P4510 TCG Opal 2.0 hardware encryption support very confusing

[rm2020]

Having purchased a few P4510 drives expecting hardware encryption support, I have to say the Intel documentation on this is VERY misleading.

https://www.intel.com.au/content/www/au/en/products/docs/memory-storage/solid-state-drives/data-cent...

"The SSD DC P4510 also provides security features like TCG Opal 2.0 and built-in AES-XTS 256-bit encryption engine"

So a naive reading suggests that the P4510 does support TCG Opal 2.0, I mean it's right there in the product brief.

However once you buy the drive and find that it doesn't seem to work, you do more searching and you might come across.

https://community.intel.com/t5/Solid-State-Drives/Linux-TCG-Opal-Support-on-P4610-Has-anyone-got-who...

https://community.intel.com/t5/Solid-State-Drives/Hardware-encryption-on-P4510-series-drives/m-p/604...

Which includes a vague statement like "I've got confirmation that Opal 2.0 is not supported in the Intel® SSD DC P4510 Series, however it will be supported in future releases", which contradicts what's in the product brief.

Eventually you might find:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/au/en/support/articles/000030541/memory-and-storage.html

Which makes you initially think that it does indeed support it. But then you notice the slight discrepancy. On that page it lists model numbers like SSDPE2KX080T8O but when you check your drive it's SSDPE2KX080T8, with a missing O from the end there.

So if I put this altogether correctly:

1. Only P4510 drives that have an O suffix on the model number support the TCG Opal 2.0 encryption standard
2. I can't see anywhere on any Intel website or documentation where this is made clear or that this is even a possible distinction in available drive model numbers
3. Although the non-O version of the P4510 supports "built-in AES-XTS 256-bit encryption", the only thing it's useful for is that you can reset the key as part of doing a secure drive erase, but that's all. You can't actually protect the data on the drive by requiring a key after power up but before use.
4. I believe all of this applies to the P4610 series drives as well.

Have I missed anything here?

Hopefully the next person doing a google search will come across this and avoid disappointment from the (IMHO) misleading documentation.

[BrusC_Intel · Accepted solution]

Hello, @rm2020.

Thank you for contacting Intel Community Support.

We received your thread regarding the Intel® SSD DC P4510 Series and Opal support, I will be glad to assist you.

I completely understand your position and we appreciate your feedback regarding the available documentation, I can certainly make sure this will be taken into consideration.

It is always important to review the product specifications, especially when we are interested in specific features like Opal support, as you already did, by checking the related Intel sites involving this specific drive.

For the P4510, this information is available in the article you mentioned (Intel® SSDs with TCG Opal 2.0* Support) and is also mentioned in the product specifications page for each individual drive by checking the "Ordering and compliance" section, for example:

- https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/122572/intel-ssd-dc-p4510-series-8-0tb-2-5in-pc...

If you check that section, you will notice the different Ordering Code for the version that supports Opal, making this information available in the article and each specific product specifications page, and in case you are interested in other models like the P4610, the information is available there as well.

If there is anything else, please let me know, I will follow up on November 30th or we can schedule a different date.

Best regards,

Bruce C.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[rm2020]

Thanks for the reply.

Once you know that there's actually two different models, as you look around it suddenly seems more obvious. e.g. as you point out, the different order codes in the "Ordering and spec information" section of the ark.intel.com site.

However I feel this is largely obvious only in hindsight. As someone coming in fresh looking for drives with TCG Opal 2.0 support, all the initial documentation you encounter seems to suggest these drives have it, which means you go and buy some and then spend considerable time trying to work out why it's not working, and doing a bunch of internet searching and finding what appears to be inconsistent documentation. The result is a poor first time customer experience, which is why I'd really like to see any documentation updated to make this all clearer for the next person.

Cheers

[BrusC_Intel]

Hello, @rm2020.

Thank you for taking the time to do this.

I will submit your feedback for review and hopefully, this will be edited in the future.

The thread will be closed right now, but if you need any type of assistance from Intel, you can always contact us back.

Best regards,

Bruce C.

Intel Customer Support Technician.