Erasing NAS question

[Enquiries]

I just watched your video How to Restore, Reinitialize or Factory Reset your QNAP NAS and Drives. I have watched a number of your videos and found them very helpful. Thank you for taking the time and making the effort to help. Can you tell me how safe it is to do the reset process? Can data on the NAS be recovered by a knowledge person? I look forward to your response.

[ed]

When it comes to resetting your QNAP NAS, the process itself is generally safe and straightforward, but the level of data erasure depends on the type of reset you choose:

Soft Reset (3-second reset): This will reset the network settings and admin password but won't affect your data or other configurations. Your files and apps will still be intact.

Factory Reset (10-second reset): This goes a bit deeper. It will reset the NAS back to its factory settings, which includes removing user accounts and installed applications. However, the data on your drives (your actual files) will typically remain. This type of reset doesn’t fully wipe your drives; it just removes the settings and configurations.

Reinitializing or Full Reset via QTS: If you're going through the QTS operating system and choosing to "Reinitialize the NAS," this is where all data on the drives will be deleted, and the drives will be re-partitioned. After this, the NAS will be like it was when it first came out of the box, with no data or settings retained.

Now, regarding the safety of these methods:

If you're aiming to ensure that the data is completely gone and cannot be recovered, a factory reset or reinitializing the NAS will typically delete the data and settings. However, it’s important to note that this deletion process doesn’t necessarily overwrite the data. Technically, data recovery experts might still be able to recover data using specialized tools, especially if the drives have not been overwritten with new data.

To make data unrecoverable, you would need to use a method that overwrites the data on the drives multiple times. This could be done using secure erase tools or specific NAS features designed for data destruction. Some QNAP NAS devices offer secure erase options that comply with data destruction standards, which would be much safer if your goal is to prevent any chance of recovery.

If you're simply trying to reset your NAS to start fresh but don't have security concerns, the factory reset or reinitialize option should be sufficient. But if you want to ensure that no one can recover your data, look into secure erase options.