Security Considerations

Security is an important part of a highly available system. An insecure system is difficult to make highly available; unauthorized access can cause an outage, and recovering from a security breach can be very time consuming. Software environment security affects every part of the software stack. Any weak link can compromise the rest of the system. Here are the security features and options you must consider:

• Develop a comprehensive security strategy. This strategy should include physical as well as electronic security.

• Use passwords that are difficult to guess.

• Assign an account or login only to personnel who require access to the system.

• Do not share accounts; instead share roles. Use appropriate grouping techniques, such as UNIX groups or Solaris role-based access control (RBAC), for defining roles.

• Use encryption, when appropriate, to protect confidential or sensitive data.

• Implement written policies and procedures for handling security matters.

• Implement security hardening as appropriate.