Server Decommission Checklist
Step One: Identify and record server to be decommissioned. Locate it in the data center. Schedule it for decommissioning Step Two: Identify and retain all software licenses associated with the server. Step Three: Schedule the cancellation of any vendor maintenance contracts associated with the server or software. Step Four: Backup and save any necessary data. Step Five: Disconnect server from the network. Remove from ACLs, subnets, and firewalls. Step Six: Turn the box of that’s being decommissioned. Step Seven: Remove the server from the rack for physical destruction or data erasure sanitization with secure, certified, overwrite of all data Step Eight: Erase the disks in the server using an approved data sanitization method. Data erasure ensures that the data is unrecoverable and is a more environmentally-friendly option.