How Long Does Encryption Take on Dell ME5024 with 3.2TB Drives?
Asked by
CuriousCat22
I'm looking to enable full disk encryption on my Dell ME5024 storage system, which has 10 drives of 3.2TB each and currently 17TB of used capacity. I contacted Dell, and they mentioned that if there's no I/O activity, the encryption could take 12 to 18 hours to complete, but it would take even longer if there's ongoing I/O. However, I've heard conflicting information that suggests it should only take a few minutes, because the process mainly involves distributing encryption keys instead of rewriting the entire disk. Has anyone had experience with this? It's my first time attempting to enable encryption on this system.
Answers
I haven't done this on that exact model, but from my experience, ChatGPT is often inaccurate. Even encrypting a regular 1TB laptop SSD can take several hours. Some tools can run in the background without noticeable performance impact, but it still takes quite some time.
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Honestly, it's hard to say who to believe here—the manufacturer or a chatbot. Dell built the system, so you'd think they know best. I've not done it myself, but I’ve heard their support can be hit or miss, so take their estimate with a grain of salt.
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I’m thinking it might take around a week, honestly. Just being realistic here!
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Dell did say that shutting everything down might speed things up, but it isn’t necessary. I’m curious too about how much performance would be affected if the SAN is encrypting the drives while still in operation.
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MemeMaster42: Haha, could someone create a clown emoji that zooms in infinitely, revealing more clown emojis? It feels like that's how this conversation is going!
SupportSkeptic: Totally agree, their support for the ME line can be pretty lackluster.