Customizable storage controller with integrated F+ storage firewall protection
First Claim
1. A data storage apparatus, comprising:
- a host interface for coupling said storage apparatus to a host computer and/or other digital system;
a protected storage component;
a customizable storage controller operatively associated with said protected storage component;
a storage controller program store; and
a storage firewall adapted to communicatively couple said protected storage component and customizable storage controller with said host interface, said storage firewall being integrated with said customizable storage controller such that the combination thereof is operative to providesoftware authentication including application registration,runtime authentication of software identity and permission to execute,authentication &
authorization in the execution of executable software, andexamination, verification, and authentication of all storage access requests;
a security coprocessor operatively coupled to said storage controller program store, and coupling said storage controller processor to the host computer or other digital system via the storage firewall and host interface; and
locked firmware connected to said storage controller processor and said coprocessor, and operative to contain trusted source storage controller executable software for enabling controller recovery in the event of a problem and/or providing an addition level of protection against unauthorized change of the firmware.
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Abstract
A Customizable Storage Controller (CSC) is a software defined storage device controller, a replacement for the ASIC storage controller approach that has been used up to now. The differences from the current storage controllers are that the CSC software will need to be protected from unauthorized modification and provides an excellent place to add additional storage management functionality. The CSC type of storage controller is a good place to integrate the F+ Storage Firewall storage protection technology, fitting the needs of the CSC as well as protecting stored data from unauthorized access. This portion of the larger patent disclosure provides the design of a CSC both with a software version of a F+ Storage Firewall, as well as an improved (more secure) CSC designed with a security co-processor and locked firmware. These designs can be implemented with standard parts such as microprocessors and/or FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays), RAM (Random Access Memory), and some version of nonvolatile memory as a program store.
13 Citations
10 Claims
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1. A data storage apparatus, comprising:
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a host interface for coupling said storage apparatus to a host computer and/or other digital system; a protected storage component; a customizable storage controller operatively associated with said protected storage component; a storage controller program store; and a storage firewall adapted to communicatively couple said protected storage component and customizable storage controller with said host interface, said storage firewall being integrated with said customizable storage controller such that the combination thereof is operative to provide software authentication including application registration, runtime authentication of software identity and permission to execute, authentication &
authorization in the execution of executable software, andexamination, verification, and authentication of all storage access requests; a security coprocessor operatively coupled to said storage controller program store, and coupling said storage controller processor to the host computer or other digital system via the storage firewall and host interface; and locked firmware connected to said storage controller processor and said coprocessor, and operative to contain trusted source storage controller executable software for enabling controller recovery in the event of a problem and/or providing an addition level of protection against unauthorized change of the firmware. - View Dependent Claims (3)
storage controller RAM; and storage controller program store; and wherein said protected storage component includes storage media controlled and accessed by the storage controller processor.
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2. A data storage system comprising:
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data storage apparatus; an integrated customizable storage controller processor; a storage controller program store; a host interface for coupling said storage apparatus to a host computer; protected storage media; a security coprocessor operatively coupled to said storage controller program store, and coupling said storage controller processor to the host computer or other digital system via a storage firewall and the host interface; and locked firmware connected to said storage controller processor and said coprocessor, and operative to contain trusted source storage controller executable software for enabling controller recovery in the event of a problem and/or providing an addition level of protection against unauthorized change of the firmware; wherein the customizable storage controller processor and storage firewall are adapted to communicatively couple said protected storage media and said host interface, said integrated customizable storage controller processor and storage firewall being operative to provide storage controller functionality including protected storage media access operations including read and write operations, and/or updates, upgrades, and reconfiguration of storage apparatus while in operation in parallel with the storage media access operations, and/or protected storage device management, and/or storage media management, and/or storage device monitoring, and/or updates, upgrades, and reconfiguration of said host interface, and/or data encryption/decryption, and/or authentication of updates, upgrades, and reconfiguration data, and/or authentication and registration of software, and/or runtime software authentication and/or authorization and/or permission to execute in the execution of software, and examination, verification, and authentication of all storage access requests.
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4. A customizable storage controller for use in a data storage apparatus including a protected storage component, a host interface for coupling the data storage apparatus to a host computer and/or other digital system, and a storage firewall adapted to communicatively couple the protected storage component and said host interface, said customizable storage controller comprising:
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a storage controller processor coupled to the host computer and/or other digital system via the storage firewall and host interface, said storage controller being adapted to process storage access requests, storage device management requests, and other storage management functionalities; a storage controller program store communicatively connected to said storage controller processor via an internal bus; storage controller RAM operatively connected between said storage controller processor and said program store, said RAM being operative to fetch executable software from said program store and hold it for execution by said storage controller processor; a security coprocessor operatively coupled to said storage controller program store, and coupling said storage controller processor to the host computer or other digital system via the storage firewall and host interface; and locked firmware connected to said storage controller processor and said coprocessor, and operative to contain trusted source storage controller executable software for enabling controller recovery in the event of a problem and/or providing an addition level of protection against unauthorized change of the firmware. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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Specification