Did you know traditional hard disk drives (HDDs) use magnetism to store data, and solid state drives (SSDs) do not? This basic fact of hard drive operation makes SSDs so fast and robust but also uniquely difficult to destroy. It’s what makes solid state data destruction a task best left to professionals.
HDDs work by creating tiny changes to areas called domains on a magnetized platter. An arm inside the drive can read the platter, and it can also change the magnetic orientation of these domains. The domains, grouped together, comprise the ones and zeros you know as the basics of computer code.
SSDs use transistors to create their ones and zeros. Transistors are manipulated with electrical current, not with magnetism, so they aren’t vulnerable to changes in a magnetic field. This makes them unaffected by the common HDD erasure method of degaussing that applies a large magnetic field to a drive to randomize its ordered domains of data.
When it comes to the end of life for an SSD, businesses want to be sure their sensitive information will be completely erased from that media. They want solid state data destruction that works without error.
Erasing data by overwriting a drive’s data can leave information behind. It can potentially expose a company to unwanted intrusion after the drive is disposed of. Even a proper round of degaussing can leave data intact within an HDD.
Likewise, destruction of an SSD in a standard hard drive shredder can be inadequate when it comes to removing all data from a disk because of the physical construction of an SSD. Standard shredders work well for traditional hard drives; however, they may crush drives into relatively large pieces that parts of a solid state drive could slip by untouched.
MDS-2C
Enterprise-level SSD drive destroyers like the MediaDice Solid State Drive Disintegrator-2C (MDS-2C) from Phiston don’t rely on degaussing. The MDS-2C disintegrates drives to particles of no greater than 2mm edge length with hardened steel knives that completely eliminate the potential for data recovery from any part of the drive.
Phiston’s Disintegrator accepts consumer-size SSDs, enterprise SSDs, and many other common types of data storage such as SIM cards, flash cards, and whole mobile phones. It’s fast, reliable, and ready to find a spot on your office floor or data center.
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