System and method of dynamic write protect of storage devices exposed by baseboard management controller (BMC)

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10466916-B2
Application number	US-201514697968-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 28, 2015
Priority date	Apr 28, 2015
Publication date	Nov 5, 2019
Grant date	Nov 5, 2019

Abstract

A system including a baseboard management controller (BMC) and a storage device connected to the BMC, for dynamic protection of the storage device. The BMC includes a processor and a non-volatile memory storing a computer executable code. The computer executable code, when executed at the processor, is configured to: perform redirection of the storage device; receive a write protect command including write protect information of the storage device; extract the write protect information from the write protect command; store the write protect information in a data store of the non-volatile memory; and in response to receiving a write command to write data in the storage device, determine whether the data is writable to the storage device based on the write protect information stored in the data store. The data is written to the storage device only if it is determined that the data is writable to the storage device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system, comprising:
a baseboard management controller (BMC), comprising a processor and a non-volatile memory storing a computer executable code; and
at least one storage device connected to the BMC via a network,
wherein the computer executable code, when executed at the processor, is configured to:
perform redirection of the at least one storage device, such that the at least one storage device is accessible by a computing device, wherein the computing device accesses to the at least one storage device through a universal serial bus (USB) interface, the BMC and the network sequentially, and the perform redirection of the at least one storage device comprises:
(a) receiving a redirection command from the computing device, wherein the redirection command includes redirect information of one of the at least one storage devices;
(b) processing the redirection command to extract the redirect information; and
(c) storing the redirect information in a data store;

receive a write protect command comprising write protect information of the at least one storage device from the computing device, wherein the redirection command is different, independent and separate from the write protect command;
extract the write protect information from the write protect command, wherein the write protect information comprises: a mode identifier to define a write protect status of the one of the at least one storage device, the write protect status being selected from write protect on or write protect off; a device identifier for identifying the one of the at least one storage device; and an array storing a plurality of address values, wherein the address values are configured to define a write-protected portion of the one of the at least one storage device;
store the write protect information in the data store of the non-volatile memory;
change write protect properties of the at least one of the storage devices;
repeat the perform, the receive, the extract and the store to change or update the write protect information of the at least one storage device, thereby achieving dynamic write protection of the at least one storage device;
in response to receiving, from the computing device, a write command to write data in the at least one storage device, determine whether the data is writable to the at least one storage device based on the write protect information stored in the data store, wherein the write command is different, independent and separate from the redirection command and the write protect command; and
in response to determining the data to be writable to the at least one storage device, write the data to the at least one storage device wherein the write protect command is an intelligent platform management interface (IPMI) original equipment manufacturer (OEM) command.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein when the data is determined to be not writable to the at least one storage device, the data is not written to the at least one storage device.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computer executable code, when executed at the processor, is further configured to:
in response to receiving a read command to read data from the at least one storage device from the computing device, read the data from the at least one storage device.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computer executable code, when executed at the processor, is configured to determine whether the data is writable to the at least one storage device based on the write protect information by:
retrieving device information from the write command, wherein the device information indicates a specific storage device from the at least one storage device, and the data is to be written to the specific storage device;
determining the specific storage device by comparing the device information from the write command with the device identifier of the write protect information stored in the data store; and
determining whether the data is writable to the specific storage device by checking the mode identifier of the write protect information corresponding to the specific storage device,
wherein the data is writable to the specific storage device when the mode identifier of the write protect information corresponding to the specific storage device indicates the write protect status of the specific storage device to be write protect off.

5. The system of claim 4 , the computer executable code, when executed at the processor, is further configured to determine whether the data is writable to the at least one storage device based on the write protect information by:
retrieving address information from the write command, wherein the address information indicates a specific address in the specific storage device;
when the mode identifier of the write protect information corresponding to the specific storage device indicates the write protect status of the specific storage device to be write protect on, determining whether the data is writable to the specific address in the specific storage device by comparing the address information from the write command with the address values of the write protect information corresponding to the specific storage device.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computer executable code comprises:
an IPMI module, configured to receive the IPMI OEM command, and extract the write protect information from the IPMI OEM command;
a filter module, configured to store the write protect information in the data store; and
a redirection module, configured to:
perform redirection of the at least one storage device; and
in response to receiving the write command, send the write command to the filter module,

wherein the filter module, in response to receiving the write command from the redirection module, is configured to:
in response to receiving the write command, determine whether the data is writable to the at least one storage device based on the write protect information; and
when the data is determined to be writable to the at least one storage device, write the data to the at least one storage device.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the redirection module is further configured to:
in response to receiving the read command to read data from the at least one storage device from the computing device, read the data from the at least one storage device.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one storage device is remotely connected to the BMC via the network.

9. A method of dynamic write protect, comprising:
performing, at a processor of a baseboard management controller (BMC), a redirection of at least one storage device connected to the BMC via a network, such that the at least one storage device is accessible by a computing device, wherein the computing device accesses to the at least one storage device through a universal serial bus (USB) interface, the BMC, and the network sequentially, and the performing redirection of the at least one storage device comprises:
(a) receiving a redirection command from the computing device, wherein the redirection command includes redirect information of one of the at least one storage devices;
(b) processing the redirection command to extract the redirect information; and
(c) storing the redirect information in a data store;

receiving, at the processor of the BMC, a write protect command comprising write protect information of the at least one storage device from the computing device, wherein the redirection command is different, independent and separate from the write protect command;
extracting, by the processor of the BMC, the write protect information from the write protect command, wherein the write protect information comprises: a mode identifier to defin

Assignees

• American Megatrends Int Llc

Inventors

• Thomas Satheesh

Classifications

• G06F3/0637

  Permissions · CPC title

• G06F3/0683

  Plurality of storage devices · CPC title

• G06F21/85

  interconnection devices, e.g. bus-connected or in-line devices · CPC title

• G06F3/0622 Primary

  in relation to access · CPC title

• G06F3/067

  Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS] · CPC title