What is TDE?

TDE typically refers to Transparent Data Encryption. It's a technology used to encrypt data at rest, meaning the data is encrypted when it's stored on a physical medium like a hard drive or solid-state drive. This helps protect sensitive data from unauthorized access, such as if a database file is stolen or a server is compromised. TDE is commonly used in database systems to encrypt entire databases, specific tables, or even individual columns. It often involves encrypting the physical data files and log files, and the encryption/decryption process is transparent to the application accessing the data.