VeraCrypt and Encryption Algorithm Performance

📅 February 27, 2017
“Does VeraCrypt slow down reads and writes?”

Do you want to encrypt your data, but are you concerned about a performance drop?

I was curious to find out if using VeraCrypt resulted in slower reads and writes for whole disk encryption with an external USB drive and for a standard file container, so I performed my own tests in Linux Mint 18.1.

How would the different encryption algorithms affect performance? Are some faster or slower than others?

Here are my results…

Kernel 4.10.0 and VirtualBox 5.1.14 Released

📅 February 24, 2017
Linux kernel 4.10.0 (stable version) was released a few days ago while VirtualBox 5.1.14 was released about a month ago. I have been using both, and they have been performing well.

Kernel 4.10.0 touts improved NVIDIA graphics support, but my experience was lackluster with SLI. On the other hand, 4.10.0 runs great with existing Linux systems using non-SLI graphics.

Using RapidDisk with VeraCrypt

📅 February 17, 2017
“Can I use RapidDisk with VeraCrypt?”

Absolutely. If you have an encrypted volume with VeraCrypt, you can easily add a RAM cache to improve read performance.

The setup is the same as with a regular RapidDisk cache but with an added extra step to map the VeraCrypt volume.

RapidDisk – Improved Hard Drive Caching

📅 February 14, 2017
Do you have some extra RAM in your system?

Want better read speeds from slower mechanical hard drives?

How about adding a RAM drive to your system?

 

RapidDisk is an open source tool for Linux that enables you to create RAM disks for general purpose usage or use them as caching systems for existing hard drives.

I have been using RapidDisk myself on desktop systems, and I can say that it greatly improves the read performance of slow hard drives whether they be single drives or RAID arrays. You can even set up a RapidDisk RAM cache for a USB device. RAM disks are surpringly useful despite being volatile. Best of all, RapidDisk is free to obtain and simple to use after a little reading.

Here is how to use RapidDisk in Linux Mint 18.1 in a simple configuration so you can experience faster read speeds from your hard drives.