Using CA Tape Encryption in Your z/OS Environment › Integrated Compression for Symmetric Key Encryption › How Integrated Compression Works

How Integrated Compression Works

Integrated compression runs with no user intervention required. The following points outline the process of how integrated compression and expansion work:

1. The Compression and MinimumCompressionRate attributes are specified in the dynamic options and the symmetric key options at the site that creates the encrypted tape.

   Note: If you change the compression attributes in the dynamic options or symmetric key options after you start CA Tape Encryption, you can refresh them with the REFRESH=OPTIONS or REFRESH=SYMKEYS commands. In the rare situation where the compression modules themselves or the compression tables are changed, the RELOAD=COMPRESSION command must be issued on each active BES task on the system. Typically you will only need to use the RELOAD=COMPRESSION command if instructed to do so by CA technical support.

2. The program determines that a file is a candidate for encryption.
3. The file is compressed based on the settings for the dynamic options and the symmetric key options for the specified key.
4. The file is encrypted.
5. The file is written to tape with a standard user label that indicates the compression method used.
6. The tape is sent to an internal site or disaster recovery site where CA Tape Encryption is running. Because the required compression and expansion programs and tables are automatically loaded and made resident when the first BES address space is started, any compressed file can be expanded with no user intervention required.
7. The tape is read.
8. CA Tape Encryption determines that the file has been encrypted and reads the standard user labels to identify the compression method used.
9. The file is decrypted.
10. The file is expanded using the compression method indicated on the standard user label.