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Thin Storage Provisioning for Energy Savings
So you pay for storage that's just sitting there, waiting for your apps make use of it. What a waste! Not only did you pay upfront but your arrays are sitting idle, blatantly running up your electric bill.
Luckily, there is another way...
Drew Robb gives us the details on DataCore and it's thin provisioning software. Essentially, it manages capacity on an as-needed basis, regardless of how much space your apps demand.
Deferring storage purchases will make the finance guys happy, but the eco-crowd will enjoy the following calculations:
Typical disk drive draws 25-35 watts for power, cooling draws roughly the same 25-35 watts for a total of around 60 watts on average. Over a year = 1 disk x 60 watts x 1 KW/1000 watts x 8760 Hours/year = 525 KW hours/year per disk. Assuming 10 cents per KW hour you get a rough $52.50 per year per disk savings. That doesn’t include the cost of the disks and arrays themselves, assuming that 60 percent less will be required.
Everybody wins!
Yes, I am plugging the mother ship without shame or scruples. Do stop by and say hello. But please don't upload cooky space code, Jeff Goldblum style.
Hey dude, you plug that mother ship! A good idea can come from anywhere. No need to punish people for possessing the good sense to have you on their team.
Ha! And what a team it is :)