Is encryption the best solution for data security?
Encryption is the best solution for data that is in significant danger of being breached. As an example, assuming appropriate physical and network safeguards are in place, it is not likely that the data that is stored on your server is going to be breached while it is on your server. The cost of encryption to server based applications in terms of performance degradation makes selective encryption of data an undesirable security choice. If encryption is desired for server based data, then whole disk, or volume encryption are suitable solutions. However, when backups of data are made and taken off site, the backup media is at risk of being lost or stolen, so those backup files should be encrypted.
