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I've run several secure erase operations on my 500GB Samsung SSD 850 EVO using the procedure described on the Linux ATA wiki and it takes only a few seconds to complete:
linux-203v:~ # time hdparm --user-master u --security-erase foo /dev/sdb
security_password="foo"
/dev/sdb:
Issuing SECURITY_ERASE command, password="foo", user=user
real 0m2.745s
user 0m0.001s
sys 0m0.003s
When viewed in a hex editor after the erase, the drive is indeed completely blank.
Is this normal? Has the drive actually erased all NAND cells this quickly?
We have one answer that says it's that fast because everything is written concurrently, and another that says it's because it isn't really done at all. This must be one of the "opinion-based" questions. :-) – fixer1234 – 2016-12-07T18:44:17.277
@fixer1234: No, one of the answers is simply wrong (possibly it would be correct for some other brand, but for the model named, the actual behavior is not "opinion-based" in the slightest) – Ben Voigt – 2016-12-07T19:39:04.867
@Ben: If you know, you might to write an answer of your own. – bwDraco – 2016-12-08T00:08:49.127
@bwDraco It's already written? – Ramhound – 2016-12-10T23:00:17.827