How to Administrate BestCrypt Container Access

BestCrypt software allows users to create encrypted containers on any network or local disk that is accessible from the Server computer (see the Terms section).

You may run the BestCrypt Control Panel to see what local and network disks are available for storing and accessing BestCrypt containers.

NOTE: Some disks may be read-only accessible. This is the situation for network disks when you have connected to them in read-only mode. In this situation you cannot create new containers on the disk, but you can open any container stored on the disk for read-only access.

When you start BestCrypt Control Panel, the left panel will show you the list of all available disks. The following table describes the correspondence between disk types and icons.

Choosing a Server for BestCrypt container.

Each BestCrypt container that is stored on the local computer or on the network disk has a corresponding Server computer. The Server has BestCrypt software installed, it supports all necessary file system operation, performs encrypt/decrypt operations, controls file system caching of BestCrypt virtual drives and so on.

The BestCrypt administrator should choose a suitable computer as the Server. There may be at least three situations:

1. Container is stored on a Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/2003 server/XP/XP x64/Vista computer. In this case it would be wise to have the BestCrypt software installed on the same computer, and to make this computer act as both Storage and Server computer simultaneously.
2. Container is stored on a computer with an operating system other than Windows. In this case, the administrator should choose as Server the most powerful computer in the network with Windows operating system and the BestCrypt software installed.
3. Container is stored on a non-Windows (for example, UNIX) computer on the network, and the container is used most frequently by a Windows computer that is not very powerful. In this case, the best computer to have as the Server may be the Windows computer that is also the Client.

Passwords for networking access to encrypted data

• Password that is used by BestCrypt system to encrypt/decrypt data in the file-container. This password is established when a new container is created. Only the administrator should know this password. The administrator uses this password to open a container for access and also to change the container’s password. The password may be changed using BestCrypt Control Panel.
• Passwords or network access rights for sharing the BestCrypt virtual drive on the network. The administrator sets these passwords and access rights on the Server, using standard Windows methods. These passwords - for full or read-only access - should be known by the user on Client computers.

Creating and using BestCrypt container on network

1. Choose a Windows computer which will be the Server for BestCrypt container.
2. Install BestCrypt software on this computer.
3. Run BestCrypt Control Panel.
4. Choose a network or local drive where the new container will be created.
5. Create a new container using the method described in the New container dialog chapter.
6. Choose the drive letter, and mount the container on the virtual drive using the selected letter.
7. Set up sharing of the BestCrypt virtual drive for network access, and tell the users of the Client computers how to access the mounted drive.

NOTE: The administrator should open the BestCrypt container for access each time that Server computer boots. It is recommended that the container be marked as Auto-Mount. Then the operating system will require the administrator to enter the password during the startup sequence and the container will be automatically mounted to the selected drive every time that the Server boots.

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