Virtual Media Folder Mounting for KVM Security
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional virtual media methods in KVM switch systems suffer from poor reliability and security, as they allow entire physical storage devices to be mapped as virtual drives, exposing sensitive data and risking storage device crashes due to write-back errors.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a virtual media method that supports folder-mount functions, where selected source folders are presented as subfolders on a virtual drive, allowing independent access without exposing unselected contents, using a virtual media file system generated based on the file systems of storage devices, and managing access through a client-server architecture with VM management software.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If entire physical storage devices are mapped as virtual drives, then access convenience is improved, but security deteriorates due to exposure of sensitive data
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the storage device by allowing selection of specific folders rather than mapping the entire device. The virtual media system divides the storage space into accessible folders and inaccessible portions, enabling selective exposure of only necessary data to remote computers while maintaining security of sensitive information.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts only the required folders from the storage device for virtual mapping, leaving other folders unmapped and inaccessible. This extraction approach allows the system to provide access convenience for necessary data while automatically excluding sensitive information that doesn't need to be shared.
2Adaptability or versatility
If entire physical storage devices are mapped as virtual drives, then access flexibility is improved, but reliability deteriorates due to risk of storage device crashes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the storage device mapping to allow selective mounting of individual folders. This segmentation isolates the impact of write operations, so that errors in one folder cannot crash the entire storage device or affect other folders, thereby improving reliability while maintaining access flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements protective mechanisms before write operations occur, including validation checks and error handling protocols that prevent write-back errors from propagating and causing storage device crashes. This cushioning approach maintains flexibility while safeguarding against reliability issues.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If selected folders are presented as virtual media, then security is improved by isolating access, but device complexity increases due to folder management overhead
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a virtual copy of the selected folders that presents them as a simplified virtual drive to the remote computer. This copying approach maintains security by isolating access to only the selected folders while reducing the perceived complexity for users, as they interact with a simple virtual drive interface rather than managing individual folder selections.
4Reliability
If write-back function is implemented in disk-mounted system, then data synchronization is improved, but harmful effects increase due to potential crashes from write errors
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the write-back operations to individual selected folders rather than the entire storage device. This segmentation contains potential write errors within specific folders, preventing them from causing system-wide crashes while still maintaining data synchronization for the accessible folders.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements error protection mechanisms before write-back operations, including validation checks and rollback capabilities that prevent write errors from causing crashes. This cushioning allows the system to maintain data synchronization safely without the harmful effects of potential crashes.
Data Source
AI summary
A virtual media (VM) method for mounting one or more folders in one or more storage devices of a client for accessed by a server as a virtual drive. The client assigns virtual cluster indices to each file, and creates a file-cluster index table to store the assigned virtual cluster indices. The client also creates a VM file system complying with the FAT file system standard except that only subdirectories and no data files are stored in the VM FAT file system. The VM FAT table uses virtual cluster indices rather than actual cluster indices. Data written by the server are stored in a temporary data area without modifying the actual file systems of the storage devices. The virtual sectors requested to be written are “dirty”, and the dirty sector numbers and corresponding temporary sector numbers are stored in a dirty sector index table for use in a write-back step.