Patent ID: 7873170

Claim:
An article of manufacture comprising a computer readable storage medium including code executed to communicate with a key server and perform operations, the operations comprising: maintaining active keys in an active area of a keystore, wherein at least one active key in the keystore is associated with at least one storage device and available for encrypting and decrypting data with respect to the associated at least one storage device; loading the active keys from the active area of the keystore into a key manager to use to encrypt and decrypt data with respect to the storage devices associated with the active keys in response to an operation to load the keystore into the key manager; receiving a request for an operation with respect to a specified active key that causes the specified active key to be removed as an active key from the keystore; indicating the specified active key in the active area as inactive, wherein inactive keys are not available for use to encrypt and decrypt data; removing the active keys indicated as inactive from the active area of the keystore; copying the active keys indicated as inactive to an inactive key repository at the key server in response to indicating the active keys as inactive, wherein inactive keys indicated as in the inactive key repository are not available to use to encrypt and decrypt data with respect to the associated at least one storage device; receiving a request to restore one of the inactive keys to the keystore to make available to decrypt and encrypt data for the at least one associated storage device associated with the requested inactive key; and indicating the requested inactive key to restore as active in the keystore, wherein a restored key and any other active key in the keystore associated with the at least one storage device with which the restored key is associated are available to be provided from the keystore to use to encrypt and decrypt data with respect to the at least one storage device with which they are associated.