The advantage of cryptographic algorithms in Ultrium LTO Backup Tape Drive

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As new techniques and technologies are being introduced with the passage of time, it has become more important for the comapanies to adapt new techniques to have backup storage for the data. Therefore, the data storage medium must have fast data recovery ands storage speed. The data storage medium must be faster and reliable in order to compete in the market.

For the purpose of backup storage, the magnetic tape is considered as one of the most rigid, reliable, effiecient and robust medium. The ultrium LTO (Linear Tape Open) tape offers its users the best solutions to solve the backup storage issues. It has the capacity to store and retrieve high volumes of data at a high speed.

All the cryptosystems are based on the cryptographic algorithm techniques. The cryptographic algorithm techniques are described below:

The secret key encryption
The Secret Key encryption is also known as symmetric encryption. This Secret Key encryption technique uses one key for encryption and decryption as well. The secret key is subdivided into two more classes that are the stream ciphers and block ciphers.

The block ciphers operate on discreet blocks of data, while on the other hand the stream ciphers encrypt character by providing a continuous stream of encrypted data. The need of high-performance applications is supported by the secret key.
Symmetric encryption is best suited for large amounts of fast moving data, usually encrypted in blocks. DES (Defense Encryption Standard), triple DES, AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) and Blowfish are typical examples of Symmetric encryption algorithms.

The Hash technique of encryption
The hash technique is also known as a Message Digest and one-way hashes.
The Message Digest simply maps plaintext of any length into cipher text of a
fixed length. This technique is widely used for primitive security checks for digital
signatures, message integrity, or for password verification. Cryptographic hash
functions are used to prove message integrity and create digital certificates.
The flaws in this system include the fact that there is no usage key, and it is impossible to recover the original plaintext. Typical implementations include SHA1 and MD5.

The hash technique takes a large string of data and converts it mathematically into a fixed-length string. In Hash functions you cannot recreate the original data from the hash. However, they are unique and provide a form of digital fingerprint for a message or data string. The Message Digest technique is also used for checking passwords. The hashes of the passwords are kept in a file. When a username and password is entered, the result is compared with the version on file. The basic requirements of a hash function H(x) are:
 The length of input is any.
 There is fixed length of the output.
 To compute H(x) from x is relatively easy.
 The computation of x given H(x) is not possible. This means that H(x) is one way
 For different x, the same hash is never repeated. Therefore, the H(x) is collision free

The asymmetric encryption or Public key encryption
This public key technique has one public and one private key as a pair of keys.
The public key may be widely distributed and on the other hand, private key is kept secret. This pair of keys is related mathematically, but the private key cannot be practically derived from the public key. A message which has been encrypted with the public key can only be decrypted with the corresponding private key.

For further details and online order, please visit www.tape4backup.com

Information about the Author: Shawn Paul (Marketing Manager) Tape4backup.com 34972 Newark Blvd, # 501, Newark CA 94560 Tel : 888-491-4949 Fax : 888-449-5050 Email: sales@tape4backup.com Hardware Articles: http://www.article-buzz.com

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