Data erasure ...

It's true; your data does walk out the door. The drives then go through an analysis / repair process. This process will erase any data. If by chance a drive somehow slipped through the process and ended up back on the shelves as a spare, the first thing that happens to a new drive being inserted into a Symmetrix is it either gets formatted or new customer data is placed onto it. There is very little chance your data is going to end up on another customer¿s machine.
I'm sure this holds true for all vendors, I've never heard of an incident where someone has inadvertantly had access to someone elses data through a spare replacement.
There is no plan to "back engineer" this feature into previous codes.

Ok.
Let¿s say I have the new 5772 Enginuity code. How do I know the erase process has bean done on the disk?

Yes, how exactly do we know that the data is erased? If it's a "Certified" data erasure, then what kind of certification (or more like verification) do we get?

Sysmgr,

Certified comes from being 'D.O.D. compliant' (Department of Defense). The program over-writes random bit patterns to ensure erasure of original data.

From Powerlink if you do a search for 'data erasure', it will present multiple documents for your review.


I hope this helps.

Message was edited by:
Julie Gibson

Wow, that link is so secure, it won't let me even open it! That must be top-secret.

Anyway, besides spraying the disks with bits, is there any verification or notification that the customers get after this is done? Or is it just assumed to be done?

Sysmgr,

I sincerely apologize for the link issue. My mistake.

I will leave it up to each individual to do their own search via Powerlink on the subject.

The application has prompts and notifications. Such as the option to choose the number of Media Eraser 'wipes' (3x times, 5x times or 7x times). Notifications of estimate running time, progress and job completion.

Is there any possibility of getting alerted in ECC so that there is a permanent, easily customer accessible record of the erasure?

Hello All,

I also just wanted to clarify that the "EMC Certified Data Erasure Services" for disks feature (to be released with Enginuity 5772 and as detailed by sysmgr) is a NEW feature to ensure the full data erasure of a single defective drive before it is removed from site.

This is an enhancement to the current "EMC Certified Data Erasure Services" feature available for Enginuity 5x67 to 5771. The current service is for a FULL box data erasure of all installed drives (to DOD standards, multiple passes, selectable data patterns, etc).

Again this is a full box erasure that can be performed by your local EMC Customer Engineer and this is typically requested before a Symmetrix is "traded in" (returned to EMC) OR re-deployed for other uses onsite....

Best Regards,
Michael.

I understand that on the 5772 code that it's for disk replacements only and not something that the customers can do. I am just curious as to how the customers can truely verify that this was performed on a disk prior to replacement rather than just assuming it was done. A previous post mentioned questions to answer when it's run, so would this not be a default behavior?

Hi Sysmgr,

My last posting was simply to clarify that this thread was discussing a different feature to the full box erasure service that is currently available (as detailed by Mr. TS2). The choice of the data erasure method (to DOD standards), the number of passes, etc, are certainly all questions to be answered when performing the full box certified data erasure.

I am afraid that Enginuity 5772 has not been GA'ed yet so I don't have the details on how a certified erasure at the disk level would be logged or reported. Perhaps some other EMC'ers know how this dialogue would apply to the new 5772 feature?......

Yes, from the information I have seen (which is obviously "Subject to change without notice", etc) the certified data erasure prior to a drive replacement at Enginuity 5772 appears to be an optional behaviour that needs to be licensed and it is an alternative to customers that currently have maintenance agreements where they physically retain all failed drives (for total data security).

I would suggest that anyone specifically interested in this new feature should speak to their friendly local EMC Sales Team - to see if it applies to their environment and addresses any current concerns with data security......

Thanks & Best Regards,
Michael.

Optional, extra licensed (extra cost I presume), and not GA'd yet.
Great.

Hello All,

EMC provides customers with a certificate of data erasure service completion and a report. The report shows details of which specific drives were involved and what level of data erasure was applied.

Solution Enabler SYMAUDIT commands are available to retrieve information on erase cycles. These commands can also be used by customers.

I hope this helps.

Regards,
Wolfgang

it's a service that you have to purchase.

EMC Certified Data Erasure , this required a new licenses or its free  ??