iXsystems Debuts ZFS Encryption Feature

iXsystems, Inc. released FreeNAS Version 8.3.1.

With this update, FreeNAS becomes an open source storage platform to offer encryption for the Zettabyte File System (ZFS). This is the first point release of the 8.3 branch, including updates to several components for security and stability.

Until now, encryption for ZFS has been inaccessible to the general public. Thanks to ZFS encryption, security-conscious users will be able to prevent their data from being read if the disks are disconnected from their system.

The ZFS encryption module runs as fast as unencrypted volumes on processors that support the AES-NI instruction set. AES-NI instructions are available on many Intel and AMD processors.

The encryption key management has options for automatically restarting the volume, or requiring an operator to manually enter in a key depending on the user’s required level of security. In addition encryption allows for confidence when retiring and recycling HDDs because the drives no longer need to be wiped provided the keys are obliterated.

In the future, iXsystems will be able to bring features and improvements from FreeBSD, the enterprise open source OS, to the FreeNAS community faster. This is a result of the FreeNAS codebase moving to FreeBSD 9.

Alfred Perlstein, VP of software engineering at iXsystems, says: "With the FreeNAS and the FreeBSD code bases closer together, both userbases will benefit from testing and development done on the entire platform."

FreeNAS 8.3.1 also updates many of the services and components of FreeNAS, providing upgraded hardware support, bug fixes, and performance enhancements. FreeNAS 8.3.0 has been a popular FreeNAS release to date with over 500,000 downloads. iXsystems is looking forward to the continued growth of the FreeNAS community with the release of version 8.3.1, and to more opportunities to make powerful technology accessible for FreeNAS users.

About FreeNAS
It is a free and open source NAS OS based on FreeBSD. The goal of the project is to design a lightweight, BSD-based software package that acts as a full featured NAS server, complete with a Django-based web user interface, full ZFS implementation, and the ability to interface with existing networks – regardless of OS or protocol. The encryption system introduced in Version 8.3.1 makes FreeNAS a free and open Source ZFS encryption offering.