New Hard Drive Wiping Cabinet I'm working on

**ryanw** · 11-06-2013, 02:12 PM

This is the setup I'm working on right now for wiping drives. Capacity of 96 SATA drives, and I'll probably add a couple more units for more scsi hotswap. KVM switch so I can just manage it all from one monitor/keyboard/mouse setup. I'm thinking about adding a few UPS units to this because it would stink to lose a bunch of hard dives at once. I'm also going to try out a couple of those cheap IDE to SATA converters and see how those work so I can just use these bays.

The current setup I'm using grew into a mess: several hard drive docks, two 4 slot scsi bays sitting on the side with their own power supply, and when I get a bunch of drives in, it just takes too long. Hoping this new setup works out well.

**Swampy** · 11-08-2013, 04:59 PM

Very cool.

**parrothead** · 11-08-2013, 09:53 PM

Now that is ambitious.

**webuyselltradestuff** · 11-10-2013, 12:24 AM

you know...I have been trying to sell 2 compaq 48U racks with no luck so far...**** things are 7' tall....I actually got some similar servers like the ones you have in yours from the same place that are dual xeons.....I might just keep one of the **** racks instead of scrapping it and build a super hard drive wiper like the one you have...if I filled it up, I could probably handle 150-200 drives at a pop...LOL

Best part is all of them cost ZERO $$$$$

**ryanw** · 11-10-2013, 08:34 PM

Originally Posted by webuyselltradestuff

you know...I have been trying to sell 2 compaq 48U racks with no luck so far...**** things are 7' tall....I actually got some similar servers like the ones you have in yours from the same place that are dual xeons.....I might just keep one of the **** racks instead of scrapping it and build a super hard drive wiper like the one you have...if I filled it up, I could probably handle 150-200 drives at a pop...LOL

Best part is all of them cost ZERO $$$$$

Yeah, that's the good thing about cleaning out businesses sometimes. I have a corner with things I think might be useful in the future. This is some of that stuff. I gutted the servers to bare-bones to just load up the wiping software..not planning on running a datacenter here anytime soon

**webuyselltradestuff** · 11-10-2013, 10:50 PM

yeah I think I have several of the same servers...some Dell EMC2 and some dual Xenon ones for the SCSI hard drives....I have have like 2 boxes of the hot swappable drive cages LOL....I need to sell some of those I guess...I am thinking I might just pair down to a 18U rack or so where I can have it on the "tech bench" instead of a 7 FOOT TALL monstrosity.

I am actually building a tech bench where I can test processors, ram ect. Got some really cool ideas of it by using some slide out cubbies which will have test bench cases (ie open cases for quick change). I can get my hands on so many processors through a guy I know, I need to test some processors to make sure I can pay him what I am paying him for them....he is talking 300-1000 POUNDS A MONTH!

**ryanw** · 11-10-2013, 10:57 PM

Originally Posted by webuyselltradestuff

yeah I think I have several of the same servers...some Dell EMC2 and some dual Xenon ones for the SCSI hard drives....I have have like 2 boxes of the hot swappable drive cages LOL....I need to sell some of those I guess...I am thinking I might just pair down to a 18U rack or so where I can have it on the "tech bench" instead of a 7 FOOT TALL monstrosity.

I am actually building a tech bench where I can test processors, ram ect. Got some really cool ideas of it by using some slide out cubbies which will have test bench cases (ie open cases for quick change). I can get my hands on so many processors through a guy I know, I need to test some processors to make sure I can pay him what I am paying him for them....he is talking 300-1000 POUNDS A MONTH!

Ugh i wouldn't want to test that many processors ever, let alone every month. I have a test bench just for motherboards, but haven't really wanted to go further yet. I do have a RAMCHECK tester, but the highest module I have is DDR1. I don't use it very often though.

I also have put together a mobile cart for computer triage when they come in.

http://www.katom.com/007-9T58.html?z...FWJBQgod4iQAWQ

I strapped an LCD to the top, a couple power strips, a 20 foot extension, all the cables, drives, adapters, network stuff etc that I need to check out a pc pretty quick. It doesn't have the red cage in front, just a base where I can put a computer if I want. Just have all the cables hanging in the right spot to be able to choose and plug-in.

**webuyselltradestuff** · 11-13-2013, 03:35 PM

oh I WOULDN'T check that many processors LOL.....all you really have to do is separate them....just pull dual core and above....that are the ones that are worthwhile...then I would test going backwards (ie any I3/I7 (if you have any) 1st, quad core 2nd, then Core 2 duo and dual core....and possibly Xeons depending)...I3 and I7 can go for $30-50 each, so it can be worth a couple of hours of sorting as many times the chip is fine...something else crapped out on the machine it was pulled from.

I REALLY want a RAMCHECK, but even the used ones start about $500 MINIMUM plus modules. I fully loaded one used is $1000+ typically....unless you know where I can get one cheaper

I also am setting up a Test Bench for motherboards...and might just do ram this way until I decide to drop the $$$ on a RAMCHECK...grab a couple of these for the different ram setups (DDR, DDR2, DDR3) and use some boards ect I have...this is also a GREAT quick change way to test motherboards or even CPU's...probably the best one I have found....might can replace screws with the rubber "pins" too to make it faster...

Top Deck Tech Station (standard): HighSpeed PC - Home of the Tech Station open air PC workbench

I also do power supplies over 500 watts or server ones...but use one of the digital power supply testers you can get from Amazon for like $20 or less...works like a charm.

Of course the testing is ALL about the time vs ROI....the hard drive wiping system you have and I am building makes sense...fire and forget a TON of drives at a time. If I end up getting enough RAM coming in, then the Ramcheck is better obviously (but one would think someone could build one MUCH cheaper with like a Raspberry PI and then USB docks with slots for ram....like a 4-6 pack to test that many at a time LOL....wish they could also build a module to just snap on CPU modules and do the same...hey might be a market for that!!

**parrothead** · 11-13-2013, 10:37 PM

Ryan, love the rack, and love the idea of the "triage" cart. Great stuff.

Not trying to get off topic, but since they were brought up, I would think that someone could write a program to fully test RAM. I don't know programming enough, but I would think that a simple program could test it to it's max. I may be wrong, but still think it would be simple.

One quick note on power supplies. One of the local repair guys that I deal and trade with does not just go with the handheld power supply tester. His reasoning makes sense as well. It is not under load at all. The computer you are scrapping and pulling that power supply from, may just not work because of that power supply and it won't show under that voltage tester. His solution was to hook up the tester and then just add a simple load such as hooking up a CD drive. Even the smallest load can show it is bad if it can't handle a load. I have not done this yet, but he swears by it and gets a small failure rate after hooking up a small load to the power supply. That can mean a big difference in e-bay sales when considering returns and possible bad feedback.

**Mechanic688** · 11-13-2013, 11:36 PM

makes sense Parrot, the parts in the PS can break down when there is a load applied.

**ryanw** · 11-14-2013, 12:33 PM

parrothead - Thanks for the tip on power supplies, that makes sense.

I do believe there is software out there that tests memory. You just have to have the motherboard that supports the ram.

**miked** · 11-14-2013, 01:44 PM

Ryanw, are you using a linux OS with the hard drive wiping set up? If so which OS are you using and what wipe program works with it? I currently use unbuntu 12.04 for testing of multiple units. Mike.

**ryanw** · 11-14-2013, 02:13 PM

miked- Yes, I forget the linux distro included on it, but I currently am using bootable flash drives with Media Tools Wipe. They provide an ISO download with your purchase.

**webuyselltradestuff** · 11-14-2013, 02:22 PM

There is free software for wi dows that will test ram...the standard software most peopke use is memtest86+. It is free....the issue and difference a stand alone tester like ramcheck does is a more component level check AND it is much faster. Using a motherboard and windows you have to reboot each set of ram you want to test...so at most you can generally check 8 sticks if you have a dual processor server board at a time...with a reboot between each. The ramcheck does a stick every 15-20 seconds I think it is. You also just change out the port for different memory rather than needing a setup for ddr ddr2 ddr3 sodimms ect.

Just saying...if you test alot of memory...ramcheck lx is the way to go...but break out the checkbook...

**spinroch** · 01-20-2014, 03:31 PM

I always pop the cover off to look for swelled up electrolytic capacitors. They might still work for a while, but they will short out sooner rather than later!