The , as it's officially called, offers a set of mechanisms and protocols for disk-drive encryption, authentication, configuration and policy management. When implemented in disk drives and supporting client and security-management software, Opal would provide IT managers with flexibility and interoperability in managing computers using Opal-based encryption.

"That's what we expect with this, the ability to mix and match, and we're keeping an eye on it going forward," says Ken Waring, IT director at CBI Heath, the Toronto-based Canadian healthcare provider, which today uses Seagate's embedded disk-drive encryption in computers, with management software, to protect sensitive data.

While CBI Health has found hardware-based disk encryption an excellent way to protect data, the only negative is "it's restricting us to one model," says Waring. Opal promises to bring a new level of interoperable security so that IT managers could mix and match manufacturers' Opal-based disk drives and vendor software management tools.

Backers of TCG's Opal initiative, which makes use of the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), include disk-drive manufacturers Fujitsu, Hitachi, and Seagate, as well as software vendors Wave, WinMagic, CryptoMill Technologies and others. Fujitsu, for instance, is promising Opal support in all of its Notebook drives, both the 5400 rpm and 7200 rpm, during the second quarter.

"The basic objective is how do we embed security in the drive, to have encryption and authentication, and do it in a standardized way so it works no matter what drive you have," says Lark Allen, vice president of development at Wave, which has demonstrated Opal-based interoperability with its Trusted Drive Manager working with Fujitsu's Opal implementations.