Brocade Fabric OS Encryption Administrator’s Guide Supporting RSA Data Protection Manager (DPM) Environments (Supporting Fabric OS v7.2.0) - Manual (Page 41)

Fabric OS Encryption Administrator’s Guide (DPM) 21
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Smart card usage
2
Using system cards
System cards are smart cards that can be used to control activation of encryption engines. You can
choose whether the use of a system card is required or not. Encryption switches and blades have a
card reader that enables the use of a system card. System cards discourage theft of encryption
switches or blades by requiring the use of a system card at the switch or blade to enable the
encryption engine after a power off.
When the switch or blade is powered off, the encryption engine will not work without first inserting
a system card into its card reader. If someone removes a switch or blade with the intent of
accessing the encryption engine, it will function as an ordinary FC switch or blade when it is
powered up, but use of the encryption engine is denied.
The system card feature requires a compatible Brocade Network Advisor release (version 10.3 or
later for pre-Fabric OS v7.0.0, and version 11.1 or later for Fabric OS v7.0.0 or later) that supports
this feature. All nodes in the encryption group must be running Fabric OS v6.3.0 or later for system
verification to be properly supported.
To register a system card from a card reader, the smart card must be physically available.
The System Cards dialog box can be accessed by selecting a switch from the Encryption Center
Devices table, then selecting Switch > System Cards from the menu task bar. The Register System
Card dialog box displays. (Refer to
Figure 11 .)
FIGURE 11 System Cards dialog box
The dialog box contains the following information:
• Group System Card: Identifies if smart cards are used to control activation of encryption
engines.
• Registered System Cards table: Lists all currently registered system card serial numbers and to
whom the cards are assigned by first and last name. Also included are any free-form notes
related to the cards.
• Register from Card Reader button: Launches the Register from Card Reader dialog box.
• Deregister button: Launches the Deregister dialog box.