SSD + Full Disk Encryption = Slow/Slower as HDD

Got a chance to test Intel X25-M G2 160Gb SSD; Dropped it in a laptop , Dell Latitude E6400/2Gb as well as Dell Precision/X5560/4Gb system.

The desktop was run unencrypted, the laptop tests were run with full disk encryption (Utimaco Safeguard Enterprise).

The outcome on the desktop system was pretty much as expected, read speeds for the SSD were always superior, only when write speeds were tested, sequential write speeds, the HDD won. Random I/O the SSD crushes the competition.

On the laptop, were the SSD was supposed to provide a sweet performance boost, things were less encouraging. Without encryption the SSD acted as seen in our SSD vs HDD movie here

Once the drive was encrypted though... what a difference... the write speeds dropped horribly, the read speeds were a far cry from what to expect. In short, with encryption enabled I didn't notice a difference between the SSD and HDD laptop. Benchmark tools were limited in their efficiency as the encryption driver is quite low level, read tests were not possible, only ATTO worked "a bit" turning in 30-35Mbs/ read speeds on the SSD. Write speeds were measurable by using FC-test and creating the different file patterns... Madshrimps