Nexsan Assureon
Secure Archive Storage System

Features:

Integrity

• Fingerprints – Each time a file is saved, a unique fingerprint is generated using both an MD5 and SHA1 hash of its contents and metadata, so history and contents cannot be altered after the fact (WORM storage)
• Serial Numbers – Each file is assigned a serial number which is used to ensure no files are missing or inappropriately added
• Secure Time – Tampering with the system time clock is prevented by using a global, redundant, secure time source (Stratum Level I hardware time sources
• Two Copies – Each file and its fingerprint are stored twice in the Assureon. The second copy is either stored in a separate RAID disk set in the same Assureon or on a remote Assureon
• Data Verification – Files are continually verified against their fingerprints, repaired using their copies and safeguarded by RAID disk arrays for days or decades

Scalability and High Availability

• Remote Replication – Two active Assureon systems can continuously replicate to each other to protect against a site failure
• Failover/failback – Native active/active replication protects against site disasters with automatic read failover and manual write failover
• Performance & Capacity – Scale capacity up to multiple petabytes and add performance by using multiple Assureon archive storage systems together
• InfiniBand – Optional High Speed Assureon with InfiniBand connectivity provides blazingfast retrieval of data from the Assureon archive

Privacy

• Separation of Data – Assureon provides complete separation of data between departments or projects using logical and physical separation as well as separation through the use of multiple AES-256 encryption keys
• Encryption – Files can be AES-256 encrypted. Keys for a replicated Assureon are stored safely at 4 sites by the integrated key management system. A nominal annual key management subscription is required
• Authentication – Users are authenticated with Active Directory or digital certificates • Audit Trails – Audit trails report on file access and denied access attempts

Regulatory and Corporate Compliance

• Government Regulations – Meet regulatory mandates (e.g., Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP), SOX, SEC-17, HIPAA, GLBA and PCI DSS)
• Data Retention – Easily create retention rules and associate them with unstructured data directories or file types
• Legal Hold – A legal hold can be easily placed on any set of files, overriding their original retention periods until the hold is removed
• One System – Data sets can be retained for a period of time that can be extended but not shortened. Other data sets can be assigned a flexible retention period that can be lengthened or shortened to accommodate both needs in the organization
• Data Deletion – Industry-leading single-pointdeletion deletes all copies by destroying the encryption key for the file and deleting all copies of the file. Optional DoD wipe of the drive is also available on a per-object granularity

Easy to Manage

• Automatic Archive – Assureon Windows Client moves files from Windows Servers to the Assureon and can leave the original file in place or optionally leave a shortcut behind
• NAS (NFS/CIFS) – Assureon Edge presents a CIFS/NFS NAS interface to users and applications and stores all files on Assureon. Both replicated and Clustered NAS configurations are available
• Fast, Easy Deployment – The Assureon Client can be installed on Windows Server 2003 or 2008 with no reboot required. Once the archiving policies are established, files and folders are archived, completely transparent to applications and users
• Global Management – Single pane-of-glass management of all local and remote Assureon
• Utmost Data Protection – Protecting data with Assureon has many advantages over traditional backups including WORM, single file deletion, greater reliability and availability, and near instantaneous restores to dramatically reduced RTO
• Authentication – Assureon uses Microsoft Active Directory for authentication in the enterprise and can preserve folder-level NTFS permissions; it can also use certificates for authentication in Linux or Unix environments, standalone Windows servers or when it is used for a multi-tenancy cloud-based online archive
• Reports – Standard reports keep track of storage usage for bill back of cloud services customers or within an individual customer bill back for projects or departments
• Four levels of monitoring – Automated monitoring via system state thresholds, node events, Assureon Client and self-healing file integrity and availability audits
• Lights-out Management – Self-managing Assureon issues alerts when something needs attention

Easy to Use

• Non-disruptive – Users and applications do not need to change to work with Assureon. An application running on a Windows 2003 or 2008 server can have its data securely archived, freeing up primary storage while the application is in production
• Prior Versions – Prior versions of files are easily retrieved by administrators
• Assureon Explorer – A web-based GUI makes it easy to search the entire archive with role-based restrictions for instant access. Metadata search is included with all Assureon systems. Optional file content indexing and searching is available as an Assureon Content Index Search node for typical files such as office, textual PDF files, text files, html files, xml files, etc.

Efficient

• Free Primary Storage – Files moved to Assureon free up primary storage
• Reduce Backups – Archived folders can be removed from the backup stream, significantly reducing the size of full backups. The result is a very fast return on investment based on savings of labor, hardware, media and time
• Fast Restores – Hyper speed restores replace small shortcuts rather than the actual file contents to meet even the toughest Recovery Time Objectives (RTO)
• Power Savings – AutoMAID energy saving technology reduces power consumption by up to 60% while maintaining fast response
• Less Space Needed – Single-instance storage technology eliminates duplicate files, saving 20-60% on typical mid-sized organization’s Assureon capacity requirements

Cloud-Ready

• Multi-tenancy – Multi-tenancy features enable service providers to offer highly secure Archive-as-a-Service with logical, physical and encryption data separation
• Online Archive – An on-premise Assureon can replicate to a cloud-based Assureon powered archive service. Assureon supports one-to-one and manyto-one replication

Specifications:

Secure Automated Archive Solutions:

The Nexsan Assureon disk-based, secure automated archive solution cost-effectively consolidates storage tiers, secures data and simplifies storage management. The Assureon platform transforms the way organizations deploy and manage data archiving.

Government, healthcare and financial organization sinparticular are challenged daily with managing rapid, unpredictable growth in digital content and data, while ensuring compliance with industry and government regulations. The Assureon solution brings advanced, secure automated archiving to mid-sized organizations and enterprises to optimize storage infrastructures andmanage regulatory compliance. By deploying the Assureon solution, organizations can automate storage policies to encrypt, self-authenticate,self-manage, self-heal and self-configure storage for all unstructured files and content.

Management:

Management Made Easy

You can manage all local and remote Assureons from a single-pane-of-glass with Assureon's built-in web-based management GUI. Users and administrators are authenticated by Active Directory or via digital certificates to provide easy to use role-based administration.

Restores for servers that are being archived are lightening fast as only the shortcut files left behind need to be restored - not the entire file contents.

The system can be configured to constantly audit its files and repair them, if necessary, without the need for user intervention. Once Assureon is installed in a replicated configuration, they run continuously to automatically protect from data loss due to a disaster or malicious intent.

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Guarantee Archive Data Integrity

There is some data that is too important to lose, too private to be seen and too critical to be tampered with but every enterprise has tight budgets and time constraints. Up to 80% of data on primary storage is unstructured and either never changes or changes infrequently but it’s imperative that the enterprise keep and protect this data. This data can be easily offloaded from expensive primary storage onto a cost-effective Nexsan Assureon archive storage system without any disruption to ongoing operations. In addition, data on Assureon is automatically protected from day one without needing to be repeatedly backed up. This dramatically reduces the size, time and cost of the backup process. Once archived, Assureon makes it easy for adherence to internal guidelines for data retention, privacy, protection, chain of custody and risk mitigation.

	Appliance	Low Capacity	Enterprise
Max. System Storage Capacity	6TB (NXR Series), 8TB (AXR Series)	56TB (Small SX/SXR Series)	200TB (Large SX/SXR Series)
Rackmount Form Factor	2U	4U	6U
Expandable with Additional Units
Regulatory & Corporate Compliance
Long Term Archive
Data Verification for File Integrity
Storage Optimization
Replication to Second Site
Self-Diagnosing & Healing
Retention & Disposition
Audit Trails
AES-256 Encryption

Support:

Hardware NBD On-Site Support

Next Business Day support provides Monday through Friday, 8:00AM – 5:00PM (your local time excluding Nexsan holidays) on-site service with "Next Business Day" response. Replacement parts are shipped via overnight service and if requested, a service representative will be onsite between 8:00AM – 5:00PM the following business day.

Software Business Day Support

Business day access to the Nexsan technical support is the standard level subscribed for Assureon

Hardware 7x24 On-Site Support

On-site 7x24support is available, providing a 4 hour response for customers within a certain distance of a repair center. Replacement parts are hand delivered with a service representative that will be onsite within 4 hours following diagnosis of hardware failure.

Software 7x24 Support

For your convenience 24 x7 access to the Nexsan technical support team is available.

Documentation:

Download the Nexsan Assureon Data Sheet (PDF)

Download the Nexsan Assureon Spec Sheet (PDF)