[ksk-change] [ksk-rollover] root zone KSK rollover operations workshop planning

[Richard Lamb]

Andy-

I pretty much agree /w Kim.  However, just for the record, as many of you
know my personal opinion has been to either roll the KSK (as the community
seems to desire) or replace the HSMs in a key ceremony with the 7 RKSHs
present sooner than later.  As 5 years was the recommended replacement
interval for the HSMs (and what we therefore put in the DPS as a sensible
rollover date), IMHO the conservative approach would be to replace the units
before the 5 year mark as the units were purchased about a year prior to
putting into service.  As you know the HSMs are rarely "plugged-in" meaning
that we are operating in the worst case scenario for the batteries which do
not charge when plugged in (they are "primary" cells).  So the tamper
circuitry is continually drawing current.  So, although the shelf-life of
the battery is 10years according to the data sheet, the lifetime will  be
much less.  
That being said, Kim is right that conversations with the HSM vendor
indicate that we are probably ok past 5 years. At minimum I have suggested
that we review our HSM failure recovery procedures and be prepared.  So I
believe we are covered even in the worst case.

I hope that helps.

-Rick





-----Original Message-----
From: ksk-rollover-bounces at icann.org [mailto:ksk-rollover-bounces at icann.org]
On Behalf Of Kim Davies
Sent: Monday, September 22, 2014 7:02 PM
To: Andy Linton
Cc: ksk-rollover at icann.org
Subject: Re: [ksk-change] [ksk-rollover] root zone KSK rollover operations
workshop planning

Hi Andy,

On Sep 22, 2014, at 3:53 AM, Andy Linton <asjl at lpnz.org> wrote:
> 
> My understanding of the specs of the HSMs used in the current key
ceremonies is that they have a lifetime of around 5 years. Does this need to
be factored into the planning for KSK rollover?

The short answer is no. Irrespective of the work on KSK rollover, our
intention is to either replace or augment the existing HSMs with new units
next year. If there is a key rollover and it nicely aligns to this schedule,
great, but I don't think the two activities are necessarily aligned.

The HSMs report their battery status upon use and all are reporting good
battery condition. We have spoken with the vendor and they have indicated
they are expected to last more than 5 years. There seems to be no reason for
immediate concern however we are taking a conservative approach to it.

kim
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