Command portal for securely communicating and executing non-standard storage subsystem commands

A method performed by a non-volatile storage subsystem that is configured to process storage access commands received from a host system, the method comprising:

• receiving a write data command from the host system, the write data command comprising write data, being formatted in accordance with a storage interface that includes a command set, and specifying a target memory address for storing the write data in a non-volatile memory of the storage subsystem;
• determining that the host system from which the write data command was received is a host system with respect to which the storage subsystem is in an authenticated state, the determining comprising:
• extracting from write data an authentication code, wherein the authentication code was generated based at least in part on a pseudo-random seed value, and
• validating the extracted authentication code;
• and
• in response to determining that the host system from which the write data command was received is the host system with respect to which the storage subsystem is in the authenticated state:
• identifying a non-standard storage subsystem command specified by the write data command by determining whether the received write data includes a signature that identifies the write data command as including the non-standard storage subsystem command, the non-standard storage subsystem command not being included in the command set but being supported by the non-volatile storage subsystem;
• and
• executing the non-standard storage subsystem command without writing-target memory address.

A method of communicating a non-standard storage subsystem command from a host system to a non-volatile storage subsystem without the need for a special driver that supports the non-standard storage subsystem command, the method comprising:

• on the host system, via interaction with the non-volatile storage subsystem, determining:
• a target memory address of the non-volatile storage subsystem used for execution of a non-standard storage command, and
• a signature used for validating the non-standard storage subsystem command;
• and
• causing the non-volatile storage subsystem to execute the non-standard storage subsystem command by:
• sending a write data command from the host system to the non-volatile storage subsystem, the write data command specifying the target memory address and including the signature and an authentication code generated based at least in part on a pseudo-random seed value, the write data command being sent via execution on the host system of a driver that does not recognize the non-standard storage subsystem command,
• causing the storage subsystem to determine that the host system is a host system with respect to which the storage subsystem is in an authenticated state by causing the storage subsystem to validate the authentication code, and
• in response to the storage subsystem determining that the host system is the host system with respect to which the storage subsystem is in the authenticated state, causing the storage subsystem to execute the non-standard storage command.