Top Technology Company Erases 4,000 Servers Simultaneously | Blancco Case Study

In one of our previous case studies, we shared that one of our top technology customers was able to efficiently and completely erase over 800 servers.

These servers included a total of 5,117 6x1TB SATA HDD drives, and they were wiped simultaneously overnight, without an operator present to monitor the process. The solution allowed the company to significantly improve its data erasure process as it could now erase servers in-rack and manage the process remotely—saving time and money. There was no longer a need to pull servers one-by-one or pull drives out of servers for decommissioning. These efficiencies were achieved using Blancco Drive Eraser and a laptop running Blancco Management Console to monitor and control the erasure process.

Challenge

After using this solution for over a year, the technology company decided to push the boundaries of its existing Blancco setup. When Blancco first delivered the solution in May 2017, the company was able to erase more than 800 servers in its first test. Those numbers were impressive, but the company wanted even more efficiency and scalability, and it believed Blancco could deliver. To achieve this scalability, the company’s data center engineers knew they needed to move beyond the original Blancco solution due to its network bandwidth limitations.

Solution

By removing the laptop from the portable data erasure cart and replacing it with a mobile server that could provide significantly more processing power (10GiB network card support), the data center was able to erase 4,000 servers simultaneously overnight. Blancco experts were onsite to help configure the solution, which took about two hours from start to finish.

Blancco’s data erasure solutions helped the company achieve its number one goal: NIST 800-88 compliance, with a tamper-proof Certificate of Erasure for every server. In addition, the tech company selected 100 percent erasure verification during the erasure process for additional security, as dictated by its internal security policies. As a next step, the organization plans to scale its data erasure process with the new setup across all its global locations.

Blancco Data Center Solutions are packaged in a bundle that’s purpose-built to fit the unique needs of enterprise data centers. The package features Blancco Management Console, which uses a laptop or PXE server to serve up the Blancco Drive Eraser product image. The solution also comes with a pre-defined number of licenses for drive erasure (covering both HDDs and SSDs). Blancco’s Data Center Solutions also provide access to our full suite of active erasure products, including Blancco LUN Eraser, Blancco File Eraser and Blancco Virtual Machine Eraser. Additionally, Blancco Hardware Solutions can be purchased to simultaneously erase groups of loose or RMA drives so they can be securely recycled, resold, reused or returned to the manufacturer.

About Blancco

Blancco is the industry standard in data erasure and mobile device diagnostics. Blancco data erasure solutions provide thousands of organizations with the tools they need to add an additional layer of security to their endpoint security policies through secure erasure of IT assets. All erasures are verified and certified through a tamper-proof audit trail.

Blancco data erasure solutions have been tested, certified, approved and recommended by 15+ governing bodies and leading organizations around the world. No other data erasure software can boast this level of compliance with the rigorous requirements set by government agencies, legal authorities and independent testing laboratories.

For more information on what Blancco can do for your enterprise data center, contact us today.

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