ENERGY STAR® Program Requirements
Product Specification for
Data Center Storage
Eligibility Criteria
Draft Version 2.1

Following is the Version Draft 2.1 ENERGY STAR Product Specification for Data Center Storage. A
product shall meet all of the identified criteria if it is to earn the ENERGY STAR.

1

DEFINITIONS
A. Product Types:
1) Storage Product: A fully-functional storage system that supplies data storage services toclients and devices attached directly or through a network. Components and subsystems thatare an integral part of the storage product architecture (e.g., to provide internal
communications between controllers and disks) are considered to be part of the storage
product. In contrast, components that are normally associated with a storage environment at
the data center level (e.g., devices required for operation of an external SAN) are notconsidered to be part of the storage product. A storage product may be composed ofintegrated storage controllers, storage devices, embedded network elements, software, andother devices. For purposes of this specification, a storage product is a unique configurationof one or more SKUs, sold and marketed to the end user as a Storage Product.
2) Storage Device: A collective term for disk drives (HDDs), solid state drives (SSDs), tapes
cartridges, and any other mechanisms providing non-volatile data storage. This definition is
specifically intended to exclude aggregating storage elements such as RAID array
subsystems, robotic tape libraries, filers, and file servers. Also excluded are storage devices
which are not directly accessible by end-user application programs and are instead employed
as a form of internal cache.
3) Storage Controller: A device for handling storage request via a processor or sequencer
programmed to autonomously process a substantial portion of I/O requests directed tostorage devices (e.g., RAID controllers, filers).
B. Storage Product Connectivity:
1) Direct-attached Storage (DAS): One or more dedicated storage devices that are physicallyconnected to one or more servers.
2) Network Attached Storage (NAS): One or more dedicated storage devices that connect to a
network and provide file access services (File I/O) to remote computer systems.
3) Storage Area Network (SAN): A network whose primary purpose is the transfer of data
between computer systems and storage products. A SAN consists of a communication
infrastructure, which provides physical connections, and a management layer, whichorganizes the connections, storage controllers / devices, and computer systems so that datatransfer is secure and robust. The term SAN is usually (but not necessarily) identified withblock I/O services rather than file access services.

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C. Capacity Optimizing Methods (COMs)1: The reduction of actual data stored on storage devices
through a combination of hardware and / or software. Characterized COMs include:
1) Thin Provisioning: A technology that allocates the physical capacity of a volume or file system
as applications write data, rather than allocating all the physical capacity at the time ofprovisioning.
2) Data Deduplication: The replacement of multiple copies of data – at variable levels of
granularity – with references to a shared copy in order to save storage space and/or
bandwidth.
3) Compression: The process of encoding data to reduce its size. For the purpose of thisspecification, only lossless compression (i.e., compression using a technique that preserves
the entire content of the original data, and from which the original data can be reconstructed
exactly) is recognized.
4) Delta Snapshots: A type of point-in-time copy that preserves the state of data at an instant intime by storing only those blocks that are different from an already existing full copy of thedata.
D. Storage Taxonomy 1: A categorization scheme for use in segmenting the data center storage
market by end-use application and key product characteristics. The major categories of thetaxonomy that are referenced in this document are as follows:
1) Disk Set Online Storage: Storage products that are intended to service a mixture of Random
and Sequential I/O requests with a short response time. All data stored in Disk Set Online
storage must be accessible MaxTTFD ≤ 80 ms, unless the storage product is in a Deep Idle
state. Disk set Online storage is typically comprised of one or more HDDs and a storage
controller and provides primary data storage to supplement a Computer Server’s internal
memory.
2) Disk Set Near-online Storage: Storage products that are intended to service a mixture ofRandom and Sequential I/O requests with a short to moderate response time. Disk Set Nearonline storage products offer an asymmetrical response; a portion of data may be accessible
MaxTTFD ≤ 80 milliseconds, while other data may be accessible MaxTTFD > 80
milliseconds.
3) Removable and Virtual Media Library (RVML) Set Virtual Media Library: Storage productsthat are intended to service primarily Sequential I/O, with a short response time. The media in
a Virtual Media Library (e.g., HDD, optical disk) is not designed to be physically removed fromthe system. All data stored in the Virtual Media Library must be assessable MaxTTFD ≤ 80
ms, unless the storage product is in a Deep Idle state. Virtual Medial Libraries are intended
primarily for moderate and long-term data storage.
4) RVML Set Removable Media Library: Storage products that are intended to service primarily
Sequential I/O, with a moderate to long response time. The media (e.g., tape cartridge,
optical disk) in a Removable Media Library is designed to be physically removed from thestorage product. Removable Media Libraries are intended primarily for long term dataarchiving

1
The ENERGY STAR storage taxonomy and COM references in this document are consistent with theterminology developed by the Storage Networking Industry Association Green Storage Initiative as
defined in “SNIA EmeraldTM Power Efficiency Measurement Specification” Version 4.0.0. Further detail
may be found at www.snia.org/green.

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5) Non-volatile Solid State (NVSS) Set Disk Access Storage: Storage products that are intended
to service a mixture of Random and Sequential I/O requests with a short response time. Alldata stored in NVSS Set Disk Access Online storage must be accessible MaxTTFD ≤ 80 ms,
unless the storage product is in a Deep Idle state. NVSS Set Disk Access Online storage istypically comprised of one or more SSDs and a storage controller and provides primary data
storage to supplement a Computer Server’s internal memory.
6) NVSS Set Memory Access Storage: Storage products that are intended to service a mixtureof Random and Sequential I/O requests with a short response time. All data stored in NVSS
Set Memory Access Online storage must be accessible MaxTTFD ≤ 80 ms, unless thestorage product is in a Deep Idle state. NVSS Set Memory Access Online storage is typicallycomprised of one or more banks of Solid State Storage devices and a storage controller andprovides primary data storage to supplement a Computer Server’s internal memory.
E. Other Data Center Equipment:1) Computer Server: A computer that provides services and manages networked resources forclient devices (e.g., desktop computers, notebook computers, thin clients, wireless devices,
PDAs, IP telephones, other computer servers and other network devices). A computer serveris sold through enterprise channels for use in data centers and office/corporate environments.
A computer server is primarily accessed via network connections, versus directly-connecteduser input devices such as a keyboard or mouse. For purposes of this specification, a productmust meet all of the following criteria to be considered a computer server:i)

is marketed and sold as a Computer Server;ii)

is designed for and listed as supporting computer server operating systems (OS) and/or
hypervisors;iii) is targeted to run user-installed applications typically, but not exclusively, enterprise innature;iv) provides support for error-correcting code (ECC) and/or buffered memory (including bothbuffered DIMMs and buffered on board (BOB) configurations)v) is packaged and sold with one or more ac-dc or dc-dc power supplies; andvi) is designed such that all processors have access to shared system memory and are
visible to a single OS or hypervisor.
2) Network Equipment: A device whose primary function is to provide data connectivity among
an arbitrary combination of devices connected to its several ports. Data connectivity isachieved via the routing of data packets encapsulated according to Internet Protocol, Fibre
Channel, InfiniBand or other standard protocol. Examples of network equipment commonly
found in data centers are routers and switches.
3) Blade Storage: A storage product that is designed for use in a blade chassis. A blade storage
product is dependent upon shared blade chassis resources (e.g., power supplies, cooling) for
operation.
4) Cache: Temporary storage used to transparently store transitory data and which is notdirectly addressable by end-user applications. Primarily used for expediting access to or from(typically) slower devices.
F. Capacity: Capacity is reported in units of either binary bytes (1 MiB = 1,048,576 Byte) or decimalbytes (1 MB = 1,000,000 Byte).
1) Assigned Capacity: The amount of space on a system or data container which has beenallotted to be written by an end user or application. (Note: For thin provisioning systems, anassigned capacity number represents a promise that that amount of space will be provided on
demand; usable capacity is allocated as the container is written too. For fully-provisioned
systems, usable capacity must be committed at the same time the container is allocated.)

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2) Effective Capacity: The amount of data stored on a storage product, plus the amount of
unused formatted capacity in the system.
3) Formatted (Usable) Capacity: The total amount of bytes available to be written after a storage
product or storage device has been formatted for use (e.g., by an object store, file system or
block services manager). Formatted capacity is less than or equal to raw capacity. It does notinclude areas set aside for system use, spares, RAID parity areas, checksum space, host- orfile system-level remapping, "right sizing" of disks, disk labeling and so on. However,formatted capacity may include areas that are normally reserved – such as snapshot setasides – if these areas may be configured for ordinary data storage.
4) Free Space: The amount of unused, formatted capacity as reported by the storage product.
5) Raw (Addressable) Capacity: The sum total amount of addressable capacity of the storage
devices in a storage product. The raw capacity of a storage device is commonly understood
to be the number of bytes available to be written via SCSI or equivalent protocol. It does notinclude unaddressable space, ECC (error correcting code) data, remap areas, inter-sector
gaps, etc.
G. Operational States:
1) Active State: The state in which a storage product is processing external I/O requests.
2) Idle State: An operational state in which the storage product is capable of completing I/Otransactions, but no active I/Os are requested or pending. The system may, however, be
servicing self-initiated I/Os from background data protection and cleansing, and otheroperations not initiated by the user.
i)

Ready Idle: The state in which a storage product is able to respond to arbitrary I/Orequests within the MaxTTFD limits for its taxonomy category but is not receiving external
I/O requests. The storage product may perform routine housekeeping tasks during Ready
Idle, provided such operations do not compromise the product’s ability to meet MaxTTFD
requirements.

ii)

Deep Idle: A state in which one or more storage product components or subsystems havebeen placed into a low-power state for purpose of conserving energy. A storage productin Deep Idle may not be able to respond to I/O requests within the MaxTTFD limits for its
taxonomy category, and may need to perform a managed ‘wake-up’ function in order toreturn to a Ready Idle or Active State. Deep Idle capability must be a user-selected,
optional feature of the storage product.

H. Power Supply Unit (PSU): A device that converts ac or dc input power to one or more dc power
outputs for the purpose of powering a storage product. A storage PSU must be self-contained
and physically separable from the system and must connect to the system via a removable orhard-wired electrical connection. Note: Storage PSUs may be Field Replaceable Units (FRUs),
but in some cases may be further integrated with the storage product.
1) Ac-dc Power Supply: A PSU that converts line-voltage ac input power into one or more dc
power outputs.
2) Dc-dc Power Supply: A PSU that converts line-voltage dc input power to one or more dc
power outputs. For purposes of this specification, a dc-dc converter (also known as a voltage
regulator) that is internal to a storage product and is used to convert a low voltage dc (e.g., 12V dc) into other dc power outputs for use by storage product components is not considered a
dc-dc power supply.

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3) Single-output Power Supply: A PSU that is designed to deliver the majority of its rated output
power to one primary dc output. Single-output PSUs may offer one or more standby outputs
that remain active whenever connected to an input power source. For purposes of thisspecification, the total rated power output from all additional PSU outputs that are not primaryor standby outputs shall be less than or equal to 20 watts. PSUs that offer multiple outputs atthe same voltage as the primary output are considered single-output PSUs unless those
outputs (1) are generated from separate converters or have separate output rectification
stages, or (2) have independent current limits.
4) Multi-output Power Supply: A PSU that is designed to deliver the majority of its rated output
power to more than one primary dc output for the purpose of powering a storage product.
Multi-output PSUs may offer one or more standby outputs that remain active wheneverconnected to an input power source. For purposes of this specification, the total rated power
output from all additional PSU outputs that are not primary and standby outputs must be
greater than or equal to 20 watts.
5) Redundant Power Supplies: Two or more PSUs that are configured to maintain uninterrupted
output load in the event of failure of one PSU.
I.

Product Family: A group of models/configurations that share a set of common attributes that arevariations on a basic design.
1) Common Product Family Attributes: A set of features common to all models/configurations
within a product family that constitute a common basic design. All models/configurations
within a product family must share the following:i)made by the same manufacturer;ii)

be from the same model line or machine type;iii) utilize the same model of storage controller;iv) fall under the same taxonomy category; andv) contain equal or greater amount of cache than the corresponding certified configuration.
2) Optimal Configuration: A product configuration which is representative of a product’s
maximum peak energy efficiency performance (performance/watt) for a given workload type.
This configuration represents all products certified within the family under the associatedworkload type specified. This configuration is provided by the manufacturer and may be
optimized for the following workload types:i)Transaction (Block I/O products only): A workload optimized for random I/O usage
measured in I/O per second per watt;ii)

Streaming (Block I/O products only): A workload optimized primarily for sequential I/O
usage, measured in MiB per second per watt;iii) Composite (File I/O products only): A workload optimized for mixed I/O usage, measured
in MiB per second per watt.
J.

Other Definitions:
1) Scale-Up Storage: A storage product comprised of a discreet storage controller (with orwithout redundancy), which has a full view of all the storage devices in the storage product.
Incremental storage capacity is added by the addition of storage devices under the controlof the existing storage controller.

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2) Scale-Out Storage: A storage product capable of being comprised of two or more discreet
storage controllers (with or without redundancy), combined with an overall integration or
aggregation function resulting in a single storage product view for attached servers. Eachdiscreet storage controller often has a partial view to a partition of the overall system's
storage devices, but this is not a fixed requirement. Incremental storage capacity is addedby the addition of storage devices under the control of the existing storage controller(s)and/or addition of additional storage devices along with additional controller(s).
3) Field-replaceable Unit (FRU): A unit, or component of a system that is designed to be
replaced “in the field;” i.e., without returning the system to a factory or repair depot. Field
replaceable units may either be customer-replaceable, or their replacement may require
trained service personnel.
4) High-availability (HA): The ability of a system to perform its function continuously (without
interruption) for a significantly longer period of time than the reliabilities of its individualcomponents would suggest. High availability is most often achieved through failure
tolerance.
5) Maximum Time to First Data (MaxTTFD): The maximum time required to start receiving
data from a storage product to satisfy a read request for arbitrary data.
6) RAS Features: An acronym for reliability, availability, and serviceability features. RAS issometimes also expanded to RASM, which adds “Manageability” criteria. The three primary
components of RAS as related to storage products are defined as follows:i)

Reliability Features: Features supporting a storage product’s ability to perform its
intended function without interruption due to component failures. Technologies applied toincrease reliability include: component selection (MTBF), redundancy (both at a micro
and macro levels), temperature and/or voltage de-rating, error detection and correction
technologies.

ii)

Availability Features: Features that support a storage product’s ability to maximize normal
operating time and minimize planned and unplanned down time.

iii) Serviceability Features: Features that support a storage product’s ability to be serviced(e.g., hot-plugging).
iv) Advanced Data Recovery Capability: A collective term used in this specification to refer toerror detection and correction features such as RAID, mirroring / grid technology, or othercomparable advanced error detection and recovery systemsv) Non-disruptive Serviceability: Support for continued availability of data and response
times during all FRU and service operations; including break/fix, code patches,
software/firmware upgrades, configuration changes, data migrations, and system
expansion.
7) Block I/O Loads:i)

Random Read: Any I/O load in which consecutively issued read requests do not specify
adjacently addressed data. The term random I/O is commonly used to denote any I/Oload that is not sequential, whether or not the distribution of data locations is indeed
random.

ii)

Random Write: Any I/O load whose consecutively issued write requests do not specify
adjacently addressed data. The term random I/O is commonly used to denote any I/Oload that is not sequential, whether or not the distribution of data locations is indeed
random.

iii) Sequential Read: An I/O load consisting of consecutively issued read requests toadjacently addressed data.

ENERGY STAR Program Requirements for Data Center Storage – Eligibility Criteria

Page 6 of 14iv) Sequential Write: An I/O load consisting of consecutively issued write requests toadjacently addressed data.
v) Hot Band: An I/O load consisting of a collection of read and write requests that models
areas of higher frequency I/O activity over the addressed data.
8) File I/O Loads:i)

DATABASE: An I/O load that simulates an OLTP database Table and Log file scenario.

ii)

Software (SW) Build: An I/O load that simulates a large software project compilation orbuild phase of an EDA workflow.

iii) Video Data Acquisition (VDA): An I/O load that simulates acquisition of data from a
temporarily volatile source such as surveillance or big data ingestion.
iv) Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI): An I/O load that simulates the workload generated bya hypervisor to support a heavy steady-state knowledge worker workload.
9) Response Time: The time required for the UUT to complete an I/O request.
10) Unit Under Test (UUT): The storage product being tested.

2

CERTIFYING PRODUCTS
Included Products

2.1
2.1.1

Products that meet all of the following conditions are eligible for ENERGY STAR certification,with the exception of products listed in Section 2.2:i.

meet the definition of a Storage Product provided in Section 1 of this document;ii.

are comprised of one or more SKUs and be able to be purchased in a single order from astorage product vendor;iii.

are characterized within the Disk Set Online categories 2, 3, or 4 and NVSS Set Disk Access
categories Online 2, 3 or 4 with the following additional criteria;a) contain a controller with advanced data recovery capabilityb) support Block I/O and/or File I/O storage functions; andc) implement scale-up or scale-out storage.

Excluded Products

2.2
2.2.1

Products that are covered under other ENERGY STAR product specifications are not eligible
for certification under the ENERGY STAR Data Center Storage specification. The full list of
specifications currently in effect can be found at www.energystar.gov/specifications.

2.2.2

The following products are specifically excluded from certification under this specification:i.

Personal / Portable Data Storage Products;

ii.

Computer Servers;

iii.

Blade Storage Products;

iv.

Direct Attached Storage Productsv.

Storage Products capable of only object based storage;

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vi.

3

Storage devices in the following categories of the taxonomy: Disk Set Near-Online, RVML Set
Removable Media Library, RNML Set Virtual Media Library and NVSS Set Memory Access.

CERTIFICATION CRITERIA

3.1

Significant Digits and Rounding

3.1.1

All calculations shall be carried out with directly measured (unrounded) values.

3.1.2

Unless otherwise specified, compliance with specification limits shall be evaluated using
directly measured or calculated values without any benefit from rounding.

3.1.3

Directly measured or calculated values that are submitted for reporting on the ENERGY STAR
website shall be rounded to the nearest significant digit as expressed in the corresponding
specification limit.

3.2

Power Supply Requirements

3.2.1

Power Supply Units (PSUs): PSUs used in storage products eligible under this specification
shall meet the following requirements when tested using the EPRI Generalized Internal Power
Supply Efficiency Test Protocol, Rev. 6.7.1 (available athttps://www.plugloadsolutions.com/docs/collatrl/print/Generalized_Internal_Power_Supply_Effi
ciency_Test_Protocol_R6.7.1.pdf).

3.2.2

Efficiency and Power Factor in Primary Embedded Equipment: Embedded PSUs that power
primary components of the storage product, including controllers and drawers, must meet therequirements in Table 1 and Table 2.
i.

Efficiency: A storage product PSU shall meet efficiency requirements as specified in Error!
Reference source not found..
Table 1: Efficiency Requirements for PSUs
20%
50%
Power Supply Type
Rated Output Power
Load Load

ii.

100%
Load

Multi-output(Ac-Dc)All Output Levels

88%

92%

88%

Single-output(Ac-Dc)All Output Levels

90%

94%

91%

Power Factor: A storage product PSU shall meet power factor requirements as specified inTable 2.
Table 2: Power Factor Requirements for PSUs
20%
50%
PSU Type
Rated Output Power
Load LoadSingle and Multi-Output
All Output Levels
0.80
0.90
PSU

100%
Load
0.95

iii. Embedded PSUs that do not power primary components of the storage product are notsubject to PSU requirements.

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3.3

Energy Efficiency Active State Requirements for Block I/O Systems

3.3.1

To certify for ENERGY STAR, each Optimal Configuration point submitted for a block I/O
storage product or storage product family must meet the following applicable active state
requirements in Table 3 for each workload type for which it is certified.
Table 3: Active State Requirements for Block I/O Storage Products
Minimum
Specific
Applicable Units
Workload Type
Performance/Watt
Workload Testof Ratio
Ratio
Transaction
Hot Band
28.0
IOPS/watt
Streaming
Sequential Read
2.3
MiBS/watt
Streaming
Sequential Write
1.5
MiBS/watt

3.3.2

3.4

An Optimal Configuration point submitted for a streaming workload must meet either thesequential read or sequential write requirement in Table 3 above but is not required to meetthat value for both workload tests. Both test values will be reported and displayed publicly
regardless of whether they meet the criteria in Table 3.

Energy Efficiency Feature Requirements

3.4.1

To certify for ENERGY STAR, a storage product must contain the following feature,
implemented as specified:
i.

3.4.2

Adaptive Active Cooling: Primary components of a storage product must utilize adaptive
cooling technologies that reduce the energy consumed by the cooling technology inproportion to the current cooling needs to the storage product. (e.g., reduction of variable
speed fan or blower speeds at lower ambient air temperature). This requirement is notapplicable to devices that employ passive cooling.
A storage product shall make available to the end user configurable / selectable features listed
in Table 4 in quantities greater than or equal to those listed in Table 5.
Table 4: Recognized COM Features
FeatureVerification Requirement
COM: Thin Provisioning
SNIA verification test
COM: Data Deduplication
SNIA verification test
COM: Compression
SNIA verification test
COM: Delta Snapshots
SNIA verification test

Table 5: COM Requirements for Disk Set and NVSS Disk Set Access Online 2, 3 and 4 Systems
Minimum number ofStorage ProductCOMs required to be
Categorymade available
Online 2
1
Online 32Online 4
3

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3.5
3.5.1

Information Reporting Requirements
Active and Idle State Efficiency Disclosure: To certify for ENERGY STAR, all active and idle
state test results based on workload tests listed in Table 6 or Table 7 shall be reported:
Table 6: Required Workload Tests for all Block I/O Configurations
Workload Test
Hot BandRandom Read
Random Write
Sequential Read
Sequential Write
Ready Idle 2
Table 7: Required Workload Tests for all File I/O Configurations
Workload TestDATABASE
SW Build
VDA
VDI
Ready Idle3

3.5.2

Workload Weighting Requirements: The weighted percentages shown in Table 8 or Table 9
shall be used to calculate the appropriate Optimal Configuration point for a given storage
product.
Table 8: Workload Weighting Requirements for all Block I/O Systems
Transaction
Streaming
Workload Test
Optimization
Optimization
Hot Band
100%0%Sequential Read
0%50%
Sequential Write
0%50%
Ready Idle
0%
0%

Example: To optimize for a streaming workload, manufacturers should identify a system configurationand storage device count where the weighted sum (per Table 8) of the Sequential Read and Sequential
Write results are maximized. The resulting storage device count should be used as the streaming
optimization point for ENERGY STAR testing and certification.

SNIA defined workload tests in Table 6, Table 7, and through the rest of this document can be found in
the “SNIA EmeraldTM Power Efficiency Measurement Specification” Version 4.0.0. Further detail may befound at www.snia.org/green.
2

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Table 9: Workload Weighting Requirements for all File I/O Systems
Transaction
Streaming
Composite
Workload Test
Optimization
Optimization
Optimization
DATABASE
50%0%0%SW Build
0%
0%
100%
VDA
0%
100%
0%
VDI
50%
0%
0%
3.5.3

Testing Data Requirements for all Scale-up Storage Products: The following test data isrequired for each configuration submitted for certification as ENERGY STAR:i.

The manufacturer must choose a workload type for testing from 1.I.2.

ii.

The manufacturer must choose a single type or combination of types (in the case of a hybrid
hard disk/solid state storage device product) of hard disk storage devices and/or solid statestorage devices which result in the highest work/watt for that workload type. The addressable
storage of the solid state storage devices in the tested configuration of a hybrid hard
disk/solid state storage device product family cannot exceed 30%.For the chosen workload
type, physical data for all measurements listed in Table 6 or Table 7 shall be submitted for amanufacturer determined Optimal Configuration point Additionally:iii. To certify additional workload types, repeat the above starting at 3.5.3.i for a different
workload.
iv. The following rules apply to all testing above:(a) Verification testing of COM features (Table 4) specified by the storage product shall be
executed at least once using storage devices of the vender’s choice. Once verified there
is no requirement to re-execute the COM verification testing procedure with different
storage devices.
3.5.4

Testing Data Requirements for all Scale-out Storage Products: The following test data isrequired for each configuration submitted for certification as ENERGY STAR:i.

All testing and data requirements of Sections 3.5.3 shall be followed.

ii.

When testing, the smallest marketed quantity of storage controllers / nodes shall be tested.

iii. Additional systems with a larger quantity of storage controllers may be optionally submitted.
3.5.5

Data for display on the ENERGY STAR website shall be submitted for each ENERGY STAR
certified storage product or storage product family.
i.

3.5.6

Whenever possible, Partners should also provide a hyperlink to a more detailed power
calculator on their website that purchasers can use to understand power and performancedata for specific configurations within the product family.
The following information will be displayed on the ENERGY STAR website:i.

Product model name, model number, and SKU or other configuration identification number;ii.

A list of important product characteristics, including;(a) System configuration and tested I/O type;(b) Storage controller details (e.g. model name and number);(c) Software configuration and transfer protocols used in testing;

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(d) Storage controller power supply information;(e) Storage device drawer power supply information;(f) Storage devices used per optimization points;(g) Input power and environmental characteristics during testing;(h) System power optimization capabilities;(i) Inlet air temperature and power consumption reporting capabilities.
iii. A list of optimal configurations of certified product families; and disclosure of the time periodused for data averaging.
iv. A list of power management and other power saving features available and enabled bydefault;v.

Specified thermal measurements conducted during testing;vi. For product families, a list of certified storage products within the family; andvii. Energy Efficiency Performance data (performance/watt) for required active and idle state test
reporting specified in Table 10 or Table 11 below:
Table 10: Active and Idle State Efficiency Block I/O Test Results Displayed
Transaction
Streaming
Capacity
Workload Test
Optimization
Optimization
Optimization
Hot Band

Yes

No

No

Random Read

Yes

No

No

Random Write

Yes

No

No

Sequential Read

No

Yes

No

Sequential Write

No

Yes

No

Ready Idle

Yes

Yes

Yes

Table 11: Active and Idle State Efficiency File I/O Test Results Displayed
Transaction
Streaming
Composite
Workload Test
Optimization
Optimization
Optimization

3.5.7

DATABASE

Yes

No

No

SW Build

No

No

Yes

VDA

No

Yes

No

VDI

Yes

No

No

Ready Idle

Yes

Yes

Yes

The following test information shall be submitted as part of the certification process, but will not
be displayed on the ENERGY STAR website:i.

Discrete power and performance data for all tested configurations;

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3.5.8

Report the web link to the following product information made clearly visible on partner primarymarketing and/or product summary websites:i.

Identification of configurations within a model line that are included in the ENERGY STAR
certified product family;ii.

COMs available for the product;iii. Minimum power supply efficiency offered within the product family (preferably as an 80 Plus
equivalent statement).
Note: EPA engaged with stakeholders regarding the verification procedures for this uniquely complicatedproduct type. Operators have access to real time power and temperature reporting data from eachproduct allowing them to manage all their IT hardware and observe when individual units fall outside of
expected operating parameters. The presence of this DCIM software combined with certification data
provides a high level of transparency regarding performance. EPA has learned that there is added benefit
to stakeholders and the program to provide customers with additional information on their ENERGYSTAR product. As such, the Agency is requiring manufacturers make it clear which configurations in themodel line are ENERGY STAR certified, what COMs are available for the product and the minimum
power supply efficiency offered within the product family.

3.6

Standard Performance Data Measurement and Output Requirements

3.6.1

Data Elements: Disk Set and NVSS Disk Set Access Online 3 and Online 4 storage products
shall be capable of measuring and reporting the following data elements at the storage productlevel:

3.6.2

i.

Input Power, in watts. Input power measurements must be reported with accuracy within±5% of the actual value for measurements greater than 200 W, through the full range of
operation. For measurements less than or equal to 200 W, the accuracy must be less thanor equal to 10 W multiplied by the number of installed PSUs; andii.

Inlet Air Temperature, in degrees Celsius, with accuracy of ± 2°C.

Reporting Implementation:i.

Data shall be made available in a published or user-accessible format that is readable bythird-party, non-proprietary management systems;ii.

Data shall be made available to end users and third-party management systems over a
standard network connection;iii.

Data shall be made available via embedded components or add-in devices that are
packaged with the storage product (e.g., a service processor, embedded power or thermal
meter or other out-of-band technology, or pre-installed OS);iv. When an open and universally available data collection and reporting standard becomes
available, manufacturers should incorporate the universal standard into their products.
v.
3.6.3

Inlet air temperature data shall be reported for the controller chassis only.

Sampling Requirements:i.

Input power: Input power measurements must be sampled internally to the storage productat a rate of greater than or equal to 1 measurement per contiguous 10 second period.

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3.6.4ii.

Inlet air temperature: Inlet air temperature measurements must be sampled internally to thestorage product at a rate of greater than or equal to 1 measurement every 10 seconds.

iii.

Timestamping: Systems that implement time stamping of environmental data shall sample
internally to the storage product data at a rate of greater than or equal to 1 measurement
every 30 seconds.

iv.

Management Software: All sampled measurements shall be made available to externalmanagement software either via an on-demand pull method, or via a coordinated pushmethod. In either case the system’s management software is responsible for establishingthe data delivery time scale while the storage product is responsible to assuring datadelivered meets the above sampling and currency requirements.

Documentation Requirements: The following information shall be included in the data submission:
i.
ii.

4

Guaranteed accuracy levels for power and temperature measurements, and
The time period used for data averaging (if present).

TESTING
Test Methods

4.1
4.1.1

Test methods identified in Table 12 shall be used for purposes of evaluating active and idle
state storage product energy efficiency.
Table 12: Test Methods for ENERGY STAR Certification
Product Type
Test Method
All

Number of Units Required for Testing

4.2
4.2.1

5

ENERGY STAR Test Method for Data Center Storage Equipment,
Rev. May 2020.

Representative Models shall be selected for testing per the following requirements:i.

For certification of an individual product model, a product configuration equivalent to thatwhich is intended to be marketed and labeled as ENERGY STAR is considered theRepresentative Model;ii.

For certification of a product family one or more Optimization Configurations shall be tested
and submitted. Within the family covered by one or more Optimal Configurations,manufacturers continue to be held accountable for any efficiency claims made about theirproducts, including those not tested or for which data was not reported;

EFFECTIVE DATE
5.1.1

Effective Date: The Version 2.0 ENERGY STAR Data Center Storage specification shall takeeffect on March 15, 2021. To certify for ENERGY STAR, a product model shall meet the
ENERGY STAR specification in effect on its date of manufacture. The date of manufacture is
specific to each unit and is the date on which a unit is considered to be completely assembled.

5.1.2

Future Specification Revisions: EPA reserves the right to change this specification should
technological and/or market changes affect its usefulness to consumers, industry, or theenvironment. In keeping with current policy, revisions to the specification are arrived at through

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stakeholder discussions. In the event of a specification revision, please note that the ENERGYSTAR certification is not automatically granted for the life of a product model.

6
6.1

CONSIDERATIONS FOR FUTURE REVISIONS
Active State Efficiency Criteria for File I/O Products: EPA intends to set active state efficiency
criteria in Version 3.0 for all File I/O storage products in which it has enough data to adequately
differentiate products.

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