Green' Storage (Fall 2007)

The next few years will bring widespread awareness of the environmental impacts (especially energy costs) associated with data storage. Already several regulations and initiatives (e.g. ROHS, WEEE, Energy Star) affect manufacturers of storage components or computers. There are also some innovative storage technologies specifically targeted towards energy conservation, including MAID, along with the well-known alternatives of removable storage (tape and optical). Several vendors have also begun to offer data on power use, energy consumption, and cooling loads in response to competitive pressures from other vendors and customers. Some vendors and consultants are offering energy modeling as part of their TCO analysis, either for competitive reasons or as part of their professional services portfolio. This SNIA Tutorial will quickly review basic engineering topics relevant to understanding 'Green', including stuff you may have successfully avoided, such as environmental chemistry, thermodynamics, energy vs. power, and heat transfer. We will review current problems in data center design, including increasing computational and storage density and the resulting energy and cooling issues. Conceptual models sufficient to understand or even develop energy budgets will be taught. All of this will converge on a basic model for TCO that includes energy modeling.

Learning Objectives

Understand what various groups mean by 'Green', especially as this term relates to storage network components and systems.
Understand some of the factors that should (or will) motivate your interest in 'Green' storage, including regulation, competition, and TCO.
Understand why 'Opex' (Operating expenses) can outweigh 'Capex' (Capital expense) in TCO models, and how 'Green' factors increasingly influence Opex.