Does the system volume have to be encrypted before encrypting data volumes, BitLocker?

Question

I am considering using BitLocker to encrypt a server's data partitions. It isn't fully clear in the documentation; does the system volume (partition) need to be encrypted before other partitions on the system may be encrypted?

Answer 1

No, BitLocker and BitLocker-To-Go don't require the system drive to be encrypted.

Note however that if you don't anyone could hack the system drive to gain access to the other partitions, so you're defeating the purpose of BitLocker.