LS-WVL/E and LS421DE firmware questions

[BrickedBox]

Hi, I am about to buy a NAS and being a Buffalo router fan for many years, still run a WHR-HP-G54 - best wifi range ever, and also a WHR-300HP, I naturally looked to Buffalo for a NAS.

So the LS-WVL/E and LS421DE are what I am looking at.

Do either of these encrypt data going to the disk?

If not, can I install truecrypt alongside the firmware?

Finally, since both models are so close in price, which should I buy?

Thanks

[davo]

Neither have drive encryption, you cannot install true crypt or any additional software into either unit.
If I had to choose if pick the lswxl purely because it has a web server and mysql server. If you don't need these features then go for the ls421de

[BrickedBox]

you cannot install true crypt or any additional software into either unit.

Thanks for the reply, but encryption should be mandatory to my line of thinking. I want to back up our home PCs and that means banking passwords etc. If the box was stolen then plugging the disks into another PC would take seconds to see the data.

I'd much rather lose the data than hand out passwords to a miscreant.

I am stunned that it is so hard to find a NAS that has encryption.

Your 3-stage authentication sucks here. It took me 5-tries to figure out what the "second part of the word" was.

Surely after a login Name has been approved we can skip the authentication.

[davo]

you cannot install true crypt or any additional software into either unit.

Your 3-stage authentication sucks here. It took me 5-tries to figure out what the "second part of the word" was.

Surely after a login Name has been approved we can skip the authentication.

Wtf are you talking about "your authentication" I've nothing to do with buffalo. Just offering advise, no need to be so hostile just because I didn't give you the answer you wanted to hear!

[Net7]

you cannot install true crypt or any additional software into either unit.

Thanks for the reply, but encryption should be mandatory to my line of thinking. I want to back up our home PCs and that means banking passwords etc. If the box was stolen then plugging the disks into another PC would take seconds to see the data.

I'd much rather lose the data than hand out passwords to a miscreant.

I am stunned that it is so hard to find a NAS that has encryption.

Your 3-stage authentication sucks here. It took me 5-tries to figure out what the "second part of the word" was.

Surely after a login Name has been approved we can skip the authentication.

Well start with the mix of the first and second BOLD statements!

It would be nice, but the requirement for TRUE FULL DISK encryption requires more hardware (IE more $$$), and the only 2 other NAS providers I know of (not interest in getting slapped/banned/punished, so not going to mention names) only offer it either on the higher end units, or offer "folder" encryption which is a joke!
That being said, the only time you would simply be able to plug it into a PC to get the data is if it was a Linux box... otherwise the partitions are all XFS/EXT3 requiring special software for Windows or a Linux box, which lets face it, when you see a "miscreant" busted on the evening news its never by pro's with $$$ setup's...

Realistically however, if someone really wants your data, then something like disk encryption wouldn't save you if they stole the whole NAS box instead of just the individual drives... not with the new tools these days allowing you to simply boot the unit and watch the RAM of a computer (lets face it, a NAS is a mini computer) and simply wait till the decryption key passes through... (thank you NSA also for inspiring the tools and methods for this).
Buffalo offers the TeraStation 3k and 5k units (business class just like the others), which allow you to encrypt the DATA partition for your folders/files, but that's as good as your going to get...


Also don't work here, but I can say that while its a PITA, I have avoided the forum's here for a few weeks due to the MASSIVE flood of spam that occurred... At that time I could find and watch any new release in theaters on the web, there where links EVERYWHERE! (probably all malware!)


All in all, if your data is important to you, use something like the included NovaBackup or Acronis True Image Home to do your files or system backup's and enable the encryption option for the backup files. Dont forget the password either... I used to get asked often when I worked at a PC Repair shop in California if we could crack encryption on the small mini drives company's where selling which offered the 256bit hardware encryption and that never worked out well... now that I think about it however, it might be easier to break with the PC's these days... that was 10 years ago after-all!

Musing over, hope that helped somehow!