Disk encryption software
Disk encryption generally refers to wholesale encryption that operates on an entire volume mostly transparently to the user, the system, and applications. This is generally distinguished from file-level encryption that operates by user invocation on a single file or group of files, and which requires the user to decide which specific files should be encrypted. Disk encryption usually includes all aspects of the disk, including directories, so that an adversary cannot determine content, name or size of any file. It is well suited to portable devices such as laptop computers and thumb drives which are particularly susceptible to being lost or stolen. If used properly, someone finding a lost device cannot penetrate actual data, or even know what files might be present.
Encryption layer in storage stack
There is a plurality of terms that are used to describe implementations of disk encryption: on-the-fly encryption (OTFE); full disk encryption (FDE), whole disk encryption; filesystem-level encryption, encrypted filesystem, cryptographic filesystem, etc. All of them refer to an encryption layer in the storage stack. This article describes these techniques and explains their pros and cons. This article does not reference any software or hardware implementing these techniques (see disk encryption software and hardware), and it does not describe cryptographic theory behind it (see disk encryption theory).