Access Controller Virtualizes Non-Volatile Storage for Host Verification
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current information handling systems do not allow host operating systems to directly access all non-volatile storage, making it difficult for system administrators to verify the integrity and security of such storage against malware and other compromises.
Innovation Solution
An access controller is used to copy contents from inaccessible non-volatile storage to a storage medium, presenting it as a virtual storage device to the host application, enabling access and verification through checksum or cyclic redundancy checks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the host operating system directly accesses all non-volatile storage, then the system administrator can verify the integrity and security of storage contents, but current hardware designs do not allow this direct access
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a management controller as an intermediary component between the host operating system and the non-volatile storage devices. The management controller includes a storage interface that provides the host OS with access to non-volatile storage contents that would otherwise be inaccessible. This mediator enables the host application to read and verify storage contents without requiring changes to the existing hardware architecture or direct host OS access to storage devices.
2Reliability
If verification processes are performed on non-volatile storage contents, then the integrity and security of the system can be ensured, but the process requires copying contents from inaccessible storage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a copying mechanism where the management controller copies non-volatile storage device contents to a storage medium that is accessible to the host operating system. The storage interface presents this copied content as a virtual storage device to the host application. This copying approach enables verification processes such as checksum or cyclic redundancy check comparisons without requiring complex direct access mechanisms to the original inaccessible storage devices.
Data Source
AI summary
An information handling system (IHS) and a method for a host application to access and verify contents within all non-volatile storage of the IHS. The method utilizes an access controller that has access to non-volatile storage which cannot be directly accessed from a host operating system. The access controller, upon receiving a request from the host application to view contents in a non-volatile storage that is not accessible to the host application, copies the contents of the un-accessible non-volatile storage to a storage medium communicatively coupled to the access controller. The access controller then presents the storage medium as a virtual storage device to the host application, enabling the host application to access the copied contents of the un-accessible non-volatile storage.