Western Digital WTB03 User Manual
TECH BRIEF
INSTANT S ECU RE ER ASE
Instant Secure Erase
Instant Secure Erase (ISE) is a feature on many Ultrastar HDDs & SSDs. The feature is included in newer capacity
enterprise drives: Ultrastar® DC HC520 (12TB) and Ultrastar DC HC510 (10TB/8TB). It provides several benefits, and
is available in both SATA and SAS configurations.
Drives with the ISE feature allow users to instantly erase the drive
by using industry-standard commands and options. This feature is
beneficial compared to the alternative of overwriting a drive with new
data, which can take hours, especially for higher capacity hard drives.
Another benefit of using the new feature is that it can effectively erase
both user accessible data, as well as potentially hidden user data that
the drive maintains, but the user cannot easily access, such as reallocated blocks, spare blocks, etc.
Data Encryption
Western Digital offers comprehensive data encryption solutions on
many Ultrastar SATA and SAS drives.
• Bulk Data Encryption (BDE) is offered as an option on some SATA HDDs.
• TCG Encryption (TCG) is offered as an option for SAS HDDs and SSDs.
Western Digital also of fers FIPS 140–2 Level 2 validation, a U.S.
government security standard which includes tamper-evidence
protection, on certain TCG drive models (TCG-FIPS).
Neither Instant Secure Erase (ISE) nor Secure Erase (SE) drive models
provide encryption, but ISE functionality is included on all BDE, TCG
and TCG-FIPS HDDs and SSDs from Western Digital.
Implementation
Instant Secure Erase is Western Digital’s implementation of the
industry standard T10/T13 SANITIZE command. The host can determine
if the feature is available in SATA drives by calling Identif y Device to
determine if the SANITIZE device feature set is supported, and what
optional features are supported. With SAS drives, the Sanitize Service
Action Codes can be used to determine features. Refer to the Ultrastar
HDD and SSD OEM specification for specific bit/byte assignments.
The SANITIZE command supports three options:
1. Crypto Scramble (SATA)/ Crypto Erase (SAS)
How Does Instant Secure Erase Work?
In order to securely erase the data, the drive first creates an internal
cipher key that is used to cryptographically scramble (or unscramble)
the data as it is written to (or read from) the disk. During normal
drive operation, all data is scrambled (or unscrambled) using that
internal key. When the operator uses Instant Secure Erase to wipe the
drive clean, the HDD deletes the internal key, rendering all user data
unreadable.
It is impor tant to note that while Instant Secure Erase uses
cryptographic techniques to securely erase data, it does not offer
data encryption to protect data at rest.
Instant Secure Erase
2. Overwrite (for HDDs)
3. Block Erase (for SSDs)
Crypto Scramble/Erase uses cryptographic techniques to securely
erase the drive.
• T13 SATA specification uses the term Crypto Scramble.
• T10 SAS specification uses the term Cr ypto Erase.
Both features are similar. To simplify things, both are used
interchangeably in this document to describe the same feature. When
the drive is SANITIZED (wiped clean) using the Crypto Erase option, the
HDD deletes the internal key, rendering data unreadable.
Overwrite is a secondary erasure method for HDDs. It erases the drive
by overwriting existing data with a bit pattern. This method erases the
existing magnetic bits by overwriting them with new data. The host
can provide a specific bit pattern to use for overwriting.
TECH BRIEF
HGST MICROACTUATOR
INSTANT S ECU RE ER ASE
Block Erase is the secondary erasure method for SSDs. SSDs can be
erased by performing a block erase, which “electrically” erases each
block by using internal SSD functions.
In normal operation, the host can query the device to determine if
SANITIZE is supported, and if so, which of the three options (Crypto
Erase, Overwrite, Block Erase) are supported.
With ISE HDDs, both Crypto Erase and Overwrite are supported.
Block Erase does not apply to HDDs.
With ISE SSDs, both Crypto Erase and Block Erase are supported.
Overwrite does not apply to SSDs.
Secure Erase
Secure Erase (SE) is a subset of Instant Secure Erase, where the
Crypto Erase option has been disabled. Thus, there is no longer an
“instant” option. The SANITIZE command is still supported, but only
with “Overwrite” or “Block Erase” options. The SE feature provides an
advantage over a “manual overwrite” by ensuring that any current nonaccessible user data areas are also overwritten.
Western Digital provides Instant Secure Erase (ISE) as a standard
feature in many of our enterprise-class HDD and SSD products.
Secure Erase (SE) drives provide an option for customers who do not
want the Crypto Erase option, but still desire to suppor t the SANITIZE
Feature with Overwrite only (or Block Erase only for SSDs).
With SE HDDs, Overwrite is supported. With SE SSDs, Block Erase
is supported.
More Information
For more information on the SANITIZE command, please refer to the
OEM Specifications for the specific drive of interest.
OEM Specifications can be found on our website for the following
products:
Ultrastar DC HC520
http://www.wdc.com/dc-hc520
Ultrastar DC HC510
http://www.wdc.com/dc-hc510
SATA : See manual sections titled “SANITIZE Device Feature Set”. This
section explains the command parameters as well as the state machine
for various conditions that occur when using the SANITIZE command.
Do not confuse “Instant Secure Erase” using the SANITIZE command
(what we are describing in this document) with the similarly named
“SECURITY ERASE Unit” which is part of the Security Mode Feature Set
found on Ultrastar SATA HDDs & SSDs.
SAS: See sections titled “SANITIZE (48)”
Industry Standards
The T10/T13 technical committees define the SAS/SATA drive
standards respectively, and the technical committees publish these
specifications. The SANITIZE feature is one of the commands available
within the specification. More information can be found at the links below:
www.T13.org (SATA)
www.t10.org (SAS)
5601 Great Oaks Pa rkway
San Jose, CA 95119, USA
US (Toll- Free): 800.801.4618
International: 408.717.6000
www.westerndigital.com
Instant Secure Erase
© 2016–2018 Weste rn Digital Corp oration o r its affiliates . All rights reser ved. Produced 8/15. Rev. 9/18. Wester n Digital, the Weste rn Digital logo, a nd Ultrastar ar e
tradem arks or register ed trade marks of Western Di gital Co rporat ion or it s affili ates in the US a nd/or other cou ntries. All other m arks are the prope rty of their resp ective
owners. R eferen ces in this p ublication to Weste rn Digital produ cts, program s, or ser vices do no t imply th at they wil l be made ava ilable in all count ries. Product
specifi cations p rovided are sampl e specification s that are subject to c hange and do not con stitute a w arrant y. Please vi sit our website, ww w.westernd igital.com for
additional information on product specifications. Pictures shown may vary from actual products.
WTB03-EN-US-0918– 01
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