Host Node Certificate Verification for Secure DR Failover
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing data management systems face inefficiencies in disaster recovery scenarios, particularly when host nodes need to re-establish secure connectivity with secondary storage clusters after primary clusters go offline, requiring manual intervention that is tedious and error-prone, especially for large numbers of host nodes.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a root certificate associated with a certificate authority on host nodes to verify the authenticity of certificate chains presented by secondary storage clusters, allowing automatic reconnection without manual intervention through TLS handshakes and symmetric key encryption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If manual intervention is used to re-establish secure connectivity between host nodes and secondary storage clusters, then security can be maintained through certificate verification, but the process becomes tedious and error-prone especially for large numbers of host nodes
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-distributing root certificates to host nodes before disaster scenarios occur. This allows the host nodes to have the necessary trust anchors already in place, enabling automatic verification of secondary cluster certificates without manual intervention during the actual disaster recovery process
Solution Approach 2:
The host nodes are configured to automatically verify certificate chains presented by secondary storage clusters using the pre-installed root certificates. This self-service mechanism eliminates the need for manual certificate verification and reconfiguration, allowing the system to autonomously re-establish secure connectivity
2Reliability
If manual reconfiguration is performed for each host node when primary storage cluster fails, then secure connectivity can be re-established, but the process is time-consuming and reduces productivity
Solution Approach 1:
Root certificates are pre-distributed to all host nodes in advance, so when a disaster occurs, the verification process can proceed automatically without waiting for manual certificate distribution and installation, dramatically speeding up the reconnection process
Solution Approach 2:
The root certificate serves multiple purposes: it is used to verify certificates from any secondary storage cluster, making the verification process universal and applicable across all host nodes simultaneously, enabling parallel reconnection operations
3Reliability
If public key encryption is used to establish secure connections, then data security is improved, but the system becomes vulnerable to data loss and corruption when storage nodes go offline
Solution Approach 1:
The root certificate acts as an intermediary trust anchor that enables secure verification of secondary cluster certificates. This intermediary mechanism allows the system to transition from primary to secondary clusters while maintaining security, solving the adaptability problem without compromising data security
Data Source
AI summary
A method for establishing secure connectivity is described. The method may include transmitting, to one or more host nodes of a data management system (DMS), an indication of a backup service configuration that includes a public key certificate associated with a first cluster of storage nodes in the DMS and a root certificate associated with a certificate authority. The method may further include establishing a primary connection between the first cluster and the host nodes using the public key certificate. The method may further include obtaining, by a second cluster of storage nodes in the DMS, a certificate chain signed by the certificate authority. The method may further include establishing a secondary connection between the second cluster and the host nodes in response to the first cluster becoming disconnected from the host nodes, where the secondary connection is established using the certificate chain.