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Best way to encrypt all disks...


rbutler81

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Hi there, 

I'm trying to figure out the best way to encrypt all my drives that are part of my DrivePool.

Should I...

 

a -  use CloudDrive to encrypt each disk individually as a 'Local Disk' provider, then add each encrypted drive to the drive pool.

b -  add all the unencrypted drives to the drive pool, then encrypt the entire pool with CloudDrive as a 'Local Disk' and use the encrypted version of the pool

c - use some 3rd party encryption program to encrypt the drives, then add them to the drive pool

d - add all unencrypted drives to the pool, then use 3rd party encryption to encrypt the whole pool

 

If I encrypt a drive with CloudDrive using the 'Local Disk' provider, does this leverage the AES instructions in my processor? Or does it do the encryption in a software layer?

 

Thanks!

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Are you using a Pro SKU (Windows 8 Pro, 8.1 Pro, Windows Pro), or a server OS?

 

The reason I ask, is that BitLocker is included in these OS's.  You can use these to encrypt the underlying disks, and still add them to a pool.

 

BitLocker works very well. Especially if you get a TPM module (if your board supports it) and encrypt the system drive.   I actually use this form my desktop, where I use DrivePool for "bulk storage" (games, downloads, Outlook PST files).

And this option is very seamless. 

 

 

Otherwise, there are utilities such as DiskCryptor, which works well.  Though requires you to disable the "Bypass file system filters" option.

 

 

And regardless of what you use, you will need to encrypt the underlying disks, and not the pool itself.

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You could definitely use that.  But the other options may be better, IMO.

 

As for how the encryption works, yes, it should.  Specifically, we use the Microsoft CNG API, which will take advantage of the AES-NI CPU instructions.  You can read more about it here:

http://community.covecube.com/index.php?/topic/1269-full-drive-encryption/

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Hi Christopher, I've been using DrivePool for several months now and I love it.. Works great; very useful. I also use Windows Storage Spaces and perhaps soon I'll transfer all my data to DrivePool as it offers a bit more customization.

I wanted to confirm; in regards to your statement above about disabling (un-checking) "Bypass file system filters"; this would not apply to individually drives that are encrypted with Windows Bitlocker; rather other "third party" encryption software like "DiskCryptor". 

I'm currently mounting each physical drive without a drive letter, simply as a path on my C: Drive, I then use Bitlocker for each drive and set to auto-unlock when the computer is turned on. I just want to make sure that enabling bypass file system filters (checked) won't have any negative effects. I apologize if this question had been asked elsewhere, I wasn't able to find this specific answer.

I use real time A/V software that seems to slow down the performance of the pool and I suspect the file system filters are to blame. 

I'm also using CloudDrive to make a pool and have read on another post here on the forums, that it is OK to enable bypass file system filters (checked) since CloudDrive's disk encryption won't be effected negatively by doing so.  

Really appreciate your time in any assistance. 

Great Software, keep it up.

 

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On 7/27/2018 at 12:52 PM, HRGEt35 said:

I wanted to confirm; in regards to your statement above about disabling (un-checking) "Bypass file system filters"; this would not apply to individually drives that are encrypted with Windows Bitlocker; rather other "third party" encryption software like "DiskCryptor". 

No longer applies, actually.  The software no longer enables that option by default.  So any encryption tool should work just fine out of box. 

On 7/27/2018 at 12:52 PM, HRGEt35 said:

 I'm currently mounting each physical drive without a drive letter, simply as a path on my C: Drive, I then use Bitlocker for each drive and set to auto-unlock when the computer is turned on. I just want to make sure that enabling bypass file system filters (checked) won't have any negative effects. I apologize if this question had been asked elsewhere, I wasn't able to find this specific answer.

There may be some performance hit. But Bitlocker doesn't need this setting (eg, it doesn't matter if its enabled or disabled). 

On 7/27/2018 at 12:52 PM, HRGEt35 said:

 I use real time A/V software that seems to slow down the performance of the pool and I suspect the file system filters are to blame. 

That's very possible.  If you're using BitLocker, you should be okay do enable the "Bypass file system filters" option. 

On 7/27/2018 at 12:52 PM, HRGEt35 said:

 I'm also using CloudDrive to make a pool and have read on another post here on the forums, that it is OK to enable bypass file system filters (checked) since CloudDrive's disk encryption won't be effected negatively by doing so.  

The encryption for StableBit CloudDrive is done in the kernel driver, so it doesn't use a filter at all.  

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