Well, if I was less than clear ("fuzzy") then I apologize for any
confusion. And in retrospect, perhaps I misunderstood, at least to some
degree, what Frank was driving at.
My point was not to suggest that you can't scan the data and pick off
identifiable or readable bits (assuming plain text data), but in a real
production environment, this is a far cry from being able to reproduce
ready-to-use files to get your shop up and running again. Can a copy
program like ditto duplicate the sequential media? Sure. Can you use a
program like ditto to view or restore the original files in their original
format? No... at least no more or less than you can do by scanning the
original volume.
The degree of obfuscation depends. To be fair, you knew what to look for
on the sequential volume you created; and I'd bet that you used a plain
text file that was not compressed by the client. Try your test again, but
this time back up several hundred MB of .zip, Lotus Notes databases, or
other files comprised primarily of binary data. Can you still reproduce
the original data by pulling it from the sequential media and pasting it
into a file? Also, other TSM metadata will get inserted into the data
stream, making it harder to distinguish only the original file data. If
you have the means, try reading a TSM tape volume with some tape tool...
can you really make out all the files on the tape? There aren't obvious
signposts saying, "Here is the beginning of file X" and "here is the end
of file X".
I can assure you that if you were to lose your TSM server database and
could not restore it, you would be *very* hard-pressed to figure out how
to reconstruct that data just from the tapes. Even the folks who designed
the storage components of TSM cannot always successfully get data back
with just the tapes. That is why there is so much emphasis placed on
protecting the TSM server database.
And with all of this said, it should be further understood that the
obfuscation I am talking about (and "obfuscation" is my word for it, not
official TSM lingo) is not intended for security. It just happens as a
result of how the data is stored. For security, use client side
encryption, as I mentioned earlier and as you just reiterated. And
Richard's point is also well made about physically securing the media.
Regards,
Andy
Andy Raibeck
IBM Software Group
Tivoli Storage Manager Client Development
Internal Notes e-mail: Andrew Raibeck/Tucson/IBM@IBMUS
Internet e-mail: storman AT us.ibm DOT com
The only dumb question is the one that goes unasked.
The command line is your friend.
"Good enough" is the enemy of excellence.
"ADSM: Dist Stor Manager" <ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU> wrote on 2005-02-18
16:43:59:
> There has been a lot of fuzzy information on this topic. I did a little
> experiment and found that TSM sequential files on disk are not
obfuscated
> at all. The tests show that the data is stored in the sequential file
in
> the format of the original file with the entire file stored
sequentially.
> I presume that TSM stores data on tapes in the same way. This means
that
> the client data on tape is readable by a third party program. You must
> use encryption to secure the data, don't depend on TSM obfuscation!
>
> Orville L. Lantto
> Datatrend Technologies, Inc. (http://www.datatrend.com)
> IBM Premier Business Partner
> 121 Cheshire Lane, Suite 700
> Minnetonka, MN 55305
> Email: Orville.Lantto AT datatrend DOT com
>
> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail message, including any attachments,
is
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> and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or
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please
> contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the
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>
>
>
> Andrew Raibeck <storman AT US.IBM DOT COM>
> Sent by: "ADSM: Dist Stor Manager" <ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU>
> 02/18/05 01:43 PM
> Please respond to
> "ADSM: Dist Stor Manager" <ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU>
>
>
> To
> ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU
> cc
>
> Subject
> Re: Reading client data from a storage pool tape.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > If you dump the data off of the tape, what do you see.
>
> That depends. Factors to consider include:
>
> - Format of the data that was backed up (was it already compressed or
> encrypted, for example)?
>
> - Use of client-side encryption (use this if security is required)
>
> - Use of client-side compression (helps to obfuscate the data)
>
> - Use of tape hardware compression (helps to obfuscate the data)
>
> Even assuming that you don't do any of the above, the data is stored in
a
> proprietary format. You just can't read the tape and pick off whole,
> intact files up from start to finish. The need for an intact TSM server
> database to restore the client data is necessary in order for the data
to
> be read from the tapes and put back on the client, in its original
format.
> But a serious hacker could probably get at bits and pieces of the data.
> This is why we offer client-side encryption of the data (compression
isn't
> the same as encryption per se, but it offers another layer of
obfuscation
> just the same).
>
> Regards,
>
> Andy
>
> Andy Raibeck
> IBM Software Group
> Tivoli Storage Manager Client Development
> Internal Notes e-mail: Andrew Raibeck/Tucson/IBM@IBMUS
> Internet e-mail: storman AT us.ibm DOT com
>
> The only dumb question is the one that goes unasked.
> The command line is your friend.
> "Good enough" is the enemy of excellence.
>
> "ADSM: Dist Stor Manager" <ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU> wrote on 2005-02-18
> 12:20:54:
>
> > Let me rephrase the question.
> > If you dump the data off of the tape, what do you see.
> >
> > Frank McClean
> > ITSB SSU
> > (916)795-1353
> > frank_mcclean AT calpers.ca DOT gov
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: ADSM: Dist Stor Manager [mailto:ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU] On Behalf
Of
> > Andrew Raibeck
> > Sent: Friday, February 18, 2005 11:16 AM
> > To: ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU
> > Subject: Re: Reading client data from a storage pool tape.
> >
> >
> > I found this pretty quickly in the Admin Guide.
> >
> > Chapter 24 "Protecting and Recovering Your Server"
> >
> > Verse "Database and Recovery Log Protection: An Overview"
> >
> > "The database contains information about the client data in your
storage
> > pools. The recovery log contains records of changes to the database.
If
> > you lose the recovery log, you lose the changes that have been made
> > since the last database backup. If you lose the database, you lose all
> > your client data."
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Andy
> >
> > Andy Raibeck
> > IBM Software Group
> > Tivoli Storage Manager Client Development
> > Internal Notes e-mail: Andrew Raibeck/Tucson/IBM@IBMUS
> > Internet e-mail: storman AT us.ibm DOT com
> >
> > The only dumb question is the one that goes unasked.
> > The command line is your friend.
> > "Good enough" is the enemy of excellence.
> >
> > "ADSM: Dist Stor Manager" <ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU> wrote on 2005-02-18
> > 11:47:59:
> >
> > > "The only way to read client data from a tape is to set-up another
TSM
> >
> > > server, and restore the database from your current TSM server onto
it.
> >
> > > You would then be able to access the data on the tape, it cannot be
> > > done without TSM." I have heard this several times.
> > > Where in the IBM TSM documentation
> > > does it specifically state this?
> > > I need to quote chapter and verse to an auditor.
> > >
> > > Frank McClean
> > > frank_mcclean AT calpers.ca DOT gov
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