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Budgetary concerns

Historically, server managers have been most concerned about power consumption. However, power management problems are increasingly plaguing more than servers within the data center. Storage requirements are expanding at an alarming pace and accounting for increasing percentages of today’s data center power load. With energy costs rising, it is imperative to have a cost-effective, energy-efficient storage solution. Here are power consumption factors you should consider.

For many organizations, storage is consuming increasing amounts of power as data growth easily reaches to 50% and beyond – sometimes eclipsing 100% each year. Between servers and storage, energy costs are emerging as one of the top 3 operating costs in the data center.

Tape is the epitome of energy efficiency in the data center. Disk systems can cost up to 25 times more to power than a tape system of similar capacity in standard backup environments. When used for archive purposes, the cost to power a disk system can be up to 238 times that of tape* given the size of the archive, the retention period of the data, and the frequency with which that data must be retrieved. Because of its efficiency, tape is indispensable for long-term, large scale data retention requirements in order to minimize solution TCO and maximize the ROI on your storage investment.

Governmental RegulationsNot only is your data growth a factor, data also must be stored for longer periods of time. Industry-specific regulations require organizations to keep emails, customer records, financial transactions, human resource records and other data for legal purposes. In some industries, the retention period can span one hundred years or more. Long-term data retention translates into long-term power costs that often compound as data grows and energy costs increase.

Because of data growth, the need for storage is adding to a potential energy crisis. Not only are power costs increasing at double-digit percentage rates in some geographical locations, but for certain organizations additional power is not available regardless of price. For these reasons, deploying energy-efficient storage that allows more data to be stored per kilo-watt hour of energy used can be critical.

The Energy Availability Challenge

Energy Efficiency in StorageEfficient storage improves data center power operations

As you continue to grow your data center, your cooling requirements will grow. The result is a drain on your energy and financial resources as both power and cooling requirements increase. The use of automated tape libraries in your architecture can significantly decrease the energy and financial burdens, allowing you to use these valuable energy resources on other critical applications.

Environmental concerns

*Source: Clipper Group, Clipper Notes, December 2010

303-449-6400 • 800-833-1132 • (Fax) 303-939-8844 • 6285 Lookout Road • Boulder, CO 80301 USA

Display and record actual library power consumption with BlueScale EnergyAudit.

Yearly Electrical Costs with a 10% Increase in Electricity Costs Each Year

Year 1 - 3 Year 4 - 6 Year 7 - 9 Year 10 - 12 TOTAL

Tape Systems $3,110 $3,632 $4,497 $6,344 $17,583

Disk Systems $375,692 $640,474 $1,140,350 $2,023,940 $4,180,456

Tape Is Budget Friendly

The total cost of owning a disk system becomes even greater when you consider the energy costs required to run the disk. Spectra’s tape libraries allow you to keep your Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) to a minimum with annual energy requirements only 4% that of disk. When compared to the energy consumption of other tape libraries in its class, Spectra T950 energy costs are up to 70% less.

*In Search of the Long-Term Archiving Solution – Tape Delivers Significant TCO Advantage Over Disk, in Clipper Notes,TM December 23, 2010. Assumes an archive solution with 3 PB of initial storage, with data growth of 45% per year.

Based upon vendor-supplied list pricing, disk is fifteen times more expensive than tape and uses 238 times more energy for an ar-chiving application of large binary files with a 45% annual growth rate, all over a 12-year period.* Tape emerges as the clear budget-friendly leader—it allows for optimal growth and energy consumption—and keeps your budget in check.

To achieve best-in-class energy efficiency, Spectra uses a redundant, centralized power distribution system. Centralized, common power supplies run the drives, robots, controllers, LCDs, fans, lights, barcode readers, and cameras. Larger power supplies, running a number of components are much more efficient than using individual power supplies for each component. Spectra systems are designed for industry-leading power efficiency, with dual AC and n+1 power DC power supplies. Many competitor systems are dual AC with dual DC power. All power supplies have built-in inefficiencies and waste a certain amount of energy based on the load they carry. When a power supply is under-utilized, the efficiency goes down and the amount of wasted power goes up. Dual DC systems are the most inefficient/wasteful. In the case of all dual AC/dual DC systems the power loss can be 30%-40% of the power the unit is consuming, even when the power supplies are not performing any work.

With Dual AC and N+1 DC power supplies, there is only one redundant power supply on standby at any time, thereby reducing our energy waste. For example, a two frame T950 with 48 drives would have (14) 400 watt supplies if fully loaded, (6+1) in the first cabinet and (6+1) in the second cabinet, plus (1+1) 24V supplies in the first cabinet. With Dual AC/Dual DC this same system would need (24) 400 watt supplies and (2) 24V supplies - (6+6) in the first cabinet and (6+6) in the second, then (1+1) 24V in the first. In this case, our design reduces energy waste by eliminating the need for 10 power supplies!

Exceptional Efficiency

Innovating Energy Efficiency in StorageSpectra tape libraries: Your cost effective, energy efficient storage solution

Energy-Aware TechnologyWith more power-centric features than any other comparable solution on the market, Spectra tape libraries give you unmatched management capabilities by including tools to track your power usage. Our patented BlueScale EnergyAuditTM feature allows you to display and record actual power consumption, giving you greater control of your data center and budget.by Spectra®