Patent attributes
System and method for fault-recoverable full-drive encryption. A buffer is allocated to temporarily retain different subsets of the plurality of segments at various times. An encrypted space mask represents an encryption state of each segment. Prior to encrypting each subsequent segment, a first copy of the encrypted segment is stored in the buffer, and a second copy of the encrypted segment is stored on the data storage drive. The encrypted space mask is updated to represent a current encryption state of the plurality of segments. In response to an interruption of the encrypting process, the encrypted space mask and, in some embodiments, the buffer, are used to identify a correct encryption state of the drive, permitting recovery and resumption of the encryption process.
