Data encryption using Amazon KMS - Amazon Storage Gateway
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Amazon FSx File Gateway documentation has been moved to What is Amazon FSx File Gateway?

Volume Gateway documentation has been moved to What is Volume Gateway?

Data encryption using Amazon KMS

Storage Gateway uses SSL/TLS (Secure Socket Layers/Transport Layer Security) to encrypt data that is transferred between your gateway appliance and Amazon storage. By default, Storage Gateway uses Amazon S3-Managed Encryption Keys (SSE-S3) to server-side encrypt all data it stores in Amazon S3. You have an option to use the Storage Gateway API to configure your gateway to encrypt data stored in the cloud using server-side encryption with Amazon Key Management Service (SSE-KMS) keys.

Important

When you use an Amazon KMS key for server-side encryption, you must choose a symmetric key. Storage Gateway does not support asymmetric keys. For more information, see Using symmetric and asymmetric keys in the Amazon Key Management Service Developer Guide.

Encrypting a file share

For a file share, you can configure your gateway to encrypt your objects with Amazon KMS–managed keys by using SSE-KMS. For information on using the Storage Gateway API to encrypt data written to a file share, see CreateNFSFileShare in the Amazon Storage Gateway API Reference.

Encrypting a volume

For cached and stored volumes, you can configure your gateway to encrypt volume data stored in the cloud with Amazon KMS–managed keys by using the Storage Gateway API. You can specify one of the managed keys as the KMS key. The key that you use to encrypt your volume can't be changed after the volume is created. For information on using the Storage Gateway API to encrypt data written to a cached or stored volume, see CreateCachediSCSIVolume or CreateStorediSCSIVolume in the Amazon Storage Gateway API Reference.

Encrypting a tape

For a virtual tape, you can configure your gateway to encrypt tape data stored in the cloud with Amazon KMS–managed keys by using the Storage Gateway API. You can specify one of the managed keys as the KMS key. The key that you use to encrypt your tape data can't be changed after the tape is created. For information on using the Storage Gateway API to encrypt data written to a virtual tape, see CreateTapes in the Amazon Storage Gateway API Reference.

When using Amazon KMS to encrypt your data, keep the following in mind:

  • Your data is encrypted at rest in the cloud. That is, the data is encrypted in Amazon S3.

  • IAM users must have the required permissions to call the Amazon KMS API operations. For more information, see Using IAM policies with Amazon KMS in the Amazon Key Management Service Developer Guide.

  • If you delete or deactivate your Amazon Amazon KMS key or revoke the grant token, you can't access the data on the volume or tape. For more information, see Deleting KMS keys in the Amazon Key Management Service Developer Guide.

  • If you create a snapshot from a volume that is KMS-encrypted, the snapshot is encrypted. The snapshot inherits the volume's KMS key.

  • If you create a new volume from a snapshot that is KMS-encrypted, the volume is encrypted. You can specify a different KMS key for the new volume.

    Note

    Storage Gateway doesn't support creating an unencrypted volume from a recovery point of a KMS-encrypted volume or a KMS-encrypted snapshot.

For more information about Amazon KMS, see What is Amazon Key Management Service?