The best practice for storing the Master CD is to store it in a secure location, such as a physical safe. The Master CD contains the server key, the public recovery key, and the private recovery key, which are essential for starting, operating, and recovering the Vault. These keys are sensitive and should be protected from unauthorized access, loss, or damage. Therefore, storing the CD in a physical safe ensures that the keys are kept in a secure location when not in use, and that they are available when needed. This is the recommended option by CyberArk1.

The other options are not best practices and should be avoided, as they expose the keys to potential risks, such as theft, corruption, or deletion. Copying the files to the Vault server and discarding the CD is not secure, as it makes the keys accessible to anyone who can access the Vault server or compromise its security. Copying the contents of the CD to a Hardware Security Module (HSM) and discarding the CD is not feasible, as the HSM can only store the server key, not the recovery keys2. Storing the CD in a secure location, such as a physical safe, and copying the contents of the CD to a folder secured with NTFS permissions on the Vault is not necessary, as it creates redundant copies of the keys that may not be synchronized or updated. Moreover, NTFS permissions are not sufficient to protect the keys from malicious or accidental actions. References:

Server Keys - CyberArk, section “Server Keys”

Store the Server Key in an HSM - CyberArk, section “Store the Server Key in an HSM”