Energy Efficiency Metrics for Storage

Energy efficiency metrics in terms of Idle Capacity/Watt, IOPs/Watt, and MB/s/Watt are starting to appear in the storage industry. These metrics can be used by the data center for power budget planning, and to reduce capital and operating expenses. SPC-1/E and SPC-2/E are storage performance benchmarks with energy extensions. The SNIA Emerald™ program enables the objective comparison of storage products for their energy efficiency. Slated to appear late this year or early next, the EPA Energy Star™ certification for datacenter storage is expected to require meeting specific checklist items, and submitting energy efficiency data on optimized systems. Another metric formulated by The Green Grid™ is the data center storage efficiency (DCsE), which focuses on efficiencies during actual operation, as opposed to the above mentioned metrics which are applicable at the point of sale.

Learning Objectives

Describe the benefits of energy efficiency metrics
Compare the various energy efficiency metrics
Describe methodologies for arriving at optimal metrics, including modeling tools
Provide examples of some early data submissions for storage arrays, consisting of configurations tuned for HDD and SSD devices