timbo343 Posted January 6, 2009 Report Posted January 6, 2009 Before the xmas holidays (the last day that i worked), one of our SAS drives had failed so HP kindly sent out a replacement which arrived yesterday. Now, on the box, they are asking for the old drive to be sent back to them. The only trouble is, this drive was part of a Raid 5 configuration and on that raid was a lot of confidential information. I dont want to send the drive back as they said that they will try to fix the drive and format it. Well, in my mind if thats the case i aint sending the drive back as the information my still be accessable. What does everyone else do in this situation? Thanks Tim
jamesb Posted January 6, 2009 Report Posted January 6, 2009 I'd say check with them about what exactly they plan to do with the drive, and any guarantees they can make about data security. Anything they say, you'll want to get in writing as well and keep it filed safely.
ahuxham Posted January 6, 2009 Report Posted January 6, 2009 Had a problem with a Dell laptop, new HDD arrived and installed, said we could keep our old one as I had various thoughts about the security and confidentiality of data. They said keep it for a while and we'll ask for it too be sent in a few weeks. Needless to say they still haven't asked for the drive back. Just tell them, you don't want to send confidential data, and you want to dispose of the data for yourself.
SpuffMonkey Posted January 6, 2009 Report Posted January 6, 2009 I wouldn't've thought that they could extract much meaningful data from a single drive out of a RAID array??
timbo343 Posted January 6, 2009 Author Report Posted January 6, 2009 Right ok, thanks for the replies. The only thing now is i have got to ring to the other side of the world to state this.... its a shame i can't email them...
ahuxham Posted January 6, 2009 Report Posted January 6, 2009 Right ok, thanks for the replies. The only thing now is i have got to ring to the other side of the world to state this.... its a shame i can't email them... Ignore it, wait for them too call you!
Dos_Box Posted January 6, 2009 Report Posted January 6, 2009 I wouldn't've thought that they could extract much meaningful data from a single drive out of a RAID array?? Especially a single failed drive!
Jamman960 Posted January 6, 2009 Report Posted January 6, 2009 They'll have a policy in place, when they do get the drive back they may do a few tests to see if its still functional and can be re-deployed by them, otherwise they'll put an RMA request in with the manufacturer who will re-condition the drive where possible and probably send it back out as a warranty replacement. Either way it'll surely be wiped to military standards before being put back into circulation... neither HP or any manufacturer would survive if they allowed customer data to be restored from drives shipped by them. HP will chase the faulty disk and charge you for the replacement if you don't sent it back, either way they won't be out of pocket.
mrforgetful Posted January 6, 2009 Report Posted January 6, 2009 I once got a new laptop screen for a laptop which had been damaged. They sent a 14" when I requested 15". I asked for the correct one which they sent and issued a return for the other, it's still on my shelf 3 years later as noone ever came for it!
linkazoid Posted January 6, 2009 Report Posted January 6, 2009 We've never had to send any replacement parts back to HP or Dell, and have never been chased by them for payment. They always tell us to dispose of them, unless they contain any elements that cannot be binned or recycled. Mike
sammy Posted January 6, 2009 Report Posted January 6, 2009 Hey guys, its pretty standard procedure for them to ask for the drive back as part of the warranty procedure. All being said and done the drive will go back, realistically they will format it first, then check for disks errors on some bit of generic software and if all is ok resell it as a returned and non-faulty drive. If it ever lands in any new clients server, either it will replace a drive in an array and therefore be immediately written too, or someone will install a OS on it to start a new build...either way you data is never accessible. Also with it being 1 drive in the array, it has some parity info on it which contains pointers to bits of data in the array, nothing usuable in that state anyway. I wouldnt worry at all, the HP "machine" is such a huge operation, im tempted to tell you that there is almost no human intervention in the initial receipt and formatting stage. By the way Happy New Year Guys and Gals.
localzuk Posted January 7, 2009 Report Posted January 7, 2009 I can understand the worry here though, as the DPA requires us to ensure that adequate protection is in place for any confidential data that we hold. Returning a disk, whether it was in an array or not, still jumps out as being a dangerous thing to do. Sure, we can all hypothesise about what HP do with it, but without written proof from them a school would still be liable if that data ended up being read by some hacker bod somewhere. Even with written assurances, it would still be a massive issue. My thought on the issue would be to seek guidance from the Information Commissioner's office first, and see what they say.
Geoff Posted January 7, 2009 Report Posted January 7, 2009 The simplest way to avoid this issue, although expensive, is not to claim warranty protection on broken drives that have confidential data on them. Simply stump up the cash for a replacement drive. In fact, if HP cannot or will not guarantee the security of the data on the returned drive (regardless of the state it's in) it's your only choice. Unfortunately a 'real' cost of complying with the DPA.
timbo343 Posted January 7, 2009 Author Report Posted January 7, 2009 Who or what is the Information Commissioner's office? and i think a very strong magnet might do the trick
7andY Posted January 8, 2009 Report Posted January 8, 2009 Who or what is the Information Commissioner's office? Oh dear. Oh dear oh dear. A Systems Manager, and you don't know who or what the Information Commissioner is? A basic tenet of the Data Protection Act, and you don't know. I suggest you do some urgent reading on the DPA. If you don't know this one, then there must be other major gaps in your understanding of the DPA. In my job, a thorough understanding of the DPA is a must... Oh dear oh dear.... 7&Y
ahuxham Posted January 8, 2009 Report Posted January 8, 2009 Oh dear. Oh dear oh dear. A Systems Manager, and you don't know who or what the Information Commissioner is? A basic tenet of the Data Protection Act, and you don't know. I suggest you do some urgent reading on the DPA. If you don't know this one, then there must be other major gaps in your understanding of the DPA. In my job, a thorough understanding of the DPA is a must... Oh dear oh dear.... 7&Y Oh dear, oh dear -- behave. No need to victimise like that. Data protection in a school doesn't just apply to the Systems Manager because he runs the network. SMT and Bursar etc actually right the policies and implement them. At our school its SMT/Bursar, we just adhere too it, and its the same in vast majority of places. "Your Job" = Your opinion, no need to mock someone based on your own opinion 3
mrforgetful Posted January 8, 2009 Report Posted January 8, 2009 So they were serious? Jees how up themselves are they! You'd have thought someone with 18 posts wouldn't be belittling the moderators...
buzzard Posted January 8, 2009 Report Posted January 8, 2009 i'd stick in a microwave for 10 secs then send it back
Guest Guest Posted January 8, 2009 Report Posted January 8, 2009 Theres a post on here about what to do with HDs, yeah there it is; Which? recommends you use one of these, doubt HP would be happy though. http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/hammer-1.jpg
ahuxham Posted January 8, 2009 Report Posted January 8, 2009 Theres a post on here about what to do with HDs, yeah there it is; Which? recommends you use one of these, doubt HP would be happy though. http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/hammer-1.jpg You just made me search YouTube for "Hammertime" =(
mrforgetful Posted January 9, 2009 Report Posted January 9, 2009 i'd stick in a microwave for 10 secs then send it back Yeah I hear microwaves and metal objects go well together...stay out of my kitchen mate!
buzzard Posted January 9, 2009 Report Posted January 9, 2009 Yeah I hear microwaves and metal objects go well together...stay out of my kitchen mate! I just use the food tech ones
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