ENCRYPTION KEY MANAGEMENT IN A DATA STORAGE SYSTEM COMMUNICATING WITH ASYNCHRONOUS KEY SERVERS

One general aspect of encryption key management by a data storage controller which communicates with asynchronous key servers is directed to issue a prepare for enable command to request an encryption key from an encryption key server. State machine logic transitions from an unconfigured state to a prepare for enable state in which key server mirror management logic receives from a key server a requested encryption key and caches the received key. In an enabling state, enablement logic verifies successful mirroring of the encryption key by a key server to another key server and activates the encryption key if key mirroring by key servers is verified. In an enabled state, data is encrypted using the verified, activated encryption key. Other features and aspects may be realized, depending upon the particular application.