Seagate Secure Self Encrypting Drives (SED) now offer the ability to very quickly erase all data on the drive. This feature is called Seagate Instant Secure Erase (ISE).
SED drives are identifiable by a PSID number on the drive label. It is a 32-character string Physical Security IDentification number.
If your drive has a PSID, the information in this article is supported by your drive. This method of data erasure performs a Media Sanitization purging of data.
Until now, drive retirement methods have many challenges. Namely, they take a long time to complete, are manually intensive, increase IT retirement costs, and have gaps in data protection:
- Overwriting drive data software is expensive and ties up valuable system resources for days.
- Degaussing a drive is costly and risky.
- Physically shredding a drive is expensive, environmentally hazardous, and costly.
- Long-term storage of drives in warehouses is expensive and risky.
Seagate Instant Secure Erase (ISE) addresses the cost, time, and security concerns inherent in other approaches, making the drive retirement process safe, fast, and easy for any size IT department.
This technology paper "How to ISE Your Drive" gives step-by-step instructions on how to utilize ISE with the SeaTools for Windows utility software.
