DRIVE VALIDATION PROCESS

PROBLEM.Prevent any delay in supporting our production environment by having properly wiped hard drives with the latest updated firmware

Why is the problem worth solving? Minimizes production downtime Confirms that the drive is in good working condition, properly

wiped and with the correct firmware preinstalled Reduces cost by utilizing warranty whenever possible

START. INV team & BLT team meeting Quickly realized the following 4 challenges:

1. Drives had data on them from previous application2. Firmware was out of date3. Alerts were being generated and drive had stability issues4. No end to end documented process

What are the issues or challenges with the current system? We don’t format, validate and upgrade firmware on all hard

drives before reuse

SUCCESS. Streamlined, consistent and accurate drive validation process Increase reliability of reclaimed hardware reuse/redistribution Just in time hard drives

What are the Metrics we are going to utilize to measure success? Return on investment (How do we prevent spend?) Quality of service

Number of drives reused / by the number that fail upon reuse Number of drives reused / by the number of drives not validated upon reuse

CHALLENGES.What challenges came up as a result of the approach you took to solve the

issue? Defined process from scratch Partnered with BLT to create a script that formats, validates, and updates the firmware to a drive Developed a Visio document swim lanes for INV Developed a Word Document providing step by step instructions for anyone running the

automation

What steps had to be taken to mitigate these challenges? INV team members followed the step by step process ensuring consistent process flow Communicated with the software developers on the creation of the automated tool and

identified bugs that needed to be fixed

SUCCESS. Dell drive validation process works flawlessly.

Quicker turn around on drives

However the HP drive validation process is still a work in progress as advancements are being made regularly.*

*Currently HP requires sequential firmware updates in order to get the latest firmware installed on hard drives

KNOWLADGE. What I took away from this?

Servers / Das units Remote login / Running scripts Working with PowerShell / Documenting Step by Step

What would I do differently now? Not stress deadlines, unless they are hard deadline

What would I tell the next intern? Your path may change

FEEDBACK TO YEAR-UP AND MICROSOFT? Year Up

Preparing us for our potential team and project, doesn’t always roll over from what we learned at Bellevue College

Microsoft The ability to assign daily tasks in addition to our assigned long term projects.

APPENDIX Drive Validation Process Doc Visio Documentation