Re: [tlug] Disposing of a hard drive (How to proceed with RAID drive failure)

[Kalin KOZHUHAROV <me.kalin@example.com>]

On Sun, Jul 17, 2011 at 17:54, Martin G <ebisumartin@example.com> wrote:
> Deciding that Stephen was right in that there was an opportunity for
> catharsis here, I decided to activate my monkey-smash powers and crush
> the hard drive. I'm a purist, so instead of tools, I opted for a large
> rock in a garden area beside my apartment.
>
Monkeys have strong muscles, we humans use tools!

> The hard drive did pretty well against the rock, being that smashing a
> low profile mostly metal case is tough to do, even when turned on its
> side.
>
> Dropping it from high, or throwing it into the air was also not quite
> so effective. They do a pretty good job with these hard drives these
> days, it seems.
>
Yes, most HDDs are from quite strong aluminum alloy.

> In the end, the best hard drive smashing technique turned out to be
> throwing it straight at the ground (pavement) really hard.
>
> Eventually, I was down to three, thick metal plates. I thought these
> would be glass and therefor the most breakable part. But they are not
> only not glass, they are about a sixteenth inch thick and damn near
> indestructible. I've put some dents in 'em, but I'm not convinced I'm
> making them unreadable.
>
Only some models use glass plates (some Hitachi, IBM drives).
As far as I have seen all WesternDigital and Seagate drives use Al/Mg alloy.

> Monkey confused. How do I destroy these?
>
Use a hammer and a big nail to make holes in the platters.
Or just hammer to make big dents.
Alternatively, slot them (on by one) in something strong and narrow
(metal door/door-frame?) and bend them a few times until the break.
As somebody suggested, sand them (with sandpaper or real sand).
If noise is not a concern, step on them and try to move them against
asphalt/cement surface.

An remember you are doing all that out of curiosity, noone should
(<>can) be even trying to reconstruct hard bashed drive with slightly
bent platters.

Cheers,
Kalin.