Which Storage Device is the Greenest? Modeling the Energy Cost of I/O Workloads

Appeared in 22nd IEEE International Symposium on Modeling, Analysis, and Simulation of Computer and Telecommunication Systems (MASCOTS 2014).

Abstract

Real world I/O workloads always cover a certain amount of work. The power consumption of storage devices alone cannot reflect the energy needed to finish these work, because devices have different speeds and capacities, which affects the time and number of devices needed to finish these work. Taking these factors into account, this paper presents quantitative analyses and models that calculate the energy consumption of storage devices to finish a certain amount of I/O work. Common I/O workloads are classified into two categories: the capability workloads and the capacity workloads. The model points out what properties of devices need to be measured and compared in order to design a greener system. Measurements of two latest hard disk and solid-state drives (SSD) are included to illustrate the model in practice. Contrary to common belief, SSDs are not the energy efficient choice for many workloads.

Publication date:
September 2014

Authors:
Yan Li
Darrell D. E. Long

Projects:
Tracing and Benchmarking

Available media

Full paper text: PDF

Bibtex entry

@inproceedings{li-mascots14,
  author       = {Yan Li and Darrell D. E. Long},
  title        = {Which Storage Device is the Greenest? Modeling the Energy Cost of I/O Workloads},
  booktitle    = {22nd IEEE International Symposium on Modeling, Analysis, and Simulation of Computer and Telecommunication Systems (MASCOTS 2014)},
  month        = sep,
  year         = {2014},
}