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What is the difference between NSE and NVMe SED drives?

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Applies to

  • ONTAP 9
  • NetApp hardware-based encryption
    • NVMe SED drives (not FIPS 140-2 certified)
    • NetApp Storage Encryption (NSE) (FIPS 140-2 level 2 certified)

Answer

NetApp Storage Encryption (NSE), full disk encryption is available with FIPS 140-2 level 2 self-encrypting drives (SEDs). Full disk encryption is also available for NVMe SEDs that do not have FIPS 140-2 certification.

NSE NVMe SED
Entire disk encrypted Entire disk encrypted
AES 256 encryption AES 256 encryption
Onboard or external key management Onboard or external key management
FIPS 140-2 level 2 validated when used with external key manager; FIPS level depends on key manager use and implementation No FIPS 140-2 certifications
All drives (including HA pairing) must be NSE drives; you cannot mix NSE and
non-NSE drives		 You can mix NVMe SSDs and NVMe SEDs, but not NSE drives
Source: Datasheet NetApp Storage Encryption, NVMe Self-Encrypting Drives, NetApp Volume Encryption, and NetApp Aggregate Encryption

Additional Information

 

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