Storage Systems: Savings and Optimization
Is one extra watt of power consumption a lot or a little?
If we are talking about a single disk installed in a stationary computer that is powered from the network, then, perhaps, there is nothing to talk about.
If we consider a shared information and computing center, where there are 25,000 servers with 12 disks in each, then in 5 years the difference in power consumption will be more than 13 gigawatt-hours. With a cost of one megawatt-hour of 1000 rubles, the excess costs will exceed 13 million rubles!
At HGST, we are well aware of how important these watts are, and we are developing solutions that save money without saving performance — in a word, we are working to optimize the total cost of ownership (TCO) factor. For example, SG-drives HGST Ultrastar 7K4000 consume 7.6 watts of power with no I / O and 10.9 watts when reading / writing. The power consumption does not depend on the disk capacity. Thus, the use of high-capacity disks (for example, 4-terabyte instead of 2-terabyte) in large computing centers provides significant savings on electricity, but not only: by reducing the number of disk systems, the occupied space decreases, the number of network equipment decreases, cooling costs decrease and backup power.
The following example, perhaps, is very simple, but at the same time very illustrative. Suppose you need to organize a data storage system with a capacity of about 3 PB. When using terabyte drives in double-height servers (12 per server), you will need 12 racks, a total of 240 servers. If the disk capacity is quadrupled, the number of racks will decrease to 3, and the number of servers to 60.
In the future, it will be possible to use drives filled with helium, which should be released later this year. Due to the lower resistance of the medium, they reduce the power consumed by the disk by almost a quarter (to be exact, by 23%). And the ability to fit seven disk plates with a higher recording density instead of five conventional ones in the case ensures almost 50% reduction in the specific (in terms of capacity) power consumption!
In addition, the working temperature of the helium-filled storage tank is about 4 ° less. The calculations performed by HGST show that the total costs of building and commissioning an extra-large information and computing center (taking into account savings on the number of servers, power consumption, cooling and occupied space) using 7-disk drives with helium will be 22 - 33 percent less.
Other advantages of disk drives with helium are increased durability (due to the higher purity of the environment in which the mechanics work) and reduced noise (due to reduced resistance of the medium).
Another important saving factor is equipment durability. In the latest HGST drive models, the average time between failures has been increased to 2 million hours (compared with the previous rate of 1.2 million hours). As a result, a number of advantages are achieved immediately: system performance is increased due to the reduction in the number of failures and subsequent recovery procedures increased uptime and availability of information infrastructure; reduced total cost of ownership.
* * *
Against the background of increasing data volumes and increasing the value of data storage as part of information systems, the role of the supplier of hard drives is changing. Now customers are asked to optimize the drives for their tasks, so the HGST engineering departments work closely with users. At the same time, when it comes to data storage systems, HGST competencies allow covering almost the whole range of aspects affecting speed and efficient operation, including customization of application programs, file systems, drivers, and equipment, including disk controllers; if it is necessary to improve the performance of the storage network, then HGST specialists may issue recommendations or participate in the deep optimization of applications, the file system, the operating system and drivers, as well as fine-tuning of the equipment. Thus, HGST is transformed from a simple equipment supplier into a trusted customer assistant.
If we are talking about a single disk installed in a stationary computer that is powered from the network, then, perhaps, there is nothing to talk about.
If we consider a shared information and computing center, where there are 25,000 servers with 12 disks in each, then in 5 years the difference in power consumption will be more than 13 gigawatt-hours. With a cost of one megawatt-hour of 1000 rubles, the excess costs will exceed 13 million rubles!
At HGST, we are well aware of how important these watts are, and we are developing solutions that save money without saving performance — in a word, we are working to optimize the total cost of ownership (TCO) factor. For example, SG-drives HGST Ultrastar 7K4000 consume 7.6 watts of power with no I / O and 10.9 watts when reading / writing. The power consumption does not depend on the disk capacity. Thus, the use of high-capacity disks (for example, 4-terabyte instead of 2-terabyte) in large computing centers provides significant savings on electricity, but not only: by reducing the number of disk systems, the occupied space decreases, the number of network equipment decreases, cooling costs decrease and backup power.
The following example, perhaps, is very simple, but at the same time very illustrative. Suppose you need to organize a data storage system with a capacity of about 3 PB. When using terabyte drives in double-height servers (12 per server), you will need 12 racks, a total of 240 servers. If the disk capacity is quadrupled, the number of racks will decrease to 3, and the number of servers to 60.
In the future, it will be possible to use drives filled with helium, which should be released later this year. Due to the lower resistance of the medium, they reduce the power consumed by the disk by almost a quarter (to be exact, by 23%). And the ability to fit seven disk plates with a higher recording density instead of five conventional ones in the case ensures almost 50% reduction in the specific (in terms of capacity) power consumption!
In addition, the working temperature of the helium-filled storage tank is about 4 ° less. The calculations performed by HGST show that the total costs of building and commissioning an extra-large information and computing center (taking into account savings on the number of servers, power consumption, cooling and occupied space) using 7-disk drives with helium will be 22 - 33 percent less.
Other advantages of disk drives with helium are increased durability (due to the higher purity of the environment in which the mechanics work) and reduced noise (due to reduced resistance of the medium).
Another important saving factor is equipment durability. In the latest HGST drive models, the average time between failures has been increased to 2 million hours (compared with the previous rate of 1.2 million hours). As a result, a number of advantages are achieved immediately: system performance is increased due to the reduction in the number of failures and subsequent recovery procedures increased uptime and availability of information infrastructure; reduced total cost of ownership.
* * *
Against the background of increasing data volumes and increasing the value of data storage as part of information systems, the role of the supplier of hard drives is changing. Now customers are asked to optimize the drives for their tasks, so the HGST engineering departments work closely with users. At the same time, when it comes to data storage systems, HGST competencies allow covering almost the whole range of aspects affecting speed and efficient operation, including customization of application programs, file systems, drivers, and equipment, including disk controllers; if it is necessary to improve the performance of the storage network, then HGST specialists may issue recommendations or participate in the deep optimization of applications, the file system, the operating system and drivers, as well as fine-tuning of the equipment. Thus, HGST is transformed from a simple equipment supplier into a trusted customer assistant.
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Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/190150/
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