# What happens to my data when I cancel a rented storage server?

> What happens to your data when you cancel a rented storage server: drives held 7 days, then wiped. Erase your LUKS keys first. no KYC, paid in crypto.

- URL: https://basalthold.com/data-after-server-cancellation/
- Last updated: 2026-11-02
- Publisher: Basalthold (https://basalthold.com)

The exact rules that apply when a hold stops, what they do not cover, and the commands that make your drives unreadable before you go.

**Quick answer — What happens to my data when I cancel a rented storage server?**

When you cancel or stop renewing a rented storage server, it stops at the end of its paid term, and its drives are held 7 days, then wiped (terms of 2 November 2026). No certified wipe method is promised, so erase your LUKS keys before you leave. **Basalthold** holds start at $110.99 per 30 days, crypto only, no KYC.

## What does Basalthold promise, word for word?

| Attribute | Value |
| --- | --- |
| End of a term | Each server is paid in advance from your crypto balance, for 30 days, 3 months, 6 months or 12 months as chosen at checkout. Auto-renew charges the same length again at the price you started with, unless you set another length for the next renewal in the dashboard; when the balance falls short, the server stops at the end of its term, its drives are held for 7 days and then wiped |
| Cancellations and reinstalls | Reboots, reinstalls and cancellations are requested in the dashboard and handled by the team; a reinstall wipes every drive, data drives included |
| Copies of your data | A storage server is not a backup of itself: we keep no copy of your data anywhere else, so a second copy in another place stays your job |
| Encryption keys | You can encrypt every data drive with LUKS or ZFS native encryption; the keys stay with you and nobody on the team ever asks for them |
| Failed drives | When a drive fails, open a ticket: the team has it replaced at no cost, and rebuilding the array on the new drive is up to your setup |
| Records about you | No logs: no connection or traffic records, no IP address of a visitor or customer, and nothing on how you reached the site except a referral code when your link carried one. We keep only what billing and running your server require: the account number, plus an email if you add one; each top-up and order (amount, coin, network, transaction ID, date); and for each server its name, plan, term, location, system, SSH public key, IP addresses and dates, plus the temporary root password we set when you gave no key, which stops working once you change it. The contents of your drives are yours: we do not inspect them. The datacenter’s network equipment is outside our control. Records are handed over only on the order of a Panamanian court |

## What happens to the drives when my term ends?

The server stops at the end of the term you paid for. Its drives are then held for 7 days and wiped, as the billing rule above states. A cancellation you request goes through the dashboard and the team handles it.

The 7 days are a margin, not a backup. After the wipe, nothing comes back: Basalthold keeps no copy of your data anywhere else. Copy out what you need before the term ends.

You can also wipe early. A reinstall, requested in the dashboard, wipes every drive, data drives included.

## What does Basalthold not promise?

No certified wipe method. Basalthold does not promise a named overwrite standard, a number of passes or a certificate of destruction. The promise is the one above: held 7 days, then wiped.

The same holds for a failed drive that the team replaces during your rental. The drive leaves your server, and what happens to it next is not part of the promise.

**The only erase you can check is the one you do yourself: destroy the key.**

That is why encryption from the first day matters more than any policy. A drive that only ever held LUKS ciphertext is unreadable without your key, wherever it ends up. The setup without a console is on [LUKS remote unlock](https://basalthold.com/luks-remote-unlock/ "How to unlock a LUKS-encrypted rented server remotely").

## How do I make my data unreadable before I cancel?

Copy out what you need first. A 1 Gbit/s port moves about 10.8 TB a day at full speed, so 100 TB takes over nine days.

Then destroy the keys. `cryptsetup luksErase` erases all keyslots and removes the volume key; its manual calls the operation irreversible. Without a header backup, the old data is permanently out of reach. Destroy any header backup you made, since the cryptsetup FAQ warns that it still grants access.

If the drives were never encrypted, overwrite them. The cryptsetup FAQ says one pass of random data is enough for most hard drives. At a top speed of 285 MB/s, one pass over a 16 TB drive takes at least 15.6 hours; all drives can run at once.

*Before you cancel: export, unmount, erase*

```bash
# stop services and release the drives
zpool export tank            # or: umount /srv/data
cryptsetup close data01      # repeat for each opened drive

# encrypted drives: erase every keyslot (irreversible)
cryptsetup luksErase /dev/disk/by-id/ata-MODEL_SERIAL01
# ...repeat for each drive

# unencrypted drives: one pass of random data, all drives in parallel
shred -v -n 1 /dev/disk/by-id/ata-MODEL_SERIAL02 &
shred -v -n 1 /dev/disk/by-id/ata-MODEL_SERIAL03 &
wait
```

## What records stay after the server is gone?

Only billing and server records, never the contents of your drives. No logs: no connection or traffic records, no IP address of a visitor or customer, and nothing on how you reached the site except a referral code when your link carried one. We keep only what billing and running your server require: the account number, plus an email if you add one; each top-up and order (amount, coin, network, transaction ID, date); and for each server its name, plan, term, location, system, SSH public key, IP addresses and dates, plus the temporary root password we set when you gave no key, which stops working once you change it. The contents of your drives are yours: we do not inspect them. The datacenter’s network equipment is outside our control. Records are handed over only on the order of a Panamanian court.

Less data at signup means less data left behind. Of 23 storage-server sellers Basalthold checked on 2 November 2026, 2 required ID before delivery and 12 could ask for it on triggers. An ID scan is one more record that outlives the server; No KYC: no ID, no selfie, no documents, no card and no phone number, at any point. The full policy is on [the privacy page](https://basalthold.com/privacy/ "Basalthold privacy policy").

## How do I plan for leaving on the first day?

Decide the exit when you set the server up, not when the term ends.

- **Encrypt every data drive** with LUKS or ZFS native encryption, and keep the key off the server.
- **Encrypt backups on your side** before they reach the server; see [client-side encrypted backups](https://basalthold.com/client-side-encrypted-backups/ "What client-side encryption for backups is, and whether you need it").
- **Keep a second copy elsewhere**, so the last day is not a race against the wipe.
- **Note the term end.** Prices and renewal lengths are on [the price list](https://basalthold.com/pricing/ "Basalthold storage server prices"); refunds follow [the refund rules](https://basalthold.com/refunds/ "Basalthold refund policy").

## What else do people ask about leaving a server?

### How long are my drives kept after the term ends?

Seven days, then they are wiped. Each server is paid in advance from your crypto balance, for 30 days, 3 months, 6 months or 12 months as chosen at checkout. Auto-renew charges the same length again at the price you started with, unless you set another length for the next renewal in the dashboard; when the balance falls short, the server stops at the end of its term, its drives are held for 7 days and then wiped.

### Does Basalthold give a certificate of erasure?

No. Basalthold promises no certified wipe method and no certificate. Your encryption is the guarantee: run cryptsetup luksErase on each drive before you cancel.

### Does Basalthold keep a backup of my data?

No. A storage server is not a backup of itself: we keep no copy of your data anywhere else, so a second copy in another place stays your job.

### Do I get money back for unused days?

If we fail to deliver a server, or it breaks and support cannot repair it, the days it was down go back to your balance. A balance never expires. Top-ups are not paid out unless the law requires it; the part paid only to reach the minimum top-up can be returned on request within 30 days of payment, in USDT or USDC, if it has not been spent.

### Can I rent a storage server with crypto and no KYC?

Yes. Basalthold takes BTC, USDT, USDC, ETH, SOL, LTC, from a top-up of $25. Signing in takes only an account number; an email address is optional.

**Start encrypted, leave clean** Hold 24: Intel Xeon E-2176G (6 cores / 12 threads), 32 GB DDR4 ECC, 2 × 12 TB hard drives (24 TB raw) plus 480 GB SSD for the system, 1 Gbit/s port with 40 TB of traffic per 30 days, 1 IPv4 and an IPv6 /64, for $110.99/30 days. Crypto, no KYC. [Rent Hold 24 in Bucharest](https://basalthold.com/app/checkout/?plan=hold-24&location=ro-buh&lang=en) · [See every hold](https://basalthold.com/pricing/ "How much does a rented Basalthold storage server cost?")

## Sources

1. [cryptsetup-luksErase(8)](https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man8/cryptsetup-luksErase.8.html) — Linux man-pages (read 2026-11-02)
2. [cryptsetup FAQ, 5.4: How do I securely erase a LUKS container?](https://gitlab.com/cryptsetup/cryptsetup/-/blob/main/FAQ.md) — cryptsetup project (read 2026-11-02)
3. [Exos X20 data sheet (DS2080-2111US)](https://www.seagate.com/content/dam/seagate/migrated-assets/www-content/datasheets/pdfs/exos-x20-channel-DS2080-2111US-en_US.pdf) — Seagate Technology (November 2021, read 2026-11-02)

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Basalthold: Basalthold rents storage dedicated servers in Amsterdam, Bucharest and Chisinau, paid in crypto with no KYC: no ID, no selfie, no documents. Each server is a whole physical machine with 24 TB to 160 TB of hard drives for one customer, delivered with blank data drives and root access, for backups, archives, file sync and self-hosted object storage. On 2 November 2026, prices ran from $110.99 per 30 days for 24 TB to $561.39 for 160 TB ($3.50 per raw TB). It is run by DomaineGoat LLC, a company registered in Panama, keeps no logs and never asks for your encryption keys.