Zaac™ is the first-ever software solution designed to connect mainframe applications to cloud and SAN storage.
It works with existing mainframe security and applications — and requires no changes to existing mainframe applications or software.
You can use Zaac to implement virtual disk and virtual tape at a lower cost and faster time-to-value with on-demand storage in the cloud. And with Zaac’s unique duplexing capabilities, you can make copies to multiple targets and cloud service providers simultaneously.
Zaac and Encryption
As a fundamental part of its design, Zaac supports the encryption solutions deployed across multiple levels of your infrastructure to ensure your data is secure at every stage of its lifecycle.
In most cases, you can use the existing encryption solutions you already have in place on the mainframe and in the cloud.
- Operating System
Zaac supports encryption at the z/OS operating system level and uses native mainframe hardware such as zEDC, Crypto Express, or zIIP.
If your files are configured with IBM z/OS encryption at rest features, this continues to work seamlessly, even when the data is ultimately stored with a cloud provider. This ensures your data remains encrypted from the mainframe to the cloud.
- Network
The major cloud providers, including Amazon, Google, and Microsoft, support SSL/TLS encrypted network sessions. Zaac leverages these protocols to secure data transmission between your mainframe and the cloud provider’s data centers. This level of encryption ensures that your data is protected during transfer, preventing interception by unauthorized parties.
Some clients use sophisticated VPN environments between their data centers and the cloud provider’s data centers. In these scenarios, clients can use Zaac’s flexible encryption settings to avoid double encryption, optimizing performance while maintaining security.
- Physical Storage
Encryption at the physical storage level depends on the capabilities of the cloud provider, most of whom offer end-to-end encryption.
Depending on your needs, you might find that offloading encryption tasks to the cloud provider reduces MIPS on your mainframe, saving you time and money.
If you are using z/OS encryption, the data remains encrypted when stored on virtual disks in the cloud, in most cases eliminating the need to encrypt the data any further.
Flexibility and Control
In today’s digital landscape, data security is paramount. With the rise of hybrid cloud environments, ensuring that your data is protected at every stage of its journey is crucial.
By supporting existing encryption solutions at the operating system, network, and physical storage levels, Zaac offers a comprehensive and flexible approach to data security, letting you mix and match levels of encryption based on your security and performance needs.
Whether you need to protect data at rest on the mainframe, secure data in transit to the cloud, or ensure data remains encrypted within the cloud provider’s storage, Zaac has you covered.
