Facebook-f Instagram X-twitter Youtube Linkedin-in
We Buy Used IT Equipment Logo
DES Technologies Logo
Get A Quote
Menu

Blog

Whether you’re a business looking to recover value from retired assets or an individual hunting for affordable tech, our guides and insights help you make smarter decisions in the IT resale market.

Category: Hard Drives

on-site hard drive destruction in california
Data Destruction
Alex

On-Site Hard Drive Destruction

On-Site Hard Drive Destruction in California: The Secure, Compliant Way to Protect Your Data When your organization retires old computers, servers, or data storage devices, one question matters more than anything else: how will the data on those drives be destroyed? In today’s regulatory environment, wiping a drive isn’t always enough. Businesses throughout California are upgrading security practices to ensure complete and verifiable data destruction—especially when dealing with confidential customer data, medical records, financial information, and proprietary business systems. At

Alex November 1, 2025
hard drive
Hard Drives
Kathy

Where to Buy a Hard Drive: Your Essential Guide to Finding the Right Storage

The Ever-Growing Need for Storage Think of all the photos, videos, snapshots, games, documents, and apps you collect over time, both for personal and business use. From family pictures to essential backup logs, everyone needs a place to store their digital lives. But knowing where to buy a hard drive that’s reliable, affordable, and fits your needs isn’t always easy. In fact, U.S. data center energy use has nearly tripled over the past decade, and is projected to double or

Kathy July 7, 2025
Data Destruction
Steven

A Practical Guide to Hard Drive Destruction

The concept of destruction has an oddly satisfying allure. Whether it’s watching a building being demolished for renovation, witnessing vehicles crash from heights, or simply the act of breaking something, there’s an undeniable fascination in the act of destruction. But when it comes to the digital world, specifically hard drive destruction, the satisfaction isn’t just about the spectacle; it’s a crucial step in ensuring data security. The Invaluable Content of Hard Drives A typical hard drive houses a treasure trove

Steven October 14, 2023
Hard Drives
Alex

Are Hard Drive Platters Worth Anything?

Quick Answer Hard drive platters have some scrap value — aluminum or glass discs coated in magnetic material —but that value is small on a per-drive basis (each platter weighs about 2 grams). The real money isn’tin scrapping platters yourself; it’s in selling the intact, working hard drive to a buyer who values thewhole unit for reuse, which pays far more than scrap metal ever will. If the drive still works, sell it as adrive, wiped and sanitized — don’t

Alex June 15, 2022
Computers
Alex

Do you Need a Graphics Card for a Home Server?

Quick Answer In most cases, no — a dedicated graphics card is not necessary for a home server. Standard server tasks (file sharing, hosting, remote access, most virtualization) run fine on integrated graphics or headless setups. A GPU only becomes worthwhile if you’re running GPU-intensive workloads like video transcoding, 3D rendering, AI/ML processing, or GPU-accelerated virtual desktops. What Is a GPU? GPU stands for Graphics Processing Unit. It is an electronic circuit used for creating images on our devices. GPUs

Alex February 9, 2022
Data Storage
Alex

What is the “Click of Death” and How to Avoid it.

Quick Answer The “click of death” is a repetitive clicking noise from a failing hard drive, usually caused by the read/write head or actuator arm malfunctioning and being unable to properly access the platters. It signals imminent or active drive failure. You can’t fix it yourself without risking further data loss — the best response is to stop using the drive immediately, avoid repeated power cycles, and get help from a data recovery specialist if the data matters. Prevention is

Alex January 2, 2022
Data Destruction
Steven

Degaussing – Data Destruction Basics

What is Degaussing? If you’re familiar with the data storage industry, there’s a chance you’ve come across the term degaussing before. Most people associate this funny little word with erasing data, and they wouldn’t be wrong. But degaussing is more than just erasing data, it’s rendering it irretrievable for any future use. Follow along as we go more in depth into the degaussing process and reveal more than you might know.  By definition degaussing is technique used to permanently delete

Steven January 5, 2021
Samsung's Fail-Proof SSD
Hard Drives
Alex

Samsung’s Fail-Proof SSD

Back in 2020, Samsung made headlines when it introduced what many referred to as a “fail-proof SSD.” At the time, the concept sounded almost futuristic: a solid-state drive that could continue operating even if individual NAND chips failed. Fast forward to today, and this innovation is no longer just a buzzworthy feature. It has become highly relevant for modern data centers, enterprise IT environments, and organizations managing large-scale storage infrastructure. As storage demands continue to grow due to AI, cloud

Alex September 25, 2019
Data Storage Faceoff: Tape vs Disk vs Cloud
Cloud Storage
Alex

Data Storage Faceoff: Tape vs Disk vs Cloud

Downtime is expensive—sometimes catastrophically so. A single system outage can disrupt operations, damage customer trust, and drain revenue faster than most organizations realize. Industry studies routinely show that even partial data outages can cost thousands of dollars per minute, and in highly regulated or customer-facing industries, that number can climb much higher. That reality is why data storage and backup strategy is no longer just an IT concern—it’s a business-critical decision. Today’s organizations face more storage choices than ever before.

Alex January 4, 2018
securely erase harddrives
Data Destruction
Alex

How to Securely Erase Hard Drives (HDD) and Solid State Drives (SSDs)

Data breaches and identity theft are costly—and often preventable. If you’re planning to sell or dispose of an old hard drive or SSD, it’s critical to ensure your data is gone for good. Simply deleting files or formatting the drive isn’t enough. Let’s walk through how to securely erase harddrives and SSDs using the most effective and reliable methods available today. The Risk of Not Properly Erasing Drives A study by Blancco Technology Group revealed a shocking truth: of 200

Alex July 7, 2016
sell enterprise hard drives
Hard Drives
Norm

How to Sell Enterprise Hard Drives

Sell Enterprise Hard Drives the Smart Way If your company recently upgraded its storage infrastructure, you might be wondering what to do with your surplus or decommissioned enterprise hard drives. Whether they’re from servers, storage arrays, or data centers, these drives often hold sensitive data — and hidden value. At WeBuyUsedITEquipment.net, we make it simple, secure, and profitable to sell enterprise hard drives while protecting your business and the environment. We specialize in buying enterprise-grade hard drives from trusted brands

Norm October 10, 2014

Search