---
title: "Hardware Return: Exit Offline Secure Storage With Your Data"
url: https://fire-vault.com/offline-secure-storage/hardware-return
description: "When a Firevault contract ends you renew, take the physical hardware back, or have the drives securely destroyed to certificate. Your data is never trapped…"
lang: en-GB
---

Image: Offline Secure Storage logo (https://fire-vault.com/__l5e/assets-v1/a78723d3-5b1a-48bf-9040-c767b759823d/oss-icon-correct.png)
Offline Secure Storage® (#OSS)

# Hardware return

Every storage contract ends eventually. Because your data sits on identifiable drives rather than in a shared platform, the exit is a physical act: renew, retrieve the hardware, or have it destroyed to certificate.

- Renew, retrieve or destroy
- Named drives
- Certificate of destruction
- No exit fees on your data

Buy your Vault: https://fire-vault.com/get-started

See pricing: https://fire-vault.com/pricing

Image: Offline Secure Storage drives in a Firevault rack tray, ready for retrieval at the end of a contract (https://fire-vault.com/__l5e/assets-v1/a93ab6eb-c539-4501-8a3c-c9d250754ff5/firevault-vault-rack-oss-drives-tray.png)

How an exit works

01

Routes at the end of term: renew, retrieve, destroy

3 Routes at the end of term: renew, retrieve, destroy

02

Charged to get your own data out

£0 Charged to get your own data out

03

Destruction evidenced in writing

Certified Destruction evidenced in writing

04

Month minimum commitment before term ends

36 Month minimum commitment before term ends

01 Why it matters

## Most platforms make leaving the expensive part

Cloud exits mean egress charges, re-downloads over a network and a promise that copies have been deleted. When your archive is physical, the exit can be witnessed rather than trusted.

### Your data leaves as an object

Retrieval is drives handed over, not a bulk download metered by the terabyte.

### Evidence, not assurances

Serial numbers make it possible to certify exactly which media was returned or destroyed.

### No lock-in by inconvenience

A protection decision should never be hard to reverse. Knowing you can leave is part of trusting the arrangement.

02 How it works

## What happens at the end of a term

The decision is yours, taken before the term ends, and recorded.

01

### Renewal review

Ahead of the end of your commitment your account manager confirms whether you are renewing, changing capacity or closing the instance.

02

### Choose your exit route

Renew on the same hardware, take physical retrieval of the drives, or instruct secure destruction of the media.

03

### Retrieve your files first if you prefer

You can also copy everything out through File Share during a normal session before the instance is closed.

04

### Identity is verified again

Hardware is only released to the verified owner, an authorised signatory, or a nominated successor through Vault Buddy.

05

### Handover or destruction, in writing

Drives are released against a signed record, or destroyed with a certificate issued. The instance is then decommissioned.

03 Your options

## Three ways a contract can end

Whichever route you choose, the outcome is documented against the equipment that held your data.

### Renew

Continue on the same allocated drives, or move to a larger capacity with a managed migration.

### Retrieve the hardware

Take physical possession of the drives that hold your archive, released to a verified holder.

### Secure destruction

Media is destroyed rather than wiped and resold, with a certificate issued for your records.

### Documented either way

Decommissioning, handover and destruction are recorded, which matters for retention and audit obligations.

### Succession-aware

If the owner has died or lost capacity, a nominated Vault Buddy can act within the evidence-led release process.

### Nothing left running

Once closed, no route, no credential and no residual copy of your instance remains in service.

04 How it differs

## Related, but not the same thing

Hardware return is about the end of the relationship. These pages cover what is true while the contract is running.

### Dedicated hardware

The single-tenant drives allocated to you, which is what makes a physical return possible.

Dedicated hardware
https://fire-vault.com/offline-secure-storage/dedicated-hardware

### Physical storage

That your files sit on real media in a known place throughout the term.

How storage works
https://fire-vault.com/how-it-works/resilience-legacy

### Physical security

The Bunker holding the equipment while it is in service.

Inside the Bunkers
https://fire-vault.com/offline-secure-storage/physical-security

### Vault Buddy

The succession route if the verified owner cannot act when a term ends.

Vault Buddy
https://fire-vault.com/offline-secure-storage/vault-buddy

05 FAQ

## Questions

### What does hardware return mean?

At the end of your contract you can renew, take physical possession of the drives holding your data, or instruct secure destruction of the media. Your archive is never stranded in a platform.

### Are there charges for getting my data out?

There are no egress charges for retrieving your own data. Physical handling, transport or destruction is quoted at cost where it applies.

### Can I simply download everything instead?

Yes. You can copy your files out through File Share in a normal session before the instance is closed.

### Who is the hardware released to?

Only the verified owner, an authorised signatory for a business instance, or a nominated successor through the Vault Buddy evidence-led process.

### Is the media wiped or destroyed?

Where you request destruction, the media is destroyed rather than wiped and reused, and a certificate is issued.

### What is the minimum commitment?

Vault and LUV run on a 36-month commitment. Storage and Enterprise terms are agreed as part of the design.

### What happens if I move to a larger Vault?

Your data is migrated onto the new allocated drives, and the previous media is decommissioned under the same documented process.

### Does this apply to Storage and Enterprise?

Yes, and at that scale hardware is often purchased in your own name from the outset, with return and disposal written into the programme.

Next step

## Protection you can walk away from with your data in hand

Start with the capacity you need today. The exit route is agreed before you begin, not after.

Dedicated hardware: https://fire-vault.com/offline-secure-storage/dedicated-hardware

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