Question Building a PC for wiping drives for my side business... are any of the PCIE 5.0 M.2 adapters better than any of the others?

[fcar1999ta]

So, I will actually use the full bandwidth of the PCIE 5.0 NVME M.2 adapter when I am wiping four M.2 drives, so is there one that is better another? I'd assume that heat dissipation would be the main difference. Asus has one that looks to vent the heat pretty well. Icy Dock has a fan, and looks easier to swap out drives.

 

[helpstar]

cooling is essential for such a task
with "low" price adapters, the motherboard needs to have the feature "bifurcation". Usually latest thread ripper or Xeon CPU based motherboards are offering this.

Icy Dock would be my personal favorite, but it´s just a feeling maybe they are good in marketing.
e.g. https://global.icydock.com/product_342.html

 

[dwd999]

Please define "wiping". I have an ASUS motherboard that includes a Secure Erase function in the bios Tool menu. It only takes a few seconds to wipe a 2TB m.2. Since its not an extended process heat does not seem to be an issue. How long do you think your methodology will take to wipe an m.2 drive? If it takes more than a few seconds then I guess you could worry about heat.

 

[helpstar]

Please define "wiping". I have an ASUS motherboard that includes a Secure Erase function in the bios Tool menu. It only takes a few seconds to wipe a 2TB m.2. Since its not an extended process heat does not seem to be an issue. How long do you think your methodology will take to wipe an m.2 drive? If it takes more than a few seconds then I guess you could worry about heat.

but the time won´t be seconds if it´s a real secure erase, I assume about 2minutes per Tb
a few seconds would be deleting the encryption key only, which could be recovered again somehow

 

[fcar1999ta]

Please define "wiping". I have an ASUS motherboard that includes a Secure Erase function in the bios Tool menu. It only takes a few seconds to wipe a 2TB m.2. Since its not an extended process heat does not seem to be an issue. How long do you think your methodology will take to wipe an m.2 drive? If it takes more than a few seconds then I guess you could worry about heat.

LOL.

Please define "wiping". I have an ASUS motherboard that includes a Secure Erase function in the bios Tool menu. It only takes a few seconds to wipe a 2TB m.2. Since its not an extended process heat does not seem to be an issue. How long do you think your methodology will take to wipe an m.2 drive? If it takes more than a few seconds then I guess you could worry about heat.

yeah, that is not wiping the drive. That is just removing the partition table so that Windows will not be able to access the data that is on the drive, but the data is still there. With the right software, the data can still be accessed, read, copied.... everything.

Windows drive formatting is essentially the same thing. It just rewrites the file structure, it does not actually erase data.

 

[fcar1999ta]

but the time won´t be seconds if it´s a real secure erase, I assume about 2minutes per Tb
a few seconds would be deleting the encryption key only, which could be recovered again somehow

Depends on the algorithm and the bus. Basic 1's, 0's, or random is about 10 mins per TB over USB 3. NSA is hours. Peter Guttman is days.

 

[Bob.B]

So, I will actually use the full bandwidth of the PCIE 5.0 NVME M.2 adapter when I am wiping four M.2 drives, so is there one that is better another? I'd assume that heat dissipation would be the main difference. Asus has one that looks to vent the heat pretty well. Icy Dock has a fan, and looks easier to swap out drives.

What app did you plan on using to wipe these ssd's?

 

[helpstar]

Depends on the algorithm and the bus. Basic 1's, 0's, or random is about 10 mins per TB over USB 3. NSA is hours. Peter Guttman is days.

that´s normal for magnetic drives, a SSD with flash technologiy can´t be restored by any app after altering the bits once

 

[USAFRet]

Windows drive formatting is essentially the same thing. It just rewrites the file structure, it does not actually erase data.

Actually no.
Several years ago, they changed the functionality of a Full format. It does indeed wrote 0's to the entire drive space.
Quick format just erases the existing FAT.

 

[fcar1999ta]

Actually no.
Several years ago, they changed the functionality of a Full format. It does indeed wrote 0's to the entire drive space.
Quick format just erases the existing FAT.

That must have been a Windows 11 thing. I am glad that Microsoft finally made that correction. I stand corrected.

At least Microsoft fixed one of their design failures. Only a few hundred to go.

 

[USAFRet]

That must have been a Windows 11 thing. I am glad that Microsoft finally made that correction. I stand corrected.

At least Microsoft fixed one of their design failures. Only a few hundred to go.

Actually, that was a change with Vista. Loooong before Win 11.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/p...server/format-command-not-write-zeros-to-disk

 

[fcar1999ta]

that´s normal for magnetic drives, a SSD with flash technologiy can´t be restored by any app after altering the bits onc

Actually, that was a change with Vista. Loooong before Win 11.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/p...server/format-command-not-write-zeros-to-disk

Wow. I had no idea. Guess I need to give Microsoft a tiny bit more credit.

 

[USAFRet]

Wow. I had no idea. Guess I need to give Microsoft a tiny bit more credit.

And I tested this last year sometime.

3TB HDD, ~2TB random data on it.

Full format in File Explorer. Took quite a while.

Then, Deep scan with Autopsy. Took 36 hours.
Result? Zero recoverable data. None, nada, zip.

 

[fcar1999ta]

that´s normal for magnetic drives, a SSD with flash technologiy can´t be restored by any app after altering the bits once

I know that spinners can have data retrieved, but I thought that I had read something that a formatted SSD still had data on it, but that might have just been a quick format.

It is logical that an SSD would not retain data since it is digital. There is no gray area like there is with a magnetic drive, there is just on and off, 1 or 0.

Does a Windows format actually write all 0's (overwrite existing 0's), or does it just change all of the 1's to 0's? If it just changes the 1's, then there is still retrievable data. Astronomically difficult to access, but its there.

 

[USAFRet]

I know that spinners can have data retrieved, but I thought that I had read something that a formatted SSD still had data on it, but that might have just been a quick format.

It is logical that an SSD would not retain data since it is digital. There is no gray area like there is with a magnetic drive, there is just on and off, 1 or 0.

Does a Windows format actually write all 0's (overwrite existing 0's), or does it just change all of the 1's to 0's? If it just changes the 1's, then there is still retrievable data. Astronomically difficult to access, but its there.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/p...server/format-command-not-write-zeros-to-disk

The behavior of the format command changed in Windows Vista and later Windows versions. By default in Windows Vista and later versions, the format command writes zeros to the whole disk when a full format is performed.

 

[fcar1999ta]

What app did you plan on using to wipe these ssd's?

I use Red Key USB for wiping drives. But, it is starting to look like multiple passes on SSDs is pointless.

 

[fcar1999ta]

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/p...server/format-command-not-write-zeros-to-disk

Sounds like all of the "three letter agencies" need to revisit their standards for media for SSDs. If one format results is completely unrecoverable data, then there is no need to run complex drive wiping algorithms.

 

[USAFRet]

I use Red Key USB for wiping drives. But, it is starting to look like multiple passes on SSDs is pointless.

Yes, multiple passes are a waste.

But if you're doing this as a business, consider Blancco Drive Eraser, from DBAN.

Darik’s Boot and Nuke – DBAN

Erase hard drives, desktops, laptops or servers free with a Darik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN) download. Try it now.

dban.org

 

[USAFRet]

Sounds like all of the "three letter agencies" need to revisit their standards for media for SSDs. If one format results is completely unrecoverable data, then there is no need to run complex drive wiping algorithms.

Generally, DoD and the like just put them in a shredder.

 

[USAFRet]

The test I posted above was with regular consumer level tools.

If that drive and data were subject to NSA or the like inspection....into the shredder it goes.

 

[Bob.B]

I use Red Key USB for wiping drives. But, it is starting to look like multiple passes on SSDs is pointless.

As a test......with just the target ssd connected run secure erase from the bios then run your favorite data recovery app to see what it finds on the ssd.

 

[TeamRed2024]

And I tested this last year sometime.

3TB HDD, ~2TB random data on it.

Full format in File Explorer. Took quite a while.

Then, Deep scan with Autopsy. Took 36 hours.
Result? Zero recoverable data. None, nada, zip.

I'm a true crime fan and it truly is amazing how many criminals out there neglect to take these steps with their data after committing their crimes. I read all the time about how the forensic PC guys just find everything.

 

[USAFRet]

I'm a true crime fan and it truly is amazing how many criminals out there neglect to take these steps with their data after committing their crimes. I read all the time about how the forensic PC guys just find everything.

Time.

A full format takes time.
Much, much faster just to smack it with a hammer.

But, most don't even do that.