How does directory encryption help?

[meetyg]

Hello.
I wanted to know how does dirctory encryption help keep my data safe?
I mean when the HDD is inside the NAS and some gets into the NAS, either by hacking or if he has a user one the NAS, the encryption doesnt do do anything.
If someone steals the whole NAS, they can reset the NAS to default setting and get into the NAS and access the data.
Only if someone steals just a disk, the encryption can help, but I think that this is unlikely. They can just steals the whole unit, which will probably be the case with the smaller units, or those without removable bays.

In short, I think that data encryption on the NAS has no real advantage, and just slows does the performance. Even worse, if the unit goes bad, you data is encrypted without you being able to access it from another computer!

I would like to hear what the community think about this.

[orion]

You don't enable "auto-mount when system starts". When someone steals the whole NAS, he cannot mount this encrypted folder. So he cannot access it. Resetting NAS would not change the designated password or the encrypted key on this folder.
In case of NAS being bad, you should be able to get your encrypted data back by the designated password or the encrypted key on another NAS.

[meetyg]

OK, so if I understand correctly, "auto-mount" saves the key to the NAS, and thats when encryption has less value, right?
Sounds good
Can I do this somehow with external storage?
I would like to backup my NAS to USB drive. In case someone steals the drive, I would like it to be encrypted too.

[orion]

I don't see this option enabled with my external device (vfat format). As I remember, it seems that there are some guys here to ask for this feature.