In the past twelve months, both EMC and Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) launched power-saving archival storage solutions that use spin-down disk technology. Powering down disks was first seen in MAID (Massive Array of Inactive Disks) solutions pioneered by companies such as COPAN Systems, Nexsan Technologies, Fujitsu, and NEC. Take a new look at MAID and similar power-saving storage technologies to get reliable, fast and cheap access to archived data.
Advantages of Standing Still
When it comes to longer term archival storage, tape and optical disk media have an advantage over spinning hard drives. Tape drives and disks do not consume power when they are not being used. A typical hard disk drive, on the other hand, continues to spin and draw power, even when data is not being accessed.