Computer Associates ARB6002700WF0. ..... Administration Guide - Page 152

The Device Manager Media manufacturers rate their media's useful lives from about 500 to 1500 passes. This does not mean that the media is unusable after it reaches the maximum number. It means that the media is more susceptible to errors at this point. The expiration date is a way of tracking how long the media has been in service so you can stop using it before it reaches the end of its useful life. When a media reaches its expiration date, you will still be able to use it, but when you use it, a note is made in the Activity Log that this media is expired. If you are formatting new, blank media, the default expiration date will be three years from the current date. If you are reformatting media, the expiration date that appears will be the date you specified the first time the media was formatted. Choose an expiration date based on how you will use the media. If you plan to use the media often, say, a few times a week, you should set the expiration date to a year from now, maybe even sooner than that. On the other hand, if you plan to use the media only once or twice a month, you can set the expiration date to two or three years from now. Erasing Data Use the Erase Data option to erase all data from media. When you use this, BrightStor ARCserve Backup erases all references to the contents of this media from the database. If you re-format this media, its physical history (read and write passes, and so on) is carried over. If you are using a library drive, you can erase data from a single media or from multiple media. There are three erase options from which you can choose: Quick Erase, Quick Erase Plus, and Long Erase. Important! Use this feature with care! When you erase data from media, the data is permanently deleted. Quick Erase A Quick Erase effectively erases the media but the history of the media is still available to BrightStor ARCserve Backup for tracking purposes. It overwrites the media label, thus making it much shorter than a Long Erase (which takes minutes to hours). Quick Erase Plus This is the same Quick Erase, but also erases the barcode and serial number if this feature is enabled. The media is no longer traceable by BrightStor ARCserve Backup and information such as the expiration date is no longer carried forward. 7-4 Administrator Guide