A couple quick HDD Questions (Running OEM Tools/Upgrading HDD FW/Secure Wipe)

[SuperW2]

Q1) A recent parity check revealed a one drive with a few read errors.  It happens to be a Seagate drive and I want to run their tools to see if it flags an issue to possibly get addressed/replaced under warranty.  Is there a way to run Seatools software while the drive is in my array (an App or Docker or something), or do I need to remove from my Server, plug into my Windows PC and run Seatools from there?

 

Q2) Is it recommended practice to upgrade HDD Firmware to the "latest" version if the vendor has released new ones as good general practice, or only if there is an issue identified that is affecting one of my drives/FW version?  I've never upgraded any FW on any HDD, so unsure if it's really necessary or recommended.

 

Q3) In the event that the drive in Q1 is bad and needs to be replaced, is there a Secure Deletion (DBAN/DoD Wipe kind of thing) App/Docker, etc that I could run on the drive while it's still in my server, or will that also need to take place physically outside the server/array.  Or should I/can I just another run a Pre Clear on the drive before sending back to vendor?

 

Thanks

SW2

[Squid]

Q1) A recent parity check revealed a one drive with a few read errors.  It happens to be a Seagate drive and I want to run their tools to see if it flags an issue to possibly get addressed/replaced under warranty.  Is there a way to run Seatools software while the drive is in my array (an App or Docker or something), or do I need to remove from my Server, plug into my Windows PC and run Seatools from there?

SMART reports should be sufficient.  As a general rule, Seatools will always say a drive is OK unless one of the attributes is outright in a failing state.  I have yet to see Seagate (or any other manufacturer) refuse to RMA a drive.  EG: Seatools won't say a drive is bad if it has 1000 bad sectors (and growing daily) if the pool of spare sectors has not been exhausted.

Q2) Is it recommended practice to upgrade HDD Firmware to the "latest" version if the vendor has released new ones as good general practice, or only if there is an issue identified that is affecting one of my drives/FW version?  I've never upgraded any FW on any HDD, so unsure if it's really necessary or recommended.

Depends upon what the firmware update entails.  In the case of Seagates 7200.11 series, firmware updates were basically required so that the drive wouldn't brick itself.  Nowadays, I usually only check for a firmware update when I get a new drive.

 

While it *should* be ok to perform an update on a drive that already has data on it, the paranoid part of me won't do it just in case.

 

Q3) In the event that the drive in Q1 is bad and needs to be replaced, is there a Secure Deletion (DBAN/DoD Wipe kind of thing) App/Docker, etc that I could run on the drive while it's still in my server, or will that also need to take place physically outside the server/array.  Or should I/can I just another run a PreClean on the drive before sending back to vendor?

You can run another preclear after removing it from the array.  If you're really paranoid about Seagate, the FBI, or Interpol or whomever taking the drive to a recovery company so that they can gather what you have been doing on your system (and the associated $$ involved in that) then take the drive out and run several secure wipes on the drive in a windows box.

 

And if you're really worried about someone investing the time and $$ to figure out what was already on the drive prior to returning it after a preclear, then maybe you shouldn't be RMAing the drive in the first place.

 

 

[JonathanM]

And if you're really worried about someone investing the time and $$ to figure out what was already on the drive prior to returning it after a preclear, then maybe you shouldn't be RMAing the drive in the first place.

This. A single preclear pass is enough to make the drive unrecoverable to all but huge corporate / government $$$$$$. If the data is that sensitive / valuable, then take the drive out back and physically disassemble / destroy it. HDD read head actuator magnets are WAY cool to play with.

[SuperW2]

Thanks All, I'd kind of forgotten about a PreCleaer until after I initially posted (been a while since I've added any new drives) and no, nothing super duper secret or sensitive that I'm too worried about, just get paranoid from my "day job" where everything is flagged as confidential and the security folks get all in a tissy worried about RMA'ing drives that might contain data.

 

I'm in the process of pulling all the data off of it before I do anything and having to split among the free space of several other of my drives.  I will likely pull it out and run the Seatools first just to see if it flags a code for warranty replacement and then