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Benefits of using Bitlocker on virtual fileserver?

Hi guys

We have a virtual fileserver 2012 R2 on Vmware. If I was to enable 'Bitlocker' on there, would it affect anything in terms of people's access to shared files etc?

Also, by enabling something like that would there be a benefit? I would assume that the whole point of it is if someone stole the systems and tried to access our information that they would have to enter a password to access the information on the disk? So my assumption is that Bitlocker on an external disk or laptop, yes, but on a virtual machine sitting on premises there's no need?

Thanks for helping
Yash
EncryptionWindows Server 2012VMwareNetwork Security

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McKnife
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John
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Only persons with legitimate access to the VM should be using it, so trying to add bit locker to the VM will not add any practical security. Just restrict who has access.
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but on a virtual machine sitting on premises there's no need?

that depends on

1. Physical Security to your data centre ?
2. Administrators, which could download the virtual machine disk, access backups which also know the password, to enable bitlocker ?

do you trust your staff ?
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Yashy
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ASKER

Thanks people. I already do encrypted backups which helps, but in terms of physical access, the servers sit in a locked room only accessible by members of I.T staff whom are my team and who I do trust fully, yes.
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>  the servers sit in a locked room only accessible by members of I.T staff whom are my team and who I do trust fully, yes.

basically, if you trust the IT staff, physical protection is perfectly fine. if you do have any concerns about physical security, including physical access and disk theft, then BitLocker is required or a must.

it's all about trust or confidence.
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Lee W, MVP
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Bitlocker doesn't hurt anything.  MAYBE a slight (very slight) performance hit that odds are no one would notice.

Trust is great.  *BUT* Trust changes.  People who get married trust each other... until one (or both) betrays the other and they get a divorce...

Giving complete access, is unwise and encrypting it is wise.  Unless you don't have any sensitive data... in any way.  Then it really doesn't make a difference.
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CHI-LTD
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I though i had read that Bitlocker'ing a Widows Server wasnt recommended...?
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McKnife
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No, MS recommends to use BL anywhere. Problem with servers is, that those need to be able to reboot on their own, so you need a TPM chip and many old server models didn't have any (or server admins didn't understand that they need to buy an additional chip to fit on the solder ("TPM header") of their server board, first).
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VMware, a software company founded in 1998, was one of the first commercially successful companies to offer x86 virtualization. The storage company EMC purchased VMware in 1994. Dell Technologies acquired EMC in 2016. VMware’s parent company is now Dell Technologies. VMware has many software products that run on desktops, Microsoft Windows, Linux, and macOS, which allows the virtualizing of the x86 architecture. Its enterprise software hypervisor for servers, VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi), is a bare-metal hypervisor that runs directly on the server hardware and does not require an additional underlying operating system.

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