How we test
Every drive tested in-house, every result on the record
A used enterprise drive is only as good as the evidence behind it. Each unit we sell goes through the same five steps on our own test bench, and the results land on a public report you can open from the seal on the drive.
The process
- 1
Intake and serial logging
Each drive is logged on arrival by model and serial number and gets its own unit ID in our test database. Every result that follows is recorded against that unit, not against a batch.
- 2
SMART health and extended self-test
smartctl reads the drive’s health status, power-on hours, and its reallocated, pending and uncorrectable sector counts. Then the drive runs its own extended (long) self-test, a multi-hour pass over the whole surface.
- 3
Performance benchmark with fio
fio measures sequential and random read and write throughput. The results have to land within the expected range for that model; a drive that reports healthy but runs slow does not pass.
- 4
Sanitization with read-back verification
Sanitizing is the last step, so nothing is written to the drive after it. We use the NIST SP 800-88 purge command the drive supports for its interface, then read the drive back to verify the erase. Method, date and result are recorded per unit.
- 5
Tamper seal, certificate and public report
The drive gets a numbered QR tamper seal and a printed certificate for the box. Both point to the unit’s public test report, published from the same test database the bench results are uploaded to.
The erase method for each interface is on the data destruction page.
What fails a drive
The pass bar is the same for every usage tier. Hours change the price and the warranty, never the criteria below.
| Criterion | Threshold | Result |
|---|---|---|
| SMART overall health | PASSED | Any other status fails |
| Extended self-test | Completed without error | Any error fails |
| Reallocated sectors | 0 | A single grown defect is flagged WARN and never sold in a certified tier |
| Pending sectors | 0 | Any pending sector fails |
| Uncorrectable sectors | 0 | Any uncorrectable sector fails |
| SAS error log | No medium errors | Any medium error fails |
| fio throughput | Within the expected range for the model | Out of range fails |
| SSD wear | Wear (percentage used) reported | Health percentage published on the listing |
| Memory (RAM) | Memtest-style passes, no correctable errors | Any logged correctable error rejects the module |
Drives that fail are pulled and either returned to the supplier or scrapped, and their seals are voided.
What you get
Certificate in the box
A printed certificate with the drive’s model, serial number, power-on hours and test results. Keep it with the drive.
QR tamper seal
A numbered, tamper-evident seal applied after testing. Scan it to open this exact unit’s report.
Public test report
SMART results, self-test, benchmark and sanitize record for your unit. Serial and seal numbers never appear on the public page.
Warranty on every listing
90-day warranty on standard items and up to 2 years on certified tiers, with the exact term stated on each listing. Plus 30-day returns.
Questions about testing
Do you test every unit or a sample?+
Every unit. Each used drive runs the full sequence on its own, and its results are stored against that unit in our test database. The only exception is new factory-sealed drives, which are sold sealed and never opened.
Can I see the test report before I buy?+
Yes, on certified listings. Open the exact-unit picker on the product page and choose a unit to read its full report: SMART results, extended self-test, benchmark and sanitize record. After delivery, the QR seal and the certificate in the box open the same report.
What do you do with drives that fail?+
They are pulled from inventory and either returned to the supplier or scrapped, and their seals are voided. A drive with a single grown defect is flagged WARN and is never sold in a certified tier.
Do you reset or hide power-on hours?+
Never. Hours are read from the drive’s own SMART power-on counter and printed on the certificate. The counter stays on the drive, so you can read it yourself on arrival with any SMART tool.
What tools do you use?+
Drives are tested in-house on a Supermicro-based test server with multiple bays. smartctl handles SMART health and the extended self-test, fio runs the sequential and random benchmark, and erasure uses hdparm (ATA Security Erase), nvme-cli (NVMe sanitize and format) and sg_format or SCSI SANITIZE for SAS, followed by a read-back verification pass.
Read the report, then buy the drive
Questions about a specific unit or a larger order? A real person who knows server hardware reads every message.