File Vault and Restarting Freezes

Hi,
I have a MacPro Xeon 64-bit workstation, with 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon, 16 Gig RAM, 1066 MHz, running OS X 10.7.5. This computer is acting as the server for my 5 iMacs, in my periodontal practice. I am using a dental management software, called MacPractice DDS.

I am in the process of upgrading the version of MP DDS. While doing the upgrade, I get a dialogue box, that tell me I should turn File Vault on.

I did it, and restarted the Server MacPro. I did this Friday evening around 5. I waited for a bit, while the tick marks spun, like one sees during a normal restart. I came back at 5, this evening, only to find it still spinning.

Should it take over 24 hours to restart? I ended up turning it off with the button and just starting it back up. I can access everything, but I'm wondering if turning FileVault is worth the trouble.

Thanks
Drewber

Should it take over 24 hours to restart? I ended up turning it off with the button and just starting it back up. I can access everything, but I'm wondering if turning FileVault is worth the trouble.

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No, it shouldn't take near that long to restart. And personally, I would stay far away from using Filevault. It can wind up being much more troulble than it's worth and may result in a loss of data. I can understand that you may have some sensitive patient information stored on your network, but there are certainly other ways to protect that data rather than using Filevault.

Thanks for the quick reply. You are not the first to make a negative comment about FireVault. But, when I asked on of the company techs, he said to go ahead. I was able to turn it on at each of the iMacs, and there wasn't an issue.
Personally, I doubt my system would be a target of hackers and MP didn't ask me to use FV for the first year I used their program.
The computers are not on wifi, or any public network. What, if anything do you suggest for added protection? Again, if you would suggest anything. Also, should i leave the iMacs, alone, or turn it back off on them? The software had an upgrade just a few weeks, ago, and that's when I did FV the first time. Didn't have the issue. But, before you helped me with the decision, I was leaning toward leaving it off. I don't want to risk my data.
Thanks very much!! Drew

Since your machines are on a closed network, they should be adequately protected as long as no unauthorized persons can access them. As such, no further protection is needed in my opinion. The biggest danger with Filevault is if the password should get lost. A lost or forgotten password can result in the complete loss of all data as there is no way to recover.

Also, hard drives fail, so be sure to make frequent backups of all the iMacs and the server. A failed hard drive that has been encrypted with Filevault is even more difficult to try to extract data from using recovery software. That might be something to keep in mind.

Thanks for the help. I did write down the Microsoft-long recovery keys, each time. But, that doesn't mean they couldn't get lost. I have 2 Lacie 1 TB removable drives, that I swap out, at the end of each night, and take with me.
On another note, I was at National Guard drill, this weekend and was discussing networking dental practices with the other Dental officers. What is a VPN? I know it means virtual private network, but is what I've described to you, a VPN, or is it something else? One of the docs is still using paper records, and was asking about networking. Thanks
Drewber