Smart Hands
Out cleanly, and accounted for
Server and comms room decommissioning in Perth
Staged power-down, drives wiped or destroyed to your policy, kit de-racked, the asset register reconciled, and disposal documented. The part of a migration everyone forgets to budget for.
01How it runs
The order matters more than the speed
A decommission is mostly a data handling job that happens to involve a screwdriver. Done out of order, it either takes a live system down or puts a drive in a skip with data still on it.
01
Confirm what's dead
You give us the list and the order. Anything not on the list stays powered. The most expensive decommission is the one that took a live system with it.
02
Staged power-down
Shut down in dependency order rather than by rack position, with a pause to confirm nothing screamed before the next unit goes off.
03
Drives handled first
Drives pulled, wiped, or destroyed to your policy before anything leaves the room, and each one recorded by serial.
04
De-rack and clear
Units unracked, patch leads and rails removed, and the room left clear rather than full of loose hardware and cut ties.
05
Reconcile the register
Serials matched back to your asset list so what left the building agrees with what your records say left the building.
06
Disposal, documented
Removal through an e-waste provider or staged for your logistics, with paperwork for what went where.
02The part that carries risk
Every drive accounted for, by serial
Decommissioning is where data breaches happen quietly – a drive that left the building without being wiped, and nobody noticed for two years because the register was never reconciled.
01
You set the policy
Wipe in place, wipe off site, or physical destruction. We work to what your policy says rather than to what is quickest.
02
Recorded by serial
Every drive logged individually, with the method and date, so the record survives longer than anyone's memory of the day.
03
Reconciled, not assumed
The serial list is matched back to your asset register, and anything that doesn't agree is raised rather than rounded off.
Replacing what you're pulling out? We can bring the new gear up in the same visit – see server installation.
03FAQ
Questions we get asked
- How do you handle the drives?
- However your policy says. Wiped in place to your standard, pulled and wiped off site, or physically destroyed. Whichever you choose, every drive is recorded by serial so the list reconciles against your asset register afterwards.
- Can you provide a certificate of destruction?
- Where destruction is done through a certified provider, yes – the certificate comes back with the serial list. Where we wipe in place, you get our written record of what was wiped, by what method, and when. We do not issue certificates for work we did not do.
- Do you take the equipment away?
- We can arrange removal and disposal through an e-waste provider, or palletise and stage it for your own logistics. Anything with residual value is worth telling us about before the day so it isn't treated as scrap.
- How do you know what is safe to turn off?
- We don't, and neither does anyone who has not run the environment. You confirm the power-down order and what has already been migrated. We work to that list, and if something is still live when we get to it, we stop and call rather than guess.
- Can you do it after hours?
- Usually it has to be. Decommissions run at the end of a migration, and the window is whenever the last dependency has moved. Evenings and weekends are normal.
- What about the racks and cabling?
- Racks, shelves, and PDUs come out with everything else if you want the room cleared. Patch leads are removed and disposed of. Fixed cabling terminated into the building is licensed work and stays for a cabler.
Got a room to clear?
Tell us what's coming out, what has already been migrated, and your policy on drives. We'll come back with a plan, a window, and a price.