Transparent Database Encryption With SQL Server 2008

As I was beating my head against the wall with SQL Server encryption, I was envisioning horror scenarios of converting my columns to varbinary, calling ENCRYPTBYKEY all over the place and doing other unspeakable atrocities to my database, I was happy to learn about Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) introduced in SQL Server 2008.

TDE makes database encryption transparent, so you don’t have to change the schema. It also addresses the issue of protecting data “at rest” which is critically important to some companies.

I found two good MSDN resources on the subject:

• Database Encryption in SQL Server 2008 Enterprise Edition
• Understanding Transparent Data Encryption (TDE)

Hope this helps! (Seriously, ScottGu needs to copyright this line).