Fujitsu Eternus LT140 LTO With Up to 280 Slots Tape Library Vs. Ransomware

Fujitsu Ltd. introduces a tape system that provides the last line of defense for organizations facing ransomware and other malware attacks.

The ETERNUS LT140 simplifies the process of running and managing the backup and archive of corporate data for entire organizations. In case ransomware strikes, securely held offline backups can be used to restore data to a point in time before the attack – providing failsafe recovery.

Ransomware attacks continue to cripple businesses and government organizations alike – with hospitals in particular hit hard in recent months. Analyst firm IDC warns that growing amounts of data held by organizations are becoming an increasingly attractive target for hackers. Being forced offline means interruption to day-to-day operations – and recovering from ransomware attacks takes time and money, as well as causing damage o an organization’s reputation.

Recognizing that just one targeted malware email can lead to entire systems becoming compromised and encrypted by a rogue attacker, the company is focusing on providing a failsafe line of defense: automated regular backups for critical business data. When encrypted backups are stored offline, they are out of reach of hackers, and provide a last line of defense against ransomware and other cyber-attacks. What’s more, magnetic tape-based systems provide a reliable, proven and cost-efficient option for off-premises, as well as second tier storage and long-term archiving.

Scalable and flexible solution for small to medium-sized environments, the ETERNUS LT140 is the latest addition to the firm’s Storage ETERNUS family. It offers long-term data protection and DR strategies. It is a tape system that combines the enterprise performance of the latest, industry standard LTO-8, with a modular design to meet fast-expanding storage, backup and archiving needs.

It allows businesses to add extra storage capacity on a pay-as-you-grow basis by increasing the number of tape cartridges and drives, and scales up to 8.4PB of data – enough to protect email, document and database.

Highly automated, simple and remote operation features make ETERNUS LT140 suitable for use in remote sites, where organizations usually do not have tech know-how to hand. Compatible with LTFS, the system provides a graphical interface to storage folders and files, enabling access to tape content just as if the data was held on disk or flash storage. LTO-8 technology with hardware-based data encryption ⁽²⁾ enhances security and compliance while ensuring high capacity, high speed and low storage costs. Like all ETERNUS LT systems, the LT140 supports the WORM (Write Once, Read Many) protocol – which means that data is held in a non-erasable, non-rewritable format – safely out of the reach of the most malicious malware.

Olivier Delachapelle, head, data center category management, Fujitsu EMEIA, says: “Being hit by ransomware and other forms of malware can cause serious damage not just to an organization’s reputation, but also lead to costs associated with extended downtime that mount up on an hourly basis. Keeping encrypted backups offline, on tape, is a simple step to maintain the accessibility of critical data at all times, and something that helps organizations get backup and running fast after disaster strikes. Our high-capacity tape libraries should be an essential part of any 3-2-1 data protection strategy: keep at least three copies of data, store two backup copies on different storage media, and store one offline.”

In addition to being a stand-alone solution for long-term backup and archiving, the ETERNUS LT140 also offers a cost-and-energy-efficient enhancement as second-tier storage, when combined with the ETERNUS CS family of data protection appliances.

The ETERNUS LT140 is available in EMEIA from February 2019, from the company and through channel partners. Pricing varies according to configuration.

⁽¹⁾ Scalable from 20 up to 280 slots
⁽²⁾ All ETERNUS LT systems are enabled for encryption, offering enhanced security and compliance. In addition, ETERNUS LT140 offers multiple options to safeguard data in a tape library or offsite with data encryption, depending on requirements for policy, regulation, compliance and centralized key management. The Key Management Interoperability Protocol (KMIP) standard for exchanging encryption keys over the network gives customers the flexibility to deploy a single key management system to manage their encryption keys for multiple devices in the data center. ETERNUS LT can be ordered from a basic configuration of 20 slots in a 3U base unit to up to 7 library modules with a total 280 slots, and a storage capacity of up to 8.4PB.