This general article discusses aspects of SecureDoc OSA, as well as introducing some best practices when using OSA for Servers
OSA Installation
- Works with Legacy BIOS
- Works with UEFI
- Note: If using UEFI, should be configured to use SecureDoc's Linux-based Pre-Boot for UEFI devices
Drivers
OSA uses the same pre-boot Driver set as the regular SD Client
Disk Support
OSA can support up to 32 Self-Encrypting Drives in total, and will copy itself into each regular SED's Shadow Master Boot Record (MBR) area.
OSA Versions
There are two versions of OSA:
OSA (for Client devices)
- NO support for TCG Enterprise Drives
OSA for Servers
- Supports TCG Enterprise Drives
- Higher cost to the customer than regular OSA
Pre-Boot Interface
OSA in V7.5 has the new MODERN interface only
OSA for Servers:
OSA management of TCG Enterprise drives REQUIRES minimum 1 Opal drive - it will unlock the others
Best practice - have a minimum of 2 Opal drives in case one fails; The remaining Opal drive can still unlock the remaining TCG Enterprise drives.
- OSA will install itself to eachOpal drive's shadow MBR
- NOTE: Enterprise drives have NO Shadow MBR so they rely on the Opal Drive for unlocking them.
- Reason: Having more than one Opal drive provides protection against locking out all the Enterprise Drives
Replacing Failed SED Drives under OSA
NOTE: OSA cannot know if Enterprise Drives have been replaced (so not suitable for anything approaching drive swapping - not hot, not cold swap)
Therefore: If it should be necessary to replace TCG Enterprise Drives then:
- Uninstall OSA
- Reinstall OSA to bring all Enterprise drives back under management
BUS Support
TCG Enterprise Drives now available running on the SATA bus. reducing reliance on SAS drives
Commentary
OSA in SecureDoc V7.5 will have support for GUID Partition Table (GPT)
- GPT will affect OSA
- GPT will also affect other environments
- GPT Works better on Dell BIOSes
- GPT adheres to and supports the general move to UEFI
Opal TRANSACTIONS will be used to install Pre-Boot to the Shadow MBR
Installing OSA
As of V7.5, use of the PXE server install option is semi-denigrated. It still exists, but does not appear in the install options list. It can be accessed through a change to the configuration file.
This should be irrelevant for most customers, since the the Bootable mini-Windows installer is much easier to use