This policy contains additional Terms and Service descriptions applicable to the equipment and hardware provided to the Customer to support existing services or on a standalone basis provided by Pipe Ten and should be viewed with associated Order Form, Terms of Service, Service Level Agreement and the Acceptable Use Policy.

Hardware Lifecycle Overview

Purchase

• All Pipe Ten’s hardware suppliers are managed in line with their Supplier Relationship Policy which involves categorising, monitoring and regularly reviewing all suppliers including but not limited to their service levels, credit rating and security practises.
• Wherever possible Pipe Ten try and solely work with Eco Partner-certified suppliers so that we can assess and manage the environmental impact that may occur in their components, raw materials, and manufacturing process.
• The manufacturer, model and supported features of the hardware are specified in the Order Form.
• The Equipment remains the property of Pipe Ten and will be returned to Pipe Ten on termination of the Agreement or at the end of the Initial Term.

Prepare

• All Pipe Ten hardware is marked, logged and tracked within Pipe Ten internal systems, in accordance with their physical asset inventory controls.
• Before deployment all hardware is thoroughly assessed for any defects.
• Before deployment all hardware is checked and updated to the latest firmware and other available manufacturer softwares.
• Before deployment all hardware and any associated software is security assessed and hardened if necessary.
• Before deployment and after assessment, updating and hardening; all hardware is thoroughly tested for operational suitability.

Deploy

• The locality of all Pipe Ten hardware is tracked in transit, between preparation and deployment, in accordance with their physical asset inventory controls.
• During transit between preparation and deployment, all hardware is appropriately secured from theft and tampering.

Operate / Maintain / Replace

• Pipe Ten will monitor all hardware for potential faults and use reasonable endeavours to resolve these prior to an actual fault occurring.
• It is the responsibility of Pipe Ten to keep the firmware of hardware at a level that is aligned with the manufactures guidelines.
• In the event of irreparable hardware failure it is the responsibility of Pipe Ten to provide replacement hardware in line with the Service Level Agreement or as defined within the Order Form.
• If defined on the Order form, Pipe Ten will retain a backup of the Customer’s initial configuration, which can be recovered or recreated in the event of hardware failure or misconfiguration.

Decommission / Re-Use / Recycle

• Data carrying hardware is appropriately sanitised before leaving any secure environment in accordance with the Data Destruction Policy.
• Hardware which has reached the end of its life will be recycled as per the Hardware Disposal Policy or otherwise reused.

Hardware Disposal Policy

Overview

Data carrying hardware is appropriately sanitised before leaving any secure environment in accordance with the Data Destruction Policy.

All hardware carrying data or otherwise when reaching its end of life; is processed in accordance with this Hardware Disposal Policy.

Scope

This policy applies to all Pipe Ten Hosting Ltd owned and/or operated devices, where Pipe Ten Hosting Ltd has ultimate responsibility for the device/medium.

Device Types Definition

Data-Carrying Devices:

• Internal Storage Devices
  • Hard Disk Drives
  • Solid State Drives
  • USB/Flash Devices
• Other non­-volatile storage devices including:
  • Switches, Routers & Firewall devices
  • RAID, IO Caching & similar devices
• External Storage Devices
  • Hard Disk Drives
  • Solid State Drives
  • USB/Other Flash Devices
  • Backup devices

Non-Data Carrying Devices:

• Anything not recognised as a data-carrying device, is defined as a normal / non-data carrying device.

Standard Policy Procedure

On a device being marked for hardware destruction due to failure or end of operating life and falling within the scope above, they are then:

1. Immediately:
   1. Where Data Carrying, digitally wiped following the Data Destruction Policy.
   2. Logically labelled for hardware destruction within asset tracking.
   3. Physically labelled for hardware destruction.
   4. Placed within the designated secure storage area.
2. Monthly:
   1. Where Data Carrying, physically disabled by way of single punch deformation.
   2. Re-retained within the designated secure storage.
3. Quarterly*:
   1. Collected by WEEE contractor in the case of Data Carrying devices being certifiably physically destroyed, or in the case of Non-Data Carrying devices recycled.
   2. Logically labelled as destroyed within asset tracking on receipt of waste transfer note and any data destruction certificate from contractor.

* Where conditions such as sufficient volume for cost effective collection and lack of physical restrictions allow.

Extended Arrangements

Customers requiring higher guarantees where the device has been dedicated to their use may contact Pipe Ten to enquire about purchasing and retaining the device in question.

Last changed: 2021/02/09 at 16:03 by Carl Heaton

Classification: Public
Last saved: 2024/01/24 at 16:21 by Carl