On Wed, 11 Mar 2015 12:28:31 -0500
GlowingBlueMist wrote:

The difference in interface speed will not matter as the newer 6Gb/s
is downward compatible, much like USB3 and USB2.

The self encrypting drive means that the data encryption is built
into the hard drive or SSD interface controller. This is an
anti-theft feature that means if I pull your hard drive out of your
PC I will not be able to read the data from any other PC, with out
your access password. Give this link a read and remember to replace
SSD for hard drive as you read it.

http://www.computerweekly.com/featur...ption-security

The other thing is that if you wanted to encrypt the drive using an
older non-encrypting drive your PC had to spend CPU time
encrypting/decrypting the data all the time. With a SED drive it is
built into the drive and your motherboard and CPU don't have to be
slowed down doing the encryption/decryption.

All companies should be using these with a password to unlock the drive.

It's good to know you don't have to enter password to unlock the drive,
but it will still be encrypted if its stolen.

From the article:

The encryption key used in SEDs is called the Media Encryption Key
(MEK). Locking and unlocking a drive requires another key, called the
Key Encryption Key (KEK) supplied by the user (or the platform, or the
network).

As the name implies, the KEK is used to encrypt or decrypt the MEK. The
KEK is never stored in plaintext inside the drive. If no KEK is set,
the drive is always unlocked and appears not to be encrypting even
though it is.