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HP OpenVMS Systemsask the wizard |
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The Question is: Hi, This is not technically a VMS issue but you may be able to help us. We have just decomissioned a VAX 4000_400. We have managed to erase all disks, including the System disk, apart from those connected via an HSD controller. From the >>> prompt we can set host/dup/dssi/bus:1 1 which brings up an HSD01> prompt. We can get into PARAMS but cannot get any of the commmands to work. We cannot find any manuals, on-line or otherwise, to help. we can SELECT the drives but when we try to FORMAT them we get a DRI VE NOT SELECTED message. Can you help? Regards, Adrian Fisher Marston Book Services The Answer is : If you are concerned about data security, evaluate the cost of data exposure against the potential profit from selling this storage equipment. Upon consideration, the most effective and economical approach here may involve the physical destruction of the disk(s). Old SCSI disks are of comparatively very little value. Existing Ask The Wizard topics related to data erasure and to data security include (841), (3926), (4286), (4598), and (7320). Disk bad block handling is discussed in topic (6926). As this configuration has a DSSI, specific models of DSSI disks do offer an ERASE utility, similar to the PARAMS and DIRECT utilities -- the DIRECT utility gets you a list of the utilities present in the particular DSSI ISE. The RF31, RF35, RF36, RF72, RF73, and RF74 series disk ISEs offer the ERRASE utility and can thus perform disk data erasure, though the RF30 and RF71 do not offer the ERASE utility. The OpenVMS FAQ also has general DSSI and SET HOST/DUP information, and some related pointers. SCSI disks -- such as those connected to an HSD-series DSSI-to-SCSI storage controller (such as the HSD05 or HSD10 or similar), and those SCSI disks directly connected to a host SCSI controller -- do not offer a disk-integrated nor a controller-integrated disk erasure capability. The usual approach here would thus involve booting a distribution disk or other similar mechanism, and using the DCL command INITIALIZE/ERASE. (Pattern erasure capabilities are also available within OpenVMS, please see the existing discussions cited above.) This erasure may or may not meet local data security requirements, but it will make reading any data left on the disk media difficult and thus very expensive for any potential attackers.
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