I haven't seen this discussed so I thought I'd make a thread on it.
We are all aware that Hydrus runs fine inside a Truecrypt container, but having one huge file can be a problem.
For instance if you backup your 500GB database inside a truecrypt container and then download even just 1 image you basically need to backup the whole 500GB all over again if you run an automated backup to an external HDD or a NAS. Another problem with Truecrypt/Veracrypt volumes is you have to set the container size at the time of making it, leaving it too big or too small all too easily.
Well I've been experimenting with different crypto programs that feature encrypting directories while keeping files separate. The filenames and contents are unreadable, but they are still their own files so syncing and backup programs know exactly what to copy and what is the same.
The problem is that Hydrus doesn't want to run at all within these encrypted directories, but luckily we can have our installed client separate to the db folder.
>install an encryption program (I used cppcryptfs but there are a bunch for various platforms)
>create a new encrypted folder on any drive
>mount it as a Drive letter (you will need to use the same Drive letter each time)
>Move your Hydrus db folder to that mounted drive (or you can make a new one by ignoring this step)
>create a shortcut to your client.exe adding -d="path to db folder on virtual drive" (e.g "C:\Hydrus Network\client.exe" -d="Z:\db")
>use shortcut
it should find your database and start like normal, with any new files being encrypted as their own files that can be synced individually.
I haven't tried it but theoretically you could even mount a cloud provider as a virtual drive and store your entire database that way, probably stupid but I might try it for fun.