Real World Problems

Erasing test data at the end of a Disaster Recovery test may be one of the most important steps of the test itself. And, yes, there is a lot to worry about: first, the general issue of safeguarding test data from unwanted use; second, the time required; and third, the cost of the actual erasure.

FAST DASD ERASE will put you in control

FAST DASD ERASE is a feature of SAE (Stand Alone Environment). By using FAST DASD ERASE, you provide your organization with the safeguards needed for valuable test data while saving both time and money.

Answering user needs

FAST DASD ERASE was incorporated into SAE at the request of our users. The need for FAST DASD ERASE has come from the requirement to erase ALL test data at the end of a Hot Site test. It is well known and generally accepted that all user data needs to be erased and that available standard methods are too slow and costly. A new solution was needed. Since we introduced FAST DASD ERASE, we have improved its functionally, performance and reliability many times. With today's current release, users tell us it's faster than ever. Our current performance benchmark is 500 devices completely erased in 1 hour and 15 minutes. "Legal" says we need to point out that results may vary depending on actual site configuration. But, in any event, it's FAST, real FAST!

Erase performance

The time taken by FAST DASD ERASE to erase a single volume is good, but that's not the kind of advantage you really want. The real benefit, and where FAST DASD ERASE will more than pay for itself, is its ability to perform multiple device erases concurrently. In tests we conducted, and as demonstrated by our customers, hundreds of drives are completely erased in about 1 hour. This results in huge savings of time and money. Again, actual results may vary.

How it's done

We are not giving away trade secrets but, as a general statement, our super erase performance is due to the unique standalone design of SAE. FAST DASD ERASE takes full advantage of this Stand Alone Environment. Each device being erased uses a relatively small portion of what in essence is a dedicated erase path(s). As additional volumes are selected for erasure, additional devices may come on-line, resulting in concurrent erasures. Such concurrence will have little effect on overall erase time until total path utilization is reached. Note that even at total path utilization, total erase time is very impressive, hours shorter than any other method of erasure. Devices that are on different paths are erased with little or no performance effect on each other.

What we mean when we say ERASE

FAST DASD ERASE writes binary zeros on all tracks except cylinder 0, track 0. On track 0, the volume label record is changed to volser ERASED and the remainder of the track is erased. If the volume contained a valid VTOC prior to erase, then a new one track VTOC is created on track 1.

What's the benefit?

FAST DASD ERASE can save you hours of time at the end of a Hot Site test. It will create Audit Reports that show which volumes were erased, how long it took to erase them and any errors that may have been detected during the erase, such as a bad track.

Reliability and Security

FAST DASD ERASE has full error recovery capabilities and is protected by a security system that requires a password and 2 levels of confirmation. All of these functions meet or exceed your auditor's requirements.

DASD Devices Support

Fast DASD Erase is used to erase entire 3380, 3390, or 9345 volumes, either real or logical, and works with newer devices that emulate these devices (i.e., RAID devices).

Other Erase Functions

Like all SAE functions, FAST DASD ERASE is easy to use. Access is through ISPF-like screens and does not require MVS, VTAM, TSO or JES to be active. In addition to FAST DASD ERASE, SAE also provides commands that let you quickly clip the volumes that have been erased. The DRPCLIP command can be used to change all ERASED volumes to unique volume serial numbers. The command can be issued with or without an operand and will result in the volumes being renamed.