Why Bitlocker in Windows Server 2008/2008 R2 doesn't support iSCSI drives?

Question

As far as I know Bitlocker in Windows Server 2008/2008 R2 doesn't support iSCSI drives (but version included in Server 2012/Windows 8 does). Why it is so?

Answer 1

Bitlocker was a new enough technology in 2008 R2 that they hadn't tested it to their satisfaction on iSCSI, thus, they didn't support it on that platform.

And, to be fair, full disk encryption is most useful on client devices - encrypt the corporate laptops so you don't lose a bunch of trade secrets/customer data/embarrassing emails anytime an employee gets their laptop stolen or lost. As such, it makes sense that they'd focus on making the technology work with the types of storage you find in laptops and desktops before worrying about making it work on servers.

Ideally, your servers should be someplace where they can't be physically accessed easily, which drastically reduces the usefulness of full disk encryption for server platforms.