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Sanitizing the Disk Using the CVDiskEraser tool

The CVDiskEraser tool provides several different methods for overwriting data, based on a number of different erasure standards.

Example: If CVDiskEraser tool is run on a 1TB mount path using the default values of USD erasure standards and 65536 KB buffer size, then it will take approximately 4 hours to sanitize the mount path.

Tip

We recommend to use the CVDiskEraser tool to sanitize the local mount paths as using this tool with network mount paths is resource and time intensive because of the high IO of the disk.

Procedure

From the command line, go to the software_installation_directory/Base folder, and run the following command by using one or more of the following parameters.

Parameters

Description

Approximate Time Taken to Sanitize 1 TB data size by Using 64 KB Buffer Size

-path

The path to be erased.

-standard

(Optional) Erasure standards

These standards specify the number of passes the software makes, with each pass signifying a complete overwrite of the data. With each overwrite, the data is less likely to be recovered.

  • USD - (Default) United States Defense Department

    By using this standard, data is cleared by writing any bit pattern to the entire disk in one pass. Disks are erased by writing a different bit pattern to the disk in each of three passes.

  • BSI - German BSI Verschlusssachen-IT-Richtlinie

    This standard erases the drive with seven passes. For the first six passes, each erasure reverses the bit pattern of the previous erasure. The final pass overwrites the entire disk with the bit pattern “01010101”.

    This standard is considered as the most secure method of erasing the data.

  • SCH - Bruce Schneier’s Algorithm

    The first pass overwrites the drive with the bit pattern 11, the second pass with 00, and the next five with a randomly generated bit pattern.

  • GUT - Peter Gutmann's Algorithm

    This standard erases the data by writing a series of 35 patterns over the region to be erased. The selection of patterns assumes that the user does not know the encoding mechanism used by the drive, so it includes patterns designed specifically for three types of drives. A user who knows which type of encoding the drive uses can choose only those patterns intended for that drive.

    A drive with a different encoding mechanism would need different patterns.

  • DSX - Royal Canadian Mounted Police DSX Method

    This standard writes the bit pattern 00 on the first pass, 11 on the second, and a text pattern that consists of the software version number, and the date and time the erasure occurred.

USD

Less than 4 Hours

BSI

Less than 6 Hours

SCH

Less than 12 Hours

GUT

Less than 16 Hours

DSX

Less than 3 Hours

-buffersize

(Optional). The buffer size (in kilobytes) that is used to perform a single write operation.

Values: 512, 1024, 4096, 65536, 131072, 262144, and 524288.

Default: 65536 bytes

Syntax

  • Windows

     
    CVDiskEraser -path path -standard standard -buffersize sizeBytes

  • UNIX/Linux

     
    ./CVDiskEraser -path path -standard standard -buffersize sizeBytes

Examples

  • Securely erase data from the Documents folder with default values.

    Windows:

    CVDiskEraser -path f:\Documents

    Linux:

    ./CVDiskEraser -path f:\Documents

  • Erase data from the Documents folder by using file eraser.

    CVDiskEraser -path e:\Documents

  • Erase data from Documents folder by using file eraser with USD standard. 

    CVDiskEraser -path e:\documents -standard USD

  • Erase data by using 4096 buffer size. 

    CVDiskEraser -path e:\documents -standard USD -buffersize 4096

Output

The following information is a sample of an output with default values.

 
software_installation_director> CVDiskEraser.exe -path F:Documents
 Path: F:\Documents
 Type: File write
 Standard: United States Department of Defence Standard 5220.22-M
 Write Buffer Size: 65536
Delete Contents: No

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