SME Roles

SME services include the following four configuration and security roles:

• SME Administrator

• SME Storage Administrator

• SME Key Management Center (KMC) Administrator

• SME Recovery Officer

The SME Administrator configures and maintains SME. This role can be filled by multiple storage network administrators. The SME Storage Administrators are responsible for SME provisioning operations and the SME KMC Administrators are responsible for the SME KMC administration operations. The security officer may be assigned the SME KMC Administrator role in some scenarios.

Note SME Administrator role includes the SME Storage Administrator and the SME KMC Administrator roles.

The SME Recovery Officers are responsible for key recovery operations. During SME configuration, additional Recovery Officers can be added. SME Recovery Officers play a critical role in recovering the key database of a deactivated cluster and they are responsible for protecting the master key. The role of the SME Recovery Officer separates master key management from SME administrations and operations. In some organizations, a security officer may be assigned to this role.

At the advanced security level, a quorum of SME Recovery Officers is required to perform recovery procedures. The default is 2 out of 5. In this case 2 of the 5 recovery officers are required to unlock the master key.

For additional information on SME Administrator and SME Recovery Officer roles, see the “Creating and Assigning SME Roles and SME Users” section on page 2-19.