erase sas hdd exteranl via usb

[iliak]

Hi,

i have some hdd with smart test issues ( i have pulled them out from our servers)
i need to fully wipe them before returning them for replacement.

is there are a non expensive sas to usb tool or some kind of dock that can do it?

 

[PhiloEpisteme]

is there are a non expensive sas to usb tool or some kind of dock that can do it?

Yes, you can find them from seagate. You can also put them back in your server and wipe them that way. How do you plan to wipe them?

 

[iliak]

the server is fully used no free slots...
do you have a model name ?

 

[PhiloEpisteme]

do you have a model name ?

I don't off hand, sorry. I imagine a quick google search for "usb HDD dock" would reveal what you're looking for.

 

[iliak]

there are for sata, but i found only 1 for sas and it's expensive
https://www.amazon.com/Adapter-Converter-Universal-Reader-External/dp/B07KZRCT8H

 

[PhiloEpisteme]

there are for sata, buy i found only 1 for sas and it's expensive

Ah yes, I read too quickly and saw SAS as SATA. Apologies. If you have any available external SAS ports you will likely find more options for external SAS enclosures. I'd expect them to be pricier though. I imagine you can't stand any down time of the server?

 

[iliak]

Ah yes, I read too quickly and saw SAS as SATA. Apologies. If you have any available external SAS ports you will likely find more options for external SAS enclosures. I'd expect them to be pricier though. I imagine you can't stand any down time of the server?

nope , all sas ports are used

 

[HoneyBadger]

For the cost of what those USB to SAS cables are, you could probably pick up an older complete machine with a SAS controller and just connect the drives internally.

(And have a few hundred dollars left over.)

 

[Chris Moore]

there are for sata, buy i found only 1 for sas and it's expensive
https://www.amazon.com/Adapter-Converter-Universal-Reader-External/dp/B07KZRCT8H

Interesting product but it is far to expensive to be worth thinking about.
If you need to connect a SAS drive, just to wipe the data, simply pickup a SAS controller like this:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-H220-6G...9205-8i-P20-IT-Mode-From-US-Ship/192639052923
Not newer. That makes a difference later.
Then get a cable like this:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/SAS-mSAS-3...er-Cable-100cm-for-HDD-Drive-BIN/312349482795
Which allows you to connect as many as four drives at once.
Then use a copy of DBAN (Darik's Boot and Nuke, https://dban.org/) to wipe the drives. That is where the drive controller matters. DBAN won't work with newer controllers, but it woks fine on that one. I have used it myself, many times for the exact same thing. Just throw that card and cable in any computer that will boot from a Linux live CD and has an PCI-E x8 slot available.
I actually have four computers setup for doing that at my office because of the quantity of drives I need to wipe. Advantage is, you can wipe SAS or SATA drives on the same computer, at the same time, just plug them in and boot it up.

 

[iliak]

@Chris Moore
good idea, ill get it, but first i have a question:
on DBAN site there is indication the free version does not work with sas

 

[Chris Moore]

If it doesn't work for SAS that is a change to the program in an effort to make people get the commercial product that is being offered.
The same thing can be accomplished by running a bad blocks test. It overwrites the drive with three passes for the purpose of testing the surface of the drives. It will destroy the original data just as well. We have a process for doing that for the drives in a NAS all at once. If you need a record of the drives being wiped for business purposes, you might want one of the commercial applications, but they cost. Some of the ones we have used even change based on the number of drives being erased.

 

[iliak]

i dont need record or documents,, just a good wipe

 

[Chris Moore]

i don't need record or documents,, just a good wipe

This site has a script that we use for testing new drives, but it would also do a great job of wiping old drives:

Github repository for FreeNAS scripts, including disk burnin
https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...for-freenas-scripts-including-disk-burnin.28/

You can use something like tmux to run multiple instances of the script in parallel to wipe several drives at once.

 

[Chris Moore]

i don't need record or documents,, just a good wipe

Were you able to do this?

 

[iliak]

Not yet, i don't have a free sas port all servers are at full capacity. and i don't want to touch working server and and set pools to degraded mode,
in month or two we are going to buy a new storage then ill wipe it out.