From Paragon Software, Storage UFSD SDK for UEFI

Paragon Software Group Corp. announces its Universal File System Driver (UFSD) software development kit (SDK) for Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI).

This SDK expands the possibilities for system management and security software vendors working in UEFI environments. The technology allows system vendors and motherboard manufacturers to make their UEFI systems more competitive and user-friendly.

Introduced by Intel Corp. in 2005 as a replacement for the aging MBR (Master Boot Record) and PC BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) interfaces, UEFI comes standard on new computers, where it is positioned between the OS and firmware stacks. Despite advantages over traditional BIOS and MBR, UEFI is technically limited by its support for FAT32 (File Allocation Table), an outdated file system, which restricts file sizes to less than four gigabytes. In an effort to address this problem, motherboard manufacturers have started to implement read-only NTFS support into their UEFI firmware – but this only solves half of the problem.

With the release of UFSD SDK for UEFI, the company delivers a complete R/W solution. Based upon the company’s cross-platform Universal File System Driver library used around the world in billions of devices such as smartphones, tablets, routers, networked storage, and cameras, the SDK opens transparent, full R/W support for Windows-native NTFS, Linux-native ExtFS, and other file systems in the UEFI pre-boot environment.

Firm’s UFSD drivers work through the ‘simple file system protocol,’ allowing software developers familiar with UEFI system calls to utilize the same APIs already used for FAT32 to access NTFS and ExtFS volumes. Developers can now put more focus on the workflow and usability of their programs, rather than worrying about low-level storage functions.

Key features:

Access to NTFS, ExtFS, ExFAT, HFS+, ReFS in the UEFI pre-boot environment

Example scenarios:

Use NTFS- or ExtFS-formatted thumb drives to install Oss
Check the integrity of core OS files in the pre-boot environment and restore modified files
Scan for and remove malware (including ‘rootkits’) before they gain control over the running OS
Deploy system updates in the pre-boot environment without interfering OS applications
Restore NTFS or ExtFS volumes from backup images