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For data security reasons a customer may not want to return parts after an RMA delivery

Issue

For data security reasons a customer may not want to return parts after an RMA delivery.  this can include parts such as:
  • Hard Disk Drive (HDD),
  • Solid State Drive (SSD),
  • Flash SD Card,
  • Memory (RDIMMS),
  • Raid Controller Card (has cache memory), and/or
  • CPU.

Resolution

Note that there are different RMA processes.  For example, older SecurID appliances are RMAed through Unicom Engineering (formerly NEI).  To RMA a newer a newer SecurID appliance, the request goes thorugh Dell.

Customers do have the option of not returning the faulty parts, but will be charged the full cost of the part.

From the RSA Warranty and Replacement Parts Maintenance Table:

5. Advanced Replacement:
Appliances are shipped out same day or next business day. Secure ID Appliances must be returned within 15 days of receiving replacement or full value of Replacement Appliance will be incurred by Customer. For all other Appliances, Customer has 10 days to return faulty appliances.


The RSA Warranty and Replacement Parts documentation mentions:

Important: Hardware returns must be shipped to the address provided in the e-mail. No goods will be accepted for exchange or return without a pre-approved RMA number. The original hardware must be shipped back within 15 days of receiving the replacement or you will incur a replacement charge equal to the original value of the hardware.



Frequently asked questions

 

  • What happens to the returned faulty HDD?

Unicom Engineering will "data" shreds all reusable disks.  Defective drives are returned to the vendor, and they have procedures in place to ensure all data is further shredded.

Return of faulty parts are shipped using FedEx, who is a reliable carrier.  Obviously we cannot 100% guarantee a drive won't get misdirected or lost.  The customer has the option of not returning the drive.  However, Unicom Engineering would bill RSA for the non-return or damage to any parts.  RSA then has the option of billing or not billing the customer.  Discuss these options with their RSA Customer Account Manager.

Unicom Engineering has the following guideline to try remove all data from any returned electronic media,

Data Erasure Procedure

Unicom's data erasure procedure exceeds National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) guidelines for electronic media sanitization, to ensure the confidentiality of data on storage media received with incoming RMA/refurbishment appliances. The following are key points regarding Unicom's data erasure procedure:

At all Unicom manufacturing facilities and for all new SKUs, Unicom performs two passes to overwrite data on storage media (the NIST SP-800-88 Rev 1 standard requires one complete data overwrite).

Unicom uses the Linux shred utility to write random data once to all physically accessible media; the second pass overwrites the media with zeros to hide shredding (for further information on this utility.  See Learn the Proper Use of the Linux Shred Command for more information.

Wikipedia's article on data erasure is also helpful.


An official Unicom overview document entitled UNICOM Data Security Center overview is available as an attachment from RSA Security Analytics/NetWitness Suite - Unicom HDD Data sanitization process.

 

What about destroying the part, and providing a Certificate of Destruction?

The Certificate of Destruction (COD) is valid only for vendors that allow the use of it, and unfortunately, Dell is not one of those vendors.  In this case, Unicom Engineering would invoice RSA for any destroyed parts.  RSA then has the option of billing or not billing the customer, discuss this with the customer's RSA Customer Account Manager.

For the destruction of parts from a non-Dell appliance see What is the hard drive destruction process for RSA NetWitness NextGen appliances?


What about degaussing the faulty part?

Again, Dell will not accept back for warranty, defective drives that have been degaussed.

In this case Unicom Engineering would invoice RSA for any destroyed parts.  RSA then has the option of billing or not billing the customer, discuss this with the RSA Customer Account Manager

 

How much will the faulty part cost?

Contact Unicom Engineering for a quote on the part(s) that will not be returned.

Generally a hotswappable part would be priced separately, any internal parts of the appliance may incur the full cost of the appliance.

For example, the cost charged by Unicom Engineering for a HDD from a SecurID A130 appliance (Dell PowerEdge R200) is $USD1,316.

 

What other options are available?

  • The customer can purchase an exact replacement of the part been removed, return this new part, and keep the faulty part.
  • Prior to August 2015, it is possible for a Customer to negotiate the non-return of faulty parts into their maintenance contract with RSA.  Customer would contact RSA Sales in order to do this.
  • RSA Sales from August 2015 can sell Customers a Data Retention service.  This allows Customers to keep their hard drives when they need to RMA a hardware appliance.  Customer would contact RSA Sales in order to do
  • this.


Refer to SAP and PCQ SKUs: DATARETENVSM1, DATARETENSM1, DATARETENMED1, DATARETENLG1, DATARETENVLG1

When the part(s) ispurchased, it will appear in Salesforce under the Customer sites Entitlements as Data Retention.


Product Details

RSA Product Set: All
RSA Product/Service Type:   RSA Products using Dell Appliances

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