Re: Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) and encrypted files

On Mon, Oct 7, 2019 at 11:26:24AM -0400, Robert Haas wrote:
> On Mon, Oct 7, 2019 at 11:02 AM Bruce Momjian <bruce(at)momjian(dot)us> wrote:
> > For clog, it is not append-only, and bytes are rewritten (from zero to
> > non-zero), so there would have to be a new nonce for every clog file
> > write to the file system. We can store the nonce in a separate file,
> > but the clog contents and nonce would have to be always synchronized or
> > the file could not be properly read. Basically every file we want to
> > encrypt, needs this kind of study.
>
> Yeah. It's a big problem/project.
>
> Another approach to this problem would be to adjust the block format
> to leave room for the nonce. If encryption is not in use, then those
> bytes would just be zeroed or something. That would make upgrading a
> bit tricky, but pg_upgrade could be taught to do the necessary
> conversions for SLRUs without too much pain, I think.

Yes, that is exactly the complexity we have deal with, both in terms of
code complexity, reliability, and future maintenance. Currently the
file format is unchanged, but as we add more encrypted files, we might
need to change it. Fortunately, I think heap/index files don't need to
change, so pg_upgrade will not require changes.

> In my opinion, it is desirable to maintain as much consistency as
> possible between what we store on disk in the encrypted case and what
> we store on disk in the not-encrypted case. If we have to add
> additional forks in the encrypted case, or change the file of the
> format and not just the contents, it seems likely to add complexity
> and bugs that we might be able to avoid via another approach.

Agreed.

> > > In other words: maybe I'm wrong here, but it looks to me like we're
> > > laboriously reinventing the wheel when we could be working on
> > > improving the working prototype.
> >
> > The work being done is building on that prototype.
>
> That's good, but then I'm puzzled as to why your list of things to
> encrypt doesn't include all the things it already covers.

Well, I am starting with the things I _know_ need encrypting, and am
then waiting for others to tell me what to add. Cybertec has not
provided a list and reasons yet, that I have seen. This is why I
started this public thread, so we could get a list and agree on it.

FYI, I realize this is all very complex, and requires cryptography and
server internals knowledge. I am happy to discuss it via voice with
anyone.

--
Bruce Momjian <bruce(at)momjian(dot)us> http://momjian.us
EnterpriseDB http://enterprisedb.com

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