X4013A Samsung MZ-WLJ7T60

[PT123]

I have some AFF800 with some X4013A  that I pulled out and put in an expansion array and we have a NetApp NS224  with similar drives. We have to wipe them using one of our 3rd party erasure programs. One of the programs runs on Windows and the other program runs independently. I believe changed them back to unprotected using he boot menu option 9 and even tried some commands. I'm thinking the boot sectors might not be standard. Any other suggestions while I wait for the equipment to arrive so I can hands on would be greatly appreciated. 

[andris · Accepted solution]

You might find this Discord/NetApp channel thread interesting:

https://discord.com/channels/855068651522490400/1397557792574935242

A step-by-step guide is provided by a trusted member.

The X4013A NVMe SSDs are self-encrypting drives (SED). The fastest and best way to erase data on them is by using ONTAP "crypto sanitize" techniques (essentially shredding the key that the data was encrypted with).

See KB: How to cryptographically sanitize a system with all self-encrypting disks (SEDs)

If you are repurposing these drives, I would be careful with 3rd party erasure programs. They tend to screw up the boot sector and drive's block format - you end up potentially bricking the drive from an ONTAP perspective.  I have heard that Blancco software might have some awareness of NetApp's disk formats.

[PT123]

We use Blancco and Blancco was unable to detect the drives. We also use XErase and that didn't detect them either, window didn't see them. We went ahead and just use the crypto erase on ontap. I'm wondering if the drive block is different on those drives. Thank for the help.