Do you use FileVault 2?

[Phil A.]

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I've got FDE and encrypted time machine backups enabled on both my MBA and iMac and as far as I can tell there is no performance hit at all (once the initial encryption was finished).

 

[AlexH]

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I've got FDE and encrypted time machine backups enabled on both my MBA and iMac and as far as I can tell there is no performance hit at all (once the initial encryption was finished).

I wonder how many that are experiencing a performance hit are still going through the initial encryption process...

 

[redlob]

I enabled FileVault 2 last week and so far I don't notice any performance hit at all. Even during encryption, the system was perfectly usable.

 

[SavMBP15]

And with that I've stopped using FileVault 2. Thanks for the link!

So let me get this straight. You were using FileVault 2 and now because some article claims large performance reduction you are no longer using it? Do you make decisions for yourself?

I could see if you had not been using it and decided not to based on that review, but this is like buying a car, using it and then Road & Track magazine comes out and says that its actually 10mph slower, so you go sell it.

Boggles my mind why people allow others to influence them so much when they were perfectly happy otherwise.

 

[CyBeRino]

I just can't get myself to trust it after some horrible instances w/ earlier iterations of File Vault. Maybe I'll give it a shot down the road if I keep seeing reports of good results

FileVault (original) and FileVault 2 are entirely different beasts. Nothing at all is the same about them, apart from their purpose: encrypt your crap.

I didn't trust the original FileVault either, because of how hacky it felt. I've been running FV2 since the GM was available though and have had no problems at all.

 

[reputationZed]

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Using it on my MBA, no loss in performance that I can see. Not using it on my MacPro as of yet

 

[reputationZed]

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I use FileVault 2 on my laptop. I also use encrypted disk images for sensitive info on all my systems including the laptop. They are set with different passphrases so there are multiple layers for some dirtbag to have to go through.

I used PGP Whole-disk encryption up until a few days before Lion's release, but I'm tired of paying yearly for it (it is for personal use and I can't expense it or claim it as a tax deduction). Plus, now that Symantec owns PGP, I'm sure it's only a version or 2 away from being totally screwed up. Oh yeah, and that Symantec states it will not have a Lion-compatible version for "a few months."

The only reason it's not enabled on my desktop is because I'd be stuck if I had to reboot it remotely.

The key to not losing your data with encryption is BACK IT UP!!! I use time machine and superduper for different reasons/purposes.

1+

 

[JabbaII]

Does time machine work with Filevault 2? Are backed up files encrypted or decrypted?

 

[416049]

FileVault 2 is a lot safer and seems to be working fine without any problems on my machine

 

[basher]

Does time machine work with Filevault 2? Are backed up files encrypted or decrypted?

Yes.

Encrypted.

 

[JabbaII]

Yes.

Encrypted.

Cool.

 

[jc1350]

Yes.

Encrypted.

You have to enable encryption on the time machine drive. It's not on by default. It's a checkbox in the "select drive" dialog window if I recall.

 

[ac3320]

Really? Wow, that's pretty bad for a reviewer to do that. Maybe it's time to finally flick the switch then....

One question... anyone use FileVault with a Momentus XT? Any problems with the sad cache on that drive and it impacting the drives performance?

+1

I would like to know how FileVault 2 performs with the Momentus XT

 

[tblrsa]

FV2 was one of the main reasons for me to upgrade to Lion. Everything working perfectly fine on my MBP 13". I´ve encrypted my Time Machine Volume too.

 

[ac3320]

FV2 was one of the main reasons for me to upgrade to Lion. Everything working perfectly fine on my MBP 13". I´ve encrypted my Time Machine Volume too.

So no noticeable slowdowns (or increased boot times)?

 

[Cromulent]

I use encrypted disk images instead. That means I can keep all my sensitive files protected without having to suffer the performance degradation of full drive encryption. For me it is a win win solution.

 

[ac3320]

I use encrypted disk images instead. That means I can keep all my sensitive files protected without having to suffer the performance degradation of full drive encryption. For me it is a win win solution.

Is it not kind of cumbersome to do things that way? I tried doing so for my ~User/Documents folder but it of course mounts the image every time you want to use it, and then you have to eject it when you're done. Can you save items to that location from, say, Textedit or something, or do you have to manually copy that file over after mounting the DMG?

 

[pcmxa]

So no noticeable slowdowns (or increased boot times)?

On my 2009 MBP the boot time is noticeably longer with Filevault 2 enabled. I haven't noticed a performance loss, but I haven't been working with large files lately. Mostly using it to browse the web...

 

[echo.park]

Because it's there and all my bought music is on my Macbook. A do also use FileVault for my Time Machine backup.

 

[ac3320]

On my 2009 MBP the boot time is noticeably longer with Filevault 2 enabled. I haven't noticed a performance loss, but I haven't been working with large files lately. Mostly using it to browse the web...

How much of a boot time increase? It's not a SUPER big deal, but i was so sad about the boot time increase with my initial Lion install (upgrade), and I was so relieved when the boot time was down to like 28 s (clean install), that i'm scared to turn it on (though the security it provides is awesome).

Because it's there and all my bought music is on my Macbook. A do also use FileVault for my Time Machine backup.

See, I would be so inclined to NOT encrypt my Music, since who cares if someone gets access to that. I would like to just encrypt several ~User folders, but then you're DMGing folders and that's kind of cumbersome...

 

[Eradik]

+1

I would like to know how FileVault 2 performs with the Momentus XT

I ended up using FileVault 2 on my Mac, which is using an XT. I have had zero problems. It's worked great and I still get the benefit of the flash storage.

In general I have noticed not a single problem with FV2. Love it.

 

[ac3320]

I ended up using FileVault 2 on my Mac, which is using an XT. I have had zero problems. It's worked great and I still get the benefit of the flash storage.

In general I have noticed not a single problem with FV2. Love it.

I seem to remember something about how the i5/i7 chipsets can deal with FV2 (in Lion) much better than the Core 2 Duo processors (like what I have).

I assume with a 2010 model you have at least the i5? That *could* be a reason why your performance has not changed.

It's hard to synthesize everyone's advise! haha... one guy said he had noticeable boot time increases, but i never did ask what processor he's running..

 

[Eradik]

I seem to remember something about how the i5/i7 chipsets can deal with FV2 (in Lion) much better than the Core 2 Duo processors (like what I have).

I assume with a 2010 model you have at least the i5? That *could* be a reason why your performance has not changed.

It's hard to synthesize everyone's advise! haha... one guy said he had noticeable boot time increases, but i never did ask what processor he's running..

Quite possible. I am running the i5. Boot times for me are also hard to judge, giving the Momentus XT and that it has shortened them quite a bit.

This was the article that finally made me turn on FV2 for good. Unfortunately, the bottom of the article states: Bottom line: if you have a Core i3, Core i5, or Core i7 processor, you’ll barely notice the impact of disk encryption.

If your torn, I'd say run some tests and time them, then turn it on and then wait for it to finish. Then, run the tests again. The worst you're out is a day of turning encryption on and off, but you can do that in the background so not even too big of a deal.

 

[ac3320]

Quite possible. I am running the i5. Boot times for me are also hard to judge, giving the Momentus XT and that it has shortened them quite a bit.

This was the article that finally made me turn on FV2 for good. Unfortunately, the bottom of the article states: Bottom line: if you have a Core i3, Core i5, or Core i7 processor, you’ll barely notice the impact of disk encryption.

If your torn, I'd say run some tests and time them, then turn it on and then wait for it to finish. Then, run the tests again. The worst you're out is a day of turning encryption on and off, but you can do that in the background so not even too big of a deal.

True that. I actually DL'd Xbench and tried to get Geekbench but it's not free. I figured i could use Xbench to compare before and after FV2 on, and just manually time boot (POA) times with FV2 on and off.

As another sidetracker: i know that each of the popular benchmarking apps have different things they look at...would Xbench be a reasonable one to test FV2's effect on the system?

 

[Eradik]

True that. I actually DL'd Xbench and tried to get Geekbench but it's not free. I figured i could use Xbench to compare before and after FV2 on, and just manually time boot (POA) times with FV2 on and off.

As another sidetracker: i know that each of the popular benchmarking apps have different things they look at...would Xbench be a reasonable one to test FV2's effect on the system?

I have no experience with XBench, but after looking at it I don't see why it wouldn't. Yes, it does suck that Geekbench is not free. It does let you use the 32bit as a trial, but since Lion is a full 64 bit OS it kind of makes it useless. Though it would still give you an idea.

It also depends on what your expectations are. If you're mostly opening Safari and Word, boot times (of the programs) will be all you need to measure (which could be done manually). If you're using Aperture/iPhoto or do a lot of work with videos, etc. it might be worth running a benchmark program since those programs open/close files (sometimes) rapidly, and that could affect your performance.

Also, once you enable FV2, you'll want to reboot 5 times, opening your programs 5 times as well to re-teach the Momentus XT. I know the XT just looks at location on the hard drive platter, and I'm not sure if FV2 reorganizes them so it might be worth doing just in case it does move things around.