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Market Roundup June 22, 2007 HP Secure Advantage New Foray into Security Market |
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HP Secure Advantage New Foray into Security Market
HP this week unveiled a new security offering to protect
data and resources and validate regulatory compliance across the entire IT
infrastructure, from the desktop to the data center. The HP Secure Advantage
portfolio of servers, storage, software, and services helps customers securely
share information, improve identity management and compliance controls, ensure
business continuity, and defend against network attacks. The HP Secure
Advantage portfolio offers a secure, identity-driven audit trail for policy
monitoring and enforcement. It covers all aspects of security—people, processes,
and technology—to help enterprise customers safeguard intellectual property, reduce
revenue losses, minimize disruption to the business, and deliver cost-effective
validation with proof of compliance. A key part of HP Secure Advantage is the
new HP Compliance Log Warehouse, a general purpose, high-performance appliance
that performs high-speed collection and analysis of log data. The HP Compliance
Log Warehouse is based on industry-standard HP Integrity server technology and
is the second solution in the HP Trusted Compliance family. The appliance’s Log
and Analysis Manager, including a real-time alert manager module based on
SenSage technology, performs high-speed analysis of security event data for
internal and external audits or forensic investigations. It also scans log
record data in real time for policy enforcement. Alerts then go to trained
personnel for further investigation and action.
The new standards-based Information Security Service
Management (ISSM) reference model from HP Services guides an organization
toward managing and mitigating operational risk across the enterprise through
the deployment of highly operationalized security controls. This approach is
designed to reduce compliance costs, ensure that security controls address all
enterprise risks, and help achieve a best-in-class InfoSec program. HP ISSM is
part of the new HP Service Management Framework, which provides a common
language based on industry best practices and international standards ITIL v3,
CMMI, CobiT v4, ISO/IEC 20000, and ISO 27001 to help customers achieve
continuous alignment between business and IT and deliver IT services at defined
service levels, quality, and cost targets. HP ISSM provides a comprehensive
enterprise view and security governance framework for service-level agreements,
operations-level agreements and policies, processes and procedures, and assures
the integrity and protection of information and assets through an effective
IT-related risk management strategy using HP’s large portfolio of security
lifecycle services in the areas of security governance and compliance, identity
management, proactive security management and trusted infrastructure. Other
aspects of the portfolio include Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) 256-bit
encryption with the new HP StorageWorks LTO-4 Ultrium1840 tape drives. Also
included in the portfolio is HP Anti-phishing Toolbar, a
industry-first two-factor authentication and site validation solution and the
HP Identity Center.
We believe that built-in security is always better than
bolt-on. Security offerings from one of the industry’s major infrastructure
players always warrant a second look and HP’s announcement is no exception. We
are aware of the architectural benefits of a single
vendor architecture and the procurement savings that can often be realized in
such an arrangement. We find the notion of the HP Compliance Long Warehouse
especially intriguing. HP, like many other vendors, is waving the Compliance
Banner to add marketing impetus to their products. We don’t subscribe to the
theory that mere log reports, not matter how automated, mean compliance. They
may be an indicia of an organized means of tracking
log data, but are not necessarily compliance tools.
The breadth of the portfolio across log data analysis, tape encryption/back-up, identity management, and operational risk should be viewed as a shot across the bow of Symantec and Computer Associates. Both of these vendors bridge the infrastructure and security segments and both would be impacted by the success of HP’s offering. As with most security products, the ultimate key is complementary services. We believe that the key to success for HP is breaking the code on optimizing the success of its VAR and Systems Integrator partners, a code that the competition hasn’t cracked either. Overall however, we feel that HP’s entry into the security market at the infrastructure level will bode well for organizations at the top of the mid-market and those in the enterprise space. We expect to see HP push its offerings in the Public Sector to larger local governments as well as state and federal government departments.
HP has introduced what it has dubbed its green storage
technology that can cut storage array power and cooling costs in data centers
by 50%. The new offerings feature thin provisioning and performance
enhancements for the HP StorageWorks Enterprise Virtual Array (EVA) family,
tape drives based on the Linear Tape Open (LTO) 4 standard, new DAT 160 tape
drives for SMBs, and the first HP StorageWorks tape product developed
exclusively for HP BladeSystem c-Class. Through the use of EVA Dynamic Capacity
Management (DCM), Vsnap and FATA disk drives, the new EVAs help organizations
that are seeking to optimize hard drive utilization, eliminate unnecessary
storage purchases, manage IT resources and storage provisioning tasks, and
improve power efficiency by up to 45% compared with previous EVAs. Similar to
thin provisioning, and leveraging the virtual disk service volume shrink
feature in Windows Server 2008, DCM continuously monitors storage utilization
and automatically grows/shrinks host volumes to match application needs, thus
reducing ongoing storage administration tasks.
The HP StorageWorks LTO-4 Ultrium1840 tape drive targets the
mid-sized and enterprise market segment as HP’s highest-capacity, fastest-performing
and most secure tape backup, while consuming up to 50% fewer watts/GB than
previous versions. The LTO-4 technology and AES 256-bit data encryption
protects user data from unauthorized access if cartridges are misplaced or
stolen. This tape drive will also be available in HP StorageWorks MSL, EML and ESL E-Series Tape Libraries. The HP Ultrium 448c
Tape Blade is a new half-height tape storage blade for the HP BladeSystem
c-Class chassis. This blade is designed for customers that are not connected
into a SAN, by providing direct-attach data protection for c-Class server
blades while taking advantage of the HP Dynamic Power Saving
mode to achieve up to a 22% reduction in power consumption. The HP StorageWorks
DAT 160 tape drive targets SMBs and features either a SCSI or USB interface,
delivers backup speeds of up to 50GB/hour with up to 160GB of capacity on a
single cartridge, and consumes fewer watts/GB than previous versions of DAT
drives.
In accordance with the continued bolstering of HP’s green
credentials, each of these updated products prominently feature reduced power
consumption per unit of storage not only for disks, but also for tape, which is
often thought as an offline or intermittent storage technology. Of course, the
most effective way to conserve energy is to not use it in the first place, or
at least postpone its use. Through a thin provisioning approach, such as DCM,
the dynamic deployment of storage can more closely follow actual needs for
capacity in the moment. While some may see this simply as forestalling the
inevitable purchase and deployment of storage, it nevertheless reduces capital
expenditure in the short term but definitely reduces the power consumed in
order to deliver a given storage capacity. Additionally, by leveraging the
Virtual Disk Service volume shrink feature in Windows Server 2008, more
organizations will likely take advantage of this capability, especially those
who may not have been aware of such abilities, or who have considered their
deployment and management beyond their organization’s scope or ability.
The HP Ultrium 448c Tape Blade is interesting in that it
seeks to address a sometimes overlooked need in the datacenter, i.e., backup of
the locally mounted disk drives on server blades. While many bladed solutions
are interconnected, rather easily, to a SAN or NAS, there are some
installations that are standalone, operating in a computing silo. This may be
due to a variety of factors, often political in nature; however, not having
access to a reliable backup mechanism leaves the organization at risk. By
offering a tape solution in a blade form factor, HP has addressed this need in
way that does not require altering the blade solution environment but offers
protection to the system directories, applications, and any other resident data
or files contained within the blade chassis. As a result, organizations are
protected, do not need to alter their consolidated bladed approach through an
externally mounted tape drive, and can further leverage the operational and
energy efficiency of their blade chassis investment.
During the past few months we have witnessed several announcements of varying scope and depth from HP regarding energy efficiency, recycling, and other green initiatives. The list of announcements has been numerous and vocal enough that perhaps the company is considering changing the colors in its logo to be green as well. But in all seriousness, the company has made a substantial strategic investment in both its products and corporate direction to focus on delivering products that are environmentally friendlier. This announcement further illustrates the steadfastness of the company in this regard.
CA Application Wizard for SSO: Magic Wand or Twig?
CA, Inc. today announced the availability of a new
Application Wizard for CA Single Sign-On, a key component of its Identity &
Access Management (IAM) solution. The Application Wizard makes it easier for IT
administrators to automate single sign-on so that end users can take advantage
of fast, convenient access to their applications. Single sign-on is also
designed to improve security and reduce help-desk calls by providing access to
multiple applications through a single authentication. The Application Wizard
complements the existing Tcl scripting language in CA Single Sign-On, which
empowers IT administrators to SSO-enable even applications with complex,
multi-stage logins. This combination of wizard- and script-based SSO enablement
makes CA's IAM solution suitable for implementing single sign-on in today's
highly diverse enterprise environments. This latest enhancement further extends
the capabilities of CA's IAM solution, which automates the management of user
identities throughout their lifecycle to ensure that only properly authorized
users can access critical IT resources.
Easy-to-use and transparent single sign-on capability is a
Holy Grail of security practitioners. The ability to compartmentalize access by
individual, role and application is a level of
granularity that has only been theoretical at best. The heterogeneous and
evolving nature of application environments has made it especially difficult
for organizations to implement a uniform Identity and Access Management scheme
across their IT infrastructure. As organizations continue to open up themselves
to Internet based communications from customers, suppliers, and other
stakeholders the need for more robust identity and authentication becomes more
critical.
We believe that transparency and ease of use are the keys to success for SSOs. End users are so frustrated with the plethora of passwords they have to remember and the often confusing and complex rules for each, that a transparent and secure SSO, especially one that can delineate permissions across applications, will be viewed favorably. We believe that CA may find this wizard casting a spell to better sales by making the customer’s life easier and more secure.
IBM Updates Systems Director Virtualization Manager
IBM has announced Systems Director Virtualization Manager
v1.2, a new release of its virtualization management software featuring a
Web-based user interface that simplifies basic virtualization management tasks
while providing an integrated view of virtual and physical system resource
usage, simplified administration, and increased energy efficiency by optimizing
system utilization. Virtualization Manager complements existing virtualization
capabilities on IBM systems such as the Hardware Management Console and
Integrated Virtualization Manager on POWER-based processors. The new release
will integrate support to simplify the management of POWER-based hardware and
virtual partitions from a single set of interfaces to provide better visibility
of utilization information across POWER servers including CPU, memory, network,
and disk resources. The software will now discover the virtualized resources of
the Virtual I/O server, allow a view of the CPU utilization for IVM-managed
systems, and show the POWER Hypervisor view of CPU
utilization. IBM Systems Director Virtualization Manager V1.2 will be available
in the third quarter of 2007 and will be available for POWER-based servers as
well as x86 architectures.
IBM also announced two new tools. IBM Systems Director
Virtual Availability Management allows customers using Xen-based
virtualization on x86-based server to create a high-availability server farm
providing secure live relocation for Xen virtual
machines, and promises little to no downtime, simplified maintenance and
migration tasks, and predictive server failure. IBM Systems Director Virtual
Image Management provides a unified view of system templates and server images
on all supported hypervisors and x86-, AMD-, and
POWER-based systems to help organizations easily manage and deploy new virtual
servers.
Systems Director has served as a foundation on which to
build the systems monitoring and management capabilities necessary to ensure IT
service delivery, and the initial release of Virtualization Manager extended
this management foundation to support virtual server management. With this
release we see support extended to the POWER-based processors, which together
with the release announcement of System p AVE makes a great deal of sense.
Software-based virtualization on x86 systems has been the norm for many
organizations, the initial focus on this platform was expected, but with IBM as
a whole offering a variety of hardware platforms, all of which have either
software- or hardware-based virtualization or both, expanding the capabilities
of Virtualization Manager delivers more value to IBM’s customers, as well as to
the company itself.
The large pool of Linux applications found on x86 systems that are common in many organizations is ripe for consolidation and virtualization. Being able to efficiently manage these applications on both x86 and alternative platforms in such a virtualized environment will be of strategic importance. The new additional support for x86 environments, including integration with Storage Configuration Manager, will in our mind help to make Virtualization Manager a key component of organizations’ server and storage management initiatives. Further, for those who have already deployed cross-enterprise service management through Tivoli software, the seamless integration of System Director should be very appealing. As virtualization is maturing into a commonly accepted technology in the datacenter, the need for management tools will only continue to grow in importance and we believe that this latest component of Systems Director is well positioned to meet this need.