Data Wiping

You don’t need us to lecture you on how important data storage is in the modern world. We
all know that almost everything we rely on demands some sort of data storage,
and your mobile phones and laptops are no different. You’ll also be well aware
that if you’re data falls into the wrong hands, then it can be used for
nefarious purposes.

We refurbish and sell two types of hard drives:

1.      Hard Disk Drives – HDDS

2.      Solid Stage Drives - SSDs

How is data written to hard disk drives?

HDD drives are a magnetic form of data storage. They consist of a circular “tray,” (often made of a magnetically coated aluminium disk) upon which data is recorded by a read/write head. The head can move all over the disk, and when you save something, your data is stored by the head in binary (that’s 1s and 0s) onto
the magnetic layer. When you want to access your data, the head reads what’s
been encoded onto the disk, and returns the information you want.

How is data written to SSDS?

SSDS don’t use a magnetic tray. Instead, they use a series of transistors in columns and rows, which for a series of NAND (NOT AND) gates. Like HDDs, SSDs store data as
1s and 0s – if a row of transistors conducts current, it has a value of 1, and if it doesn’t, it has a value of 0.

Refurbishment & data wiping

We wipe all hard drives as the first step in our refurbishment process. Our data wiping is conducted to NIST 800-88, an internationally recognised standard. Hence, the hard drives that you will receive will have either undergone an overwriting
pass, or a purge, depending on its type.