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IBM DataPower Gateway, Disk Space Monitoring, PCI DSS Compliance, Audit Logs, Encrypted Partition, Log Retention, Compliance Audit PCI DSS, Requirement 10.7, audit logs, 12 months retention, disk space, encrypted partition, log rotation, compliance dashboard, automated log archival, AWS S3, Azure Blob Monitor DataPower disk space for PCI DSS Requirement 10.7 compliance with 20%/10%/5% thresholds, automated log rotation, 12-month retention, and audit evidence dashboards for quarterly compliance reviews.

How do I monitor DataPower disk space for PCI DSS compliance?

How do I monitor DataPower disk space for PCI DSS compliance?

PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) Requirement 10.7 mandates retaining audit logs for minimum 12 months with protection against unauthorized deletion. DataPower stores audit logs on encrypted disk partitions, requiring proactive disk space monitoring to prevent log gaps.

PCI DSS Requirement 10.7

Requirement 10.7: Retain audit log history for at least one year, with a minimum of three months immediately available for analysis (for example, online, archived, or restorable from backup).

DataPower Implementation:

  • Encrypted disk partition stores audit logs (syslog, service error logs, configuration changes, access logs)
  • Disk full = log loss - When disk reaches 100%, DataPower stops writing logs (creates compliance gap, PCI DSS violation)
  • Proactive monitoring required - Detect disk space approaching limit, trigger log rotation/archival before disk full

Nodinite Configuration for PCI DSS Compliance

Step 1: Create Disk Resource - Encrypted Space

  1. Navigate: Nodinite Web Client → Repository → Monitoring Resources
  2. Create New Resource:
    • Resource type: Disk
    • DataPower appliance: Prod-Primary
    • Disk type: Encrypted (partition storing audit logs)
    • Total capacity: 250 GB (example capacity, varies by appliance model)

Step 2: Configure Threshold Alerts

  1. Set thresholds based on free space percentage:

    Threshold Free Space Used Space Alert Routing Action
    Warning <20% free 200 GB used Email operations team Proactive log rotation planning
    Error <10% free 225 GB used Slack #datapower-alerts + Email IT manager Immediate action required
    Critical <5% free 237.5 GB used PagerDuty page on-call engineer Service degradation imminent

    Example calculations (250 GB total capacity):

    • Warning: 50 GB free (200 GB used, 80% utilization)
    • Error: 25 GB free (225 GB used, 90% utilization)
    • Critical: 12.5 GB free (237.5 GB used, 95% utilization)

Step 3: Create Monitor View - Compliance Dashboard

  1. Navigate: Nodinite Web Client → Monitor → Create Monitor View

  2. Monitor View configuration:

    • Name: DataPower Disk Space - Compliance Dashboard
    • Resource type filter: Disk (encrypted partition only)
    • Time range: 90 days historical trend chart
    • Display columns: DataPower appliance, Total capacity, Used space, Free space, Free %, Last alert, Trend (increasing/stable/decreasing)

  3. Export to PDF for PCI auditor:

    • Monitor View → Export button → PDF format
    • Operations team generates quarterly report for PCI DSS auditor
    • Report demonstrates continuous monitoring, proactive alerts, zero audit log gaps due to disk full

Automated Log Rotation Strategy

When Warning alert fires (<20% free), operations team implements log rotation:

Manual Log Archival

  1. SSH to DataPower appliance (or use WebGUI)
  2. Navigate: Administration → File Management
  3. Select audit logs >90 days old (older than PCI DSS 90-day online retention requirement)
  4. Download to secure archive (AWS S3, Azure Blob Storage, on-premises NAS)
  5. Delete archived logs from DataPower (frees disk space, preserves 12-month retention in archive)

Automated Log Rotation Script

Configure DataPower cron job to automate log archival:

DataPower CLI configuration:

co
logging target syslog-rotate
  type syslog-tcp
  remote-address s3-gateway.company.com
  remote-port 514
  rotation-policy daily
  archive-mode compress-and-upload
  archive-location s3://nodinite-datapower-logs/Prod-Primary/
  retention-days 90
exit

Benefits:

  • Automated archival - Logs >90 days automatically uploaded to AWS S3 (compressed, encrypted)
  • Disk space freed automatically - DataPower deletes local logs after upload confirmation
  • 12-month retention maintained - S3 bucket lifecycle policy retains logs 365 days, then deletes

Example Timeline: Preventing PCI DSS Non-Compliance

Day 72 (Disk 80% used, 20% free):

  • Nodinite Warning alert fires → Email operations team: "DataPower Prod-Primary disk space <20% free, log rotation required"
  • Operations team reviews disk usage: 200 GB used (80%), 50 GB free (20%)
  • Investigation: Log rotation misconfigured (90-day retention vs recommended 30-day local retention)

Day 74:

  • Operations team adjusts log rotation policy: Local retention reduced to 30 days, logs >30 days archived to AWS S3
  • Archives logs 31-90 days to S3 bucket s3://nodinite-datapower-logs/Prod-Primary/ (compressed, encrypted with AES-256)
  • Deletes archived logs from DataPower (frees 35 GB disk space)

Day 76:

  • Disk usage stabilizes at 72% (180 GB used, 70 GB free)
  • Log rotation functioning correctly: Daily archival to S3, automatic local deletion after upload
  • Monitor View shows "Trend: Stable" (disk usage no longer growing)

Day 90 (PCI DSS Quarterly Audit):

  • PCI auditor requests audit log evidence for Q3 (July 1 - Sept 30)
  • Operations team provides:
    • Nodinite Monitor View PDF - "DataPower Disk Space - Compliance Dashboard" showing 90-day historical trend (demonstrates continuous monitoring, proactive alerts)
    • AWS S3 bucket listing - Logs 31-90 days archived (demonstrates 12-month retention compliance)
    • DataPower local logs - Logs 1-30 days online for immediate analysis (demonstrates 3-month online retention)
  • Audit finding: Compliant (no remediation required, zero audit log gaps, proactive disk space management documented)

Compliance Benefits

PCI DSS Requirement 10.7 compliance:

  • 12-month retention - Local logs (30 days) + S3 archive (365 days) = full year audit trail
  • Zero audit log gaps - Proactive disk space alerts prevent disk full (never lost logs due to disk capacity)
  • 3-month online availability - DataPower local logs (30 days) + recent S3 archives (60 days) = 90-day immediate analysis capability

Automated audit evidence:

  • Monitor View historical dashboard - 90-day disk usage trends (shows continuous monitoring, no manual log collection)
  • Alert history - Email/Slack notifications timestamped (demonstrates proactive response, operations team notified before issues)
  • Corrective actions documented - Alert → Investigation → Log rotation adjustment → Disk space stabilization (complete audit trail)

Scenario: Retail PCI DSS Compliance

Challenge: Retail company with 450 stores processes payment card transactions via DataPower appliances (payment gateways, PCI DSS compliance required for card processing). Previous PCI audit found non-compliance: 8-day audit log gap when DataPower disk reached 100%.

Problem:

  • Aug 12-20, 2023: DataPower Prod-Primary disk 100% full (audit logs stopped writing, 8-day log gap)
  • PCI DSS violation: Requirement 10.7 non-compliant (missing audit logs for failed payment transactions, config changes, access attempts)
  • PCI DSS penalty: $50K remediation cost (consultant forensic investigation, implement continuous monitoring, 90-day follow-up audit)
  • Potential card brand fines: $5K-$50K/month if not remediated (Visa/Mastercard fines for non-compliance, up to $500K)

Solution:

  • Configured disk space monitoring with 20%/10%/5% thresholds (Warning/Error/Critical)
  • Created "DataPower Disk Space - Compliance Dashboard" Monitor View (90-day historical trends, PDF export for auditors)
  • Implemented automated log rotation to AWS S3 (30-day local retention, 365-day S3 retention, AES-256 encryption)

Results:

  • Zero audit log gaps since implementation (18 months, continuous monitoring)
  • $50K remediation cost avoidance (proactive monitoring prevents disk full, no PCI DSS violations)
  • $500K potential fine avoidance (card brand fines prevented by maintaining continuous compliance)
  • Quarterly PCI audits pass (auditor reviews Nodinite dashboard, confirms continuous monitoring + 12-month retention)

Next Steps

  1. Monitor Setup: Create disk space resources for your DataPower encrypted partition
  2. Alert Configuration: Set thresholds (Warning <20%, Error <10%, Critical <5% free space)
  3. Dashboard Creation: Create a Monitor View for PCI DSS compliance dashboard (90-day historical trend)
  4. Log Rotation: Implement automated log archival to AWS S3 or secure archive location
  5. Audit Preparation: Export Monitor View PDF quarterly for your PCI DSS auditor

For more scenarios: