Thales announced Thales nShield Connect 6000, a fast network-attached hardware security module and the only one to offer dual, hot-swappable power supplies.
HSMs are widely accepted as industry best practice for protecting cryptographic keys and for performing encryption and digital signing. HSMs provide a cost-effective way to increase the security of software-based systems, enforcing access control and key management policies within a tamper-resistant security environment. nShield Connect 6000 is a network-attached appliance that acts as a highly scalable, centralized resource for managing keys and protecting sensitive data for as many as 100 servers, virtual machines or other application instances – ensuring that policies are consistently applied and operational costs are significantly reduced.
nShield Connect 6000 is easily deployed to support a wide range of shared security infrastructure applications such as Microsoft Certificate Services (PKI), Entrust Authority Security Manager, RSA Certificate Manager, Oracle Database, and Microsoft SQL Server. nShield Connect 6000 is validated to FIPS 140-2 level 3.
nShield Connect 6000 benefits include:
Business continuity and field serviceability – nShield Connect 6000 is the only hardware security module to offer dual power supply units. The dual power supplies are hot-swappable, enabling customers to change one power supply at a time without having to interrupt services for maintenance tasks because the HSM doesn’t have to be shut down or sent to a service center for repair
Scalability – nShield Connect 6000 processes up to 6,000 signing transactions per second (TPS) with RSA 1,024-bit keys. It has been optimized to deliver up to 3,000 TPS when taking advantage of longer, more secure, 2,048-bit keys
Reduced cost of ownership – The resiliency of nShield Connect 6000 and the ability to provide cryptographic services to as many as 100 application instances simultaneously (a five-fold increase over previous models) reduces the total cost of ownership
Powerful key management – Acting as a centralized resource, nShield connect 6000 unifies key management policies and provides a single point from which to administer cryptographic keys, avoiding the need to visit remote servers. nShield Connect 6000 fully supports the Thales Security World key management framework providing hardware-enforced dual controls and powerful separation of duties delivering enhanced governance and above all, confidence
High security – nShield Connect 6000 features a tamper-responsive chassis; its cryptographic components are validated to FIPS 140-2 level 3 and Common Criteria EAL 4+.
nShield Connect 6000 is an extension to the nCipher product line and is fully compatible with existing Thales nShield and Thales netHSM products.
