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I have an IBM DS3512 RAID storage device, which I'm planning to sell. How would I reliably wipe my data off of all the hard drives?

As far as I can tell, it abstracts away all direct access to the drives, so running a data wipe program on the RAID partitions wouldn't necessarily work. The only option I see is to manually remove each drive, attach it as an external drive via a SAS-to-USB adapter, and wipe it that way. Is there a better option?

Cerin
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  • A lot of arrays have a 'wipe data' option where the controller heads ensure a good job, don't know that model but take a look. Otherwise crush/burn them if you're really bothered. – Chopper3 Jul 23 '14 at 12:51
  • Yes, but it's IBM, so I'd have to pay several hundred dollars more to "unlock" that feature. I don't want to invest in horrible hardware and software that I'm getting rid of. – Cerin Jul 23 '14 at 17:39
  • Is that true? if so then wow - that sucks – Chopper3 Jul 23 '14 at 19:24

2 Answers2

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Without knowing what this enclosure was connected so, I'm going to make some assumptions.

  • If you were connected to a RAID controller, just delete the logical drives/virtual drives/RAID groups. That's usually good enough.
  • Your RAID controller may also have an option to wipe the drives.
  • Also, SAS-to-USB adapters don't exist.

Otherwise, this is too much effort. I don't bother anything beyond the above.

ewwhite
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  • You seem to be correct about no SAS-to-USB. I was thinking about SATA-to-USB, but apparently going SAS->SATA->USB won't work either. – Cerin Jul 23 '14 at 18:06
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Some common methods, you have to see what your model supports:

  • Export all drives as JBOD. You'll end up with n drives you can wipe separately.
  • Export them as RAIDx with max capacity, again without a spare. If you see a drive with the expected capacity in the OS, wiping this should also destroy all data.
  • See if the controller offers a specific feature for data wiping.
  • Sell only the case without drives if you are really concerned.
Sven
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