Encrypt Share Folders?

[Sephula]

Is there any way to add encryption for the AiDisk, and subsequent Share directories? It seems rather pointless having separate user directories, with separate passwords when it's easy enough to simply pull the USB stick out, and shove it in your computer's port. I believe EXT4 supports filesystem-level encryption (since kernel 4.1), which would allow the user directories to be encrypted (you could simply use the user login password for the key). It doesn't add very much overhead, and only on the CPU, which is by no means being fully utilized. Also, being able to use compression would be nice, considering you're a little limited on space when using a USB drive. It would also speed up read/write operations, because the CPU would be handling some of the work, and USB flash drives are still pretty slow, especially the spacious ones.

 

[ColinTaylor]

You don't state your router model or firmware version.

Most Asus routers are using kernel 2.6.

 

[Sephula]

I have AC68x models, 4.384_20648. And, I'm only using that as an example. I'm simply asking for suggestions, here.

 

[RMerlin]

It would also speed up read/write operations, because the CPU would be handling some of the work

You overestimate what a 800 MHz CPU can do I'm afraid. The CPU is already the bottleneck limiting the USB throughput well below what a USB 3.0 disk can handle, adding compression (and encryption) would further degrade throughput.

 

[Sephula]

Yeah... I was afraid of that. And, I have noticed the decreased performance you mention. I guess, I'm just wishful thinking.

 

[Sephula]

However, it doesn't seem to suffer while handling downloads over VPN connections, which use the exact same encryption and compression algorithms. So, what's the difference?

 

[RMerlin]

However, it doesn't seem to suffer while handling downloads over VPN connections, which use the exact same encryption and compression algorithms. So, what's the difference?

OpenVPN is attuned to use the second CPU core by default, freeing the first core to do its USB read/write IO.

 

[Sephula]

Fair enough. Thanks for your feedback. I truly appreciate you taking the time to share your wisdom with us. Frankly, I'm not very concerned with my own usage, but I thought it seemed like a question which should be considered. Especially, if one were considering buying one of these devices for their small business, or something. I guess, we'd still be stuck with having to spend a lot more money to gain those small features, for the time being.

 

[RMerlin]

Fair enough. Thanks for your feedback. I truly appreciate you taking the time to share your wisdom with us. Frankly, I'm not very concerned with my own usage, but I thought it seemed like a question which should be considered. Especially, if one were considering buying one of these devices for their small business, or something. I guess, we'd still be stuck with having to spend a lot more money to gain those small features, for the time being.

It often comes down to actual needs. I have a few customers with 25 Mbps Internet connections that require remote access to their offices. For these, an RT-AC66U_B1 running OpenVPN gets the job done at a reasonable price - and I can take care of ensuring that the router config is reasonably secure. But for any larger business, I would probably look more into products such as Mikrotik or Ubiquity.