File Share Encryption

I have a new SSD in my Macbook Pro. Running OS X 10.6.6

Installed PGP 10.1.1(build 18) and installed WDE.

Using Xbench here is the before and after:

Rubbish!! Guess I will have to wait for OS X 10.7 and hope they have a encryption solution for SSD. Back to FileVault in the meantime, which is not very good but at least it is useable.

(I have seen people moan about using Xbench, so if people can suggest another test I will gladly repeat)

That's quite the performance hit. My understanding of FileVault under Snow Leopard is that it's a container-based approach -- so once you're logged in, there shouldn't be much of a handicap on drive performance at all. Is that the case?

This is also telling: http://anthonyvance.com/blog/security/ssd_encryption/

Not sure if you know, but 10.7 is apparently turning FileVault into a WDE form of encryption instead of what it is now, so hopefully it'll work well with SSDs. See here -- http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/11/02/28/inside_mac_os_x_10_7_lion_file_vault_full_disk_encryption_and_cloud_key_storage.html -- FMI.

As for me: I currently use PGP WDE under 10.6.6 on a 5400 rpm drive. Suppose it's still upgrading to an SSD?

I'd be curious to see what a real-world test is like (e.g. copying a 2 GB file) both with and without WDE.  That's different than the reports I've seen in my internal forum.

But regarding 10.7, I would expect that it'd be a lot more friendly to SSDs, since the OS can notify the disk which encrypted blocks are free and can be TRIM'd.

From what I read on the web, an upgrade to SSD and PGP WDE would give you something like 7200rpm HD performance. eg; not worth it in my opinion!

I have uninstalled PGP WDE but if anyone else has it installed they can chip in. By the way, these are with FileVault which makes very little as far as I can tell.

Here is the copy of a 2GB file :