Introduction › Preparing the Tape Library › Determining Tape Storage Requirements › When the Retention Period Expires

When the Retention Period Expires

At the end of the retention period, tapes can be scratched or moved to another location. The purpose of moving critical data sets to an off-site location is to protect them from possible data center disasters. You can systematically move the next-to-the-latest versions of your critical data sets to a remote location. If a major catastrophe or natural disaster destroys the volumes at the data center, you can rebuild your critical applications from the off-site backup tapes.

If you decide to move critical tapes to an off-site location, you must determine which tapes to move, where you want them moved, how long you want them retained at that location, and what to do with them at the end of the new retention period. At this point, you have the choice of scratching the tape and returning it to the data center, or moving it to another storage location.