Re: Erasing DASD-decommission an AS400/iSeries/System i

[PaulMmn <PaulMmn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

To be even more effective you need to write more bit patterns:

        01010101
        10101010

And just for fun:

        00110011
        11001100

etc. etc.   I think the DOD requirements include bit patterns and a 
number of over-writes.  Or a sledge hammer or drill!

As I understand the problem with erasing disks, it's the thermal 
expansion and contraction that causes incomplete erasure of the edges 
of the tracks-- because the heads aren't perfectly aligned with the 
track.  And those 'fringes' are the bits   (:  that can be read under 
extremely special circumstances.

So maybe you need to chill the computer room to near-freezing, run 
the program, then let it creep up to 100 degrees or so and repeat, 
just to get the fringes!

In any event:

        Write
        etirW
        repeat

--Paul E Musselman
PaulMmn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx