SYA710 Lab #0 - Valt-X controllers

A Valt-X Desktop/Server Security Controller is a PCI card that stores a pristine system image on a portion of your hard drive that is never accessible from your operating system. Each time the system boots up, the image is copied to the partition of the drive that performs the boot, thus the computer runs the same OS image all the time. You can also have partitions that are left alone for data storage. In other words, this card lets you automatically restore a system to it's original, "IT-blessed" state just by re-booting. To test this I booted into Fedora 8 on my test machine and proceeded to use fdisk to wipe out the disk's partition table. Before I could begin to hyperventilate, I rebooted the system and it was as if nothing had happened. There are several system administration scenarios where this kind of insurance would be very valuable, such as after:

• a virus or mal-ware infection
• a user installs software against company policy
• accidental file deletion(s)

While there are comparable solutions that don't involve adding a card to your system and taking up some of your hard disk space, they usually involve more complex administration policies. Be warned though that if you don't have experience in building a good base system image, this card can work against you. If your just a regular user, you can easily put an infected program onto your boot image and reactivate it every time you re-boot your system.

All in all though, this card is a valuable tool to guard against the malicious forces of the Internet and your users' own mistakes. That translates into fewer headaches and late nights for the IT staff in your organization.

Other products that make similar claims
PC Guarder : Hard Disk data recovery card
Creative IT UK data recovery card
Lenten Technology recovery card