Enterprise network security and extensions to Galois/counter mode encryption

The need for improved security has been widely recognized in the information technology industry. However, the increased overhead associated with most data encryption schemes has not been fully quantified for either current generation enterprise servers or future systems. In this paper, the author reported on an enterprise storage area network test bed used to evaluate the performance impact of strong data encryption on data-in-flight, over distances typically associated with a disaster recovery network. Results suggest that this impact is minimal, paving the way for the implementation of hybrid encryption/authentication techniques in future networks. One such approach, the Galois/counter mode, including a summary of recent industry standardization efforts in this area was reviewed.