Configure encryption for storage, disks, and data

When planning and administering Azure for SAP workloads, it is crucial to ensure the security of your storage, disks, and data. Azure provides several encryption mechanisms that can be used to protect your critical SAP data and maintain compliance with industry standards.

1. Azure Storage Service Encryption

Azure Storage Service Encryption (SSE) provides encryption at rest for your data stored in Azure. SSE automatically encrypts your data before persisting it to Azure Storage. This encryption is performed using Azure’s managed keys, which are protected by industry-standard AES-256 encryption.

To configure SSE for your storage accounts, you can enable it during the creation of the storage account or later by navigating to the storage account settings. SSE is enabled by default for new storage accounts created in Azure, but it can be manually disabled if needed.

2. Azure Disk Encryption

Azure Disk Encryption is another important feature that provides encryption at rest for your virtual machine disks. With Azure Disk Encryption, the data on the disk is encrypted using BitLocker Drive Encryption technology. This ensures that even if the underlying physical disk is compromised, the data remains secure.

To enable Azure Disk Encryption for your virtual machines running SAP workloads, you need to meet the following prerequisites:

• Azure Active Directory (AAD) tenant ID and AAD client ID
• Azure Key Vault for storing disk encryption keys
• Properly configured Azure Virtual Machines and managed disks

Once you have met these prerequisites, you can enable Azure Disk Encryption by following the step-by-step instructions provided in the official Microsoft documentation.

3. Azure Data Encryption with Transparent Data Encryption (TDE)

Azure SQL Database, which is commonly used for SAP deployments, supports Transparent Data Encryption (TDE). TDE helps in protecting the sensitive SAP data by encrypting the database, backups, and transaction log files.

To enable TDE for your Azure SQL Database, you need to follow these steps:

1. Create an Azure Key Vault to store the TDE protector.
2. Enable TDE on the Azure SQL Database by configuring the TDE protector.

ALTER DATABASE [database_name] SET ENCRYPTION ON

3. Backup the TDE protector to the Azure Key Vault.

BACKUP CERTIFICATE [certificate_name] TO URL = 'https://[key_vault_name].vault.azure.net/keys/[key_name]'

By following these steps, you can ensure that your sensitive SAP data stored in Azure SQL Database is encrypted to meet compliance requirements.

Summary

In this article, we discussed the importance of configuring encryption for storage, disks, and data when planning and administering Azure for SAP workloads. We covered three main encryption mechanisms provided by Azure:

• Azure Storage Service Encryption (SSE)
• Azure Disk Encryption
• Azure Data Encryption with Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) for Azure SQL Database

By implementing these encryption mechanisms, you can enhance the security of your SAP data, protect against unauthorized access, and maintain compliance with industry standards.