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Appliance Administration Guide > About the Appliance Administration Guide
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The maintenance and administrative tasks in this document are primarily for the SafeNet Network HSM appliance, outside of the HSM. HSM administrative tasks are described in the SafeNet HSM Administration Guide.Some activities might encompass both portions of the SafeNet HSM server.
As an HSM Server, SafeNet Network HSM provides increased operational flexibility over traditional HSMs. The SafeNet Network HSM appliance includes an integrated FIPS 140-2 level 3 HSM, the SafeNet K6 Cryptographic Engine, which offers the same high level of security as traditional HSMs.
The HSM appliance that you have purchased has been factory configured to authenticate as either:
•Password Authentication version (equivalent to FIPS 140-2 level 2, using passwords, only, for authentication and access control.
•PED (Trusted Path) Authentication version that requires the PED and PED Keys for authentication and access control.
The HSM appliance adds a secure service layer ( NTLS ) that allows the K6 SafeNet Cryptographic Engine (the HSM inside the appliance) to be shared as a service to network applications. Like traditional servers that provide e-mail, web pages, and file download (FTP) services to authenticated clients, the HSM appliance offers HSM services to clients on the network.
As an Ethernet-attached device, the HSM appliance can be shared among many applications on a network. Rather than requiring many HSMs to fulfill the security demands of many applications, one HSM appliance can be shared among many applications simultaneously.
This document contains the following chapters:
•Timestamping – NTP and Clock Drift
•Backing Up the Appliance Configuration
This preface also includes the following information about this document:
For information regarding the document status and revision history, see Document Information.