PowerStore using NVMe on Fabric over TCP (NVMe-oF/TCP). NVMe provides much faster data access compared to SATA and SAS. The support requires Dell PowerStoreOS 2.1 or later and Dell PowerSwitch with the virtual Dell SmartFabric Storage Service appliance.
VxRail cluster deployment using NVMe-oF/TCP is not much different from setting up iSCSI storage as the primary datastore for VxRail dynamic node clusters. The cluster must go through the Day 1 bring-up activities to establish IP connectivity. From there, the user can then set up the port group, VM kernels, and NVMe-oF/TCP adapter to access the storage shared from the PowerStore.
Setting up NVMe-oF/TCP between the VxRail dynamic node cluster and PowerStore is separate from the cluster deployment activities. You can find more information about deploying NVMe-oF/TCP here: https://infohub.delltechnologies.com/t/smartfabric-storage-software-deployment-guide/.
VxRail 7.0.400 also adds VMware Virtual Volumes (vVols) support for VxRail dynamic nodes. Cluster deployment with vVols over Fibre Channel follows a workflow similar to cluster deployment with a VMFS datastore. Provisioning and zoning of the Virtual Volume needs to be done before the Day 1 bring-up. The VxRail Manager VM is installed onto the datastore as part of the Day 1 bring-up.
For vVols over IP, the Day 1 bring-up needs to be completed first to establish IP connectivity. Then the Virtual Volume can be mounted and a datastore can be created from it for the VxRail Manager VM.
Figure 2: Workflow to set up VxRail dynamic node clusters with VMware Virtual Volumes
VxRail 7.0.400 introduces the option for customers to deploy a local VxRail managed vCenter Server with their VxRail dynamic node cluster. The Day 1 bring-up installs a vCenter Server onto the cluster with a 60-day evaluation license, but the customer is required to purchase their own vCenter Server license. VxRail customers are accustomed to having a Standard edition vCenter Server license packaged with their VxRail purchase. However, that vCenter Server license is bundled with the VMware vSAN license, not the VMware vSphere license.
VxRail 7.0.400 supports the use of Dell PowerPath/VE with VxRail dynamic nodes, which is important to many storage customers who have been relying on PowerPath software for multipathing capabilities. With VxRail 7.0.400, VxRail dynamic nodes can use PowerPath with PowerStore, PowerMax, or Unity XT storage array via NFS, iSCSI, or NVMe over Fibre Channel storage protocol.
Security
Another topic that continues to burn bright, no matter the season, is security. As threats continue to evolve, it’s important to continue to advance security measures for the infrastructure. VxRail 7.0.400 introduces capabilities that make it even easier for customers to further protect their clusters.
While the security configuration rules set forth by the Security Technical Implementation Guide (STIG) are required for customers working in or with the U.S. federal government and Department of Defense, other customers can benefit from hardening their own clusters. VxRail 7.0.400 automatically applies a subset of the STIG rules on all VxRail clusters. These rules protect VM controls and the underlying SUSE Linux operating system controls. Application of the rules occurs without any user intervention upon an upgrade to VxRail 7.0.400 and at the cluster deployment with this software version, providing a seamless experience. This feature increases the security baseline for all VxRail clusters starting with VxRail 7.0.400.
Digital certificates are used to verify the external communication between trusted entities. VxRail customers have two options for digital certificates. Self-signed certificates use the VxRail as the certificate authority to sign the certificate. Customers use this option if they don’t need a Certificate Authority or choose not to pay for the service. Otherwise, customers can import a certificate signed by a Certificate Authority to the VxRail Manager. Both options require certificates to be shared between the VxRail Manager and vCenter Server for secure communication to manage the cluster.
Previously, both options required manual intervention, at varying levels, to manage certificate renewals and ensure uninterrupted communication between the VxRail Manager and the vCenter Server. Loss of communication can affect cluster management operations, though not the application workloads.
Figure 3: Workflow for managing certificates
With VxRail 7.0.400, all areas of managing certificates have been simplified to make it easier and safer to import and manage certificates over time. Now, VxRail certificates can be imported via the VxRail Manager and API. There’s an API to import the vCenter certificate into the VxRail trust store. Renewals can be managed automatically via the VxRail Manager so that customers do not need to constantly check expiring certificates and replace certificates. Alternatively, new API calls have been created to perform these activities. While these features simplify the experience for customers already using certificates, hopefully the simplified certificate management will encourage more customers to use it to further secure their environment.
VxRail 7.0.400 also introduces end-to-end upgrade bundle integrity check. This feature has been added to the pre-update health check and the cluster update operation. The signing certificate is verified to ensure the validity of the root certificate authority. The digital certificate is verified. The bundle manifest is also checked to ensure that the contents in the bundle have not been altered.
Configuration flexibility
With any major VxRail software release comes enhancements in configuration flexibility. VxRail 7.0.400 provides more flexibility for base networking and more flexibility in using and managing satellite nodes.
Previous VxRail software releases introduced long-awaited support for dynamic link aggregation for vSAN and vSphere vMotion traffic and support for two vSphere Distributed Switches (VDS) to separate traffic management traffic from vSAN and vMotion traffic. VxRail 7.0.400 removes the previous port count restriction of four ports for base networking. Customers can now also deploy clusters with six or eight ports for base networking while employing link aggregation or multiple VDS, or both.
Figure 4: Two VDS with six NIC ports
Figure 5: Two VDS with eight NIC ports with link redundancy for vMotion traffic and link aggregation for vSAN traffic
With VxRail 7.0.400, customers can convert their vSphere Standard Switch on their satellite nodes to a customer-managed VDS after deployment. This support allows customers to more easily manage their VDS and satellite nodes at scale.
Serviceability
The most noteworthy serviceability enhancement I want to mention is the ability to create service tickets from the VxRail Manager UI. This functionality makes it easier for customers to submit service tickets, which can speed resolution time and improve the feedback loop for providing product improvement suggestions. This feature requires an active connection with the Embedded Service Enabler to Dell Support Services. Customers can submit up to five attachments to support a service ticket.
Figure 6: Input form to create a service request
Conclusion
VxRail 7.0.400 is no doubt one of the more feature-heavy VxRail software releases in some time. Customers big and small will find value in the capability set. This software release enhances existing features while also introducing new tools that further focus on VxRail operational simplicity. While this blog covers the highlights of this release, I recommend that you review the release notes to further understand all the capabilities in VxRail 7.0.400.