Monitoring of residual encrypted data to improve erase performance on a magnetic medium

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9406335-B2
Application number	US-201514642669-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 9, 2015
Priority date	Jul 17, 2012
Publication date	Aug 2, 2016
Grant date	Aug 2, 2016

Abstract

In one embodiment, a system includes a processor and logic integrated with and/or executable by the processor, the logic being configured to: determine a physical position on a magnetic medium that corresponds to an end of an encrypted data set; store an indicator of the physical position on the magnetic medium and/or a memory coupled thereto; and cause obscuring of an unencrypted data set positioned after the physical position without overwriting the encrypted data set. In another embodiment, a computer program product includes a computer readable storage medium and program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions readable and/or executable by the processor to cause the processor to: read an indicator of a physical position on a magnetic medium that corresponds to an end of an encrypted data set; and cause obscuring of an unencrypted data set positioned after the physical position without overwriting the encrypted data set.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system, comprising:
a processor and logic integrated with and/or executable by the processor, the logic being configured to:
determine a first physical position on a magnetic medium that corresponds to an end of at least one encrypted data set;
store an indicator of the first physical position on at least one of the magnetic medium and a memory coupled thereto;
cause obscuring of at least one unencrypted data set positioned after the first physical position without overwriting the encrypted data set;
wherein, in response to the obscuring of the unencrypted data set being cancelled and/or interrupted prior to an entirety thereof being obscured, the logic is configured to: determine a second physical position on the magnetic medium that corresponds to an end of the obscured portion of the unencrypted data set, and store an indicator of the second physical position on at least one of the magnetic medium and the memory coupled thereto; and
wherein, in response to the obscuring of the unencrypted data set being resumed, the logic is configured to: cause obscuring of remaining portions of the unencrypted data set positioned after the second physical position.

2. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the obscuring of the unencrypted data set includes overwriting the unencrypted data set.

3. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the encrypted data set includes encrypted data written over residual unencrypted data, and wherein the logic is further configured to cause obscuring and/or disablement of decryption data associated with the encrypted data written over residual unencrypted data.

4. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the encrypted data set includes residual encrypted data, the residual encrypted data being associated with decryption data that has been previously obscured and/or disabled.

5. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the logic is configured to:
determine a third physical position on the magnetic medium that corresponds to a beginning of the encrypted data set; and
store an indicator of the third physical position on at least one of the magnetic medium and the memory coupled thereto.

6. The system as recited in claim 5 , wherein the logic is configured to cause obscuring of at least one unencrypted data set positioned before the third physical position without overwriting the encrypted data set.

7. The system as recited in claim 5 , wherein the logic is configured to:
determine a fourth physical position on the magnetic medium that corresponds to an end of a second encrypted data set, the second encrypted data set being positioned before the encrypted data set;
determine a fifth physical position on the magnetic medium that corresponds to a beginning of the second encrypted data set; and
store an indicator of the fourth physical position and an indicator of the fifth physical position on the at least one of the magnetic medium and the memory coupled thereto.

8. The system as recited in claim 7 , wherein the logic is configured to not cause overwriting of the second encrypted data set.

9. A method, comprising:
determining a first physical position on a magnetic medium that corresponds to an end of at least one encrypted data set;
storing an indicator of the first physical position on at least one of the magnetic medium and a memory coupled thereto; and
causing obscuring of at least one unencrypted data set positioned after the first physical position without overwriting the encrypted data set;
wherein, in response to the obscuring of the unencrypted data set being cancelled and/or interrupted prior to an entirety thereof being obscured, the logic is configured to: determine a second physical position on the magnetic medium that corresponds to an end of the obscured portion of the unencrypted data set, and store an indicator of the second physical position on at least one of the magnetic medium and the memory coupled thereto; and
wherein, in response to the obscuring of the unencrypted data set being resumed, the logic is configured to: cause obscuring of remaining portions of the unencrypted data set positioned after the second physical position.

10. The method as recited in claim 9 , further comprising:
for each encrypted data set on the magnetic medium, determining a physical position on the magnetic medium that corresponds to a beginning and an end of the encrypted data set, and storing the physical position on at least one of the magnetic medium and the memory coupled thereto; and
causing obscuring of each unencrypted data set without overwriting any of the encrypted data sets.

11. The method as recited in claim 10 , wherein at least one of the encrypted data sets includes encrypted data written over residual unencrypted data; and
wherein the method further comprises causing obscuring and/or disablement of decryption data associated with the encrypted data written over residual unencrypted data.

12. The method as recited in claim 10 , wherein at least one of the encrypted data sets set includes encrypted data written over residual unencrypted data.

13. A computer program product, comprising:
a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions readable and/or executable by a processor to cause the processor to:
read an indicator of a first physical position on a magnetic medium that corresponds to an end of at least one encrypted data set; and
cause obscuring of at least one unencrypted data set positioned after the first physical position without overwriting the encrypted data set,
wherein, in response to the obscuring of the unencrypted data set being cancelled and/or interrupted prior to an entirety thereof being obscured, the program instructions are readable and/or executable by the processor to cause the processor to:
read a second physical position on the magnetic medium that corresponds to an end of the obscured portion of the encrypted data set, and

cause obscuring of remaining portions of the unencrypted data set positioned after the second physical position when obscuring of the unencrypted data set is resumed.

14. The computer program product as recited in claim 13 , wherein the program instructions are readable and/or executable by the processor to cause the processor to cause obscuring of at least one unencrypted data set positioned before the encrypted data set.

15. The computer program product as recited in claim 13 , wherein the encrypted data set includes encrypted data written over residual unencrypted data, and wherein the program instructions are readable and/or executable by the processor to cause the processor to cause obscuring and/or disablement of decryption data associated with the encrypted data written over residual unencrypted data.

16. The computer program product as recited in claim 15 , wherein the encrypted data set includes residual encrypted data, the residual encrypted data being is associated with decryption data that has been previously obscured and/or disabled.

17. The computer program product as recited in claim 13 , wherein the magnetic medium includes alternating encrypted and unencrypted data sets; wherein the program instructions are readable and/or executable by a processor to cause the processor to:
read a physical position on the magnetic medium that corresponds to a beginning and an end of each encrypted data set; and
cause obscuring of each unencrypted data set without overwriting any of the encrypted data sets.

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Dawson Erika M
• Fry Scott M
• Greco Paul M
• Johnson Gavin S
• Lyman Joel K
• Lynds Jon A
• Smith Cory G

Classifications

• G11B5/00821

  using stationary heads · CPC title

• G11B20/0021 Primary

  involving encryption or decryption of contents recorded on or reproduced from a record carrier · CPC title

• G11B27/322

  used signal is digitally coded · CPC title

• G11B27/11

  by using information not detectable on the record carrier · CPC title

• G11B20/10

  Digital recording or reproducing · CPC title