​Understanding Hardware End of Service Life

As hardware ages it becomes less reliable, more difficult and time consuming to support, and can create security risks and therefore must be declared end-of-life.  End-of-life, as defined here, is when the operating system is no longer supported by the vendor, the security officer declares the operating system a security risk, or the hardware has reached six years in age.  When a system reaches end-of-life it will no longer be supported and should no longer be allowed on the client network.  

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How we can help ...??

A group or designated manager will receive an invitation to have the system replaced prior to the end of the fourth year. If a department chooses not to replace a computer system after the four year period, the system will be supported at a billable hourly rate until the system is end-of-life. 

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Recycle

Let us help recycle the old systems in your storage unit or closet. There are a number of hardware data destruction and recycle companies out there. 

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NIST 800-88 is an approved National Institute of Standards and Technology method of sanitizing electronic data from hard drives and other electronic media. Media sanitation is a process of removing data from hard drives and other digital media devices. This process of wiping can only be done if the digital media can be read. For example if the hard drive is physically damaged, data wiping a drive will not be possible resulting in shredding as the preferred sanitation option. 

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