ENERGY STAR® Program Requirements
Product Specification for
Data Center Storage
Eligibility Criteria
Version 1.0

Following is the Final Draft ENERGY STAR Version 1.0 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 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.
1

C. Capacity Optimizing Methods (COMs) : The reduction of actual data stored on storage devices
through a combination of hardware and / or software. Common COMs include:

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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.
1

D. Storage Taxonomy : 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) Online Storage: Storage products that are intended to service a mixture of Random andSequential I/O requests with a short response time. All data stored in Online storage must beaccessible MaxTTFD ≤ 80 ms, unless the storage product is in a Deep Idle state. Online
storage is typically comprised of one or more HDDs or SSDs and a storage controller, andprovides primary data storage to supplement a Computer Server‟s internal memory.
2) Near-online Storage: Storage products that are intended to service a mixture of Random andSequential I/O requests with a short to moderate response time. Near-online 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) Virtual Media Library: Storage products that 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 from the 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) 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 the storage product.
Removable Media Libraries are intended primarily for long term data archiving.
5) Adjunct Storage Products: Products which closely support storage devices by adding in realtime value or additional control capabilities not present in the storage device(s) itself.
Examples include SAN based virtualization controllers, NAS gateways, or other storage
services. A key feature of these products is that no end user data is primarily stored on
Adjunct Storage products, though data may be held in cache or other working buffers.
6) Interconnect Element: Devices which provide for interconnection functionality within a storage
area network. Examples include SAN Switches, etc.

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 asTMdefined in “SNIA Emerald Power Efficiency Measurement Specification” Version 2.0.2. Further detail
may be found at www.snia.org/green.

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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) Power Distribution Unit (PDU): A single- or three-phase power strip designed for data center
use. A PDU may include instrumentation for metering power input and output, switchedoutlets for control of individual receptacles, or other advanced features.
i)Intelligent Power Distribution Unit (iPDU): A PDU with additional functionality to provide
operational measurements of power consumption and environmental temperature.

4) 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.
5) 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.)
2) Effective Capacity: The amount of data stored on a storage product, plus the amount of
unused formatted capacity in the system.

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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 tomeet 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 qualified configuration.
2) Optimal Configuration: A product configuration that lies between the minimum and maximum
qualified configurations and is representative of a product with maximum peak energy
efficiency performance (performance/watt) for a given workload. This configuration isprovided by the manufacturer and may be optimized for the following workload types:i)Transaction: A workload optimized for random I/O usage measured in I/O per second per
watt;

ii)

Streaming: A workload optimized primarily for sequential I/O usage, measured in MiB per
second per watt;iii) Capacity: A workload optimized for maximum storage as measured by GB (Raw
Capacity) per watt.
3) Fixed Qualification Range: Defined by testing product configurations at the Optimal
Configuration and at points that are 40% smaller and 15% larger in storage device count thanthe Optimal Configuration. This qualification range is fixed at 20% smaller and 5% larger
than the Optimal Configuration. Product configurations which are unable to be configured for
either the Fixed Maximum or Fixed Minimum Qualified Configuration are not required toperform that respective test. In such a case, the qualification range is limited to the region
between the Optimal Configuration and whichever one of the Fixed Configurations is tested.
i)Fixed Maximum Qualified Configuration: A product configuration that includes the
combination of base components that generates a system which is 5% larger in storage
device count than the Optimal Configuration.

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(a) The resulting storage device count may be rounded up to the nearest drawerboundary.
ii)

Fixed Minimum Qualified Configuration: A product configuration that includes the
combination of base components that generates a system which is 20% smaller instorage device count compared to the Optimal Configuration.
(a) The resulting storage device count may be rounded down to the nearest drawerboundary.

4) Flexible Qualification Range: Defined by testing product configurations at the Optimal
Configuration and at two manufacturer chosen points, one smaller than the Fixed Minimum
Qualified Configuration and one larger than the Fixed Maximum Qualified Configuration.
This qualified range is extended out to the smaller and larger points, provided they arewithin 15% of the Optimal Configuration‟s performance/watt.
i)

Flexible Maximum Qualified Configuration: A product configuration that includes a
combination of base components that generate a system which is larger in storage device
count than the Fixed Maximum Qualified Configuration and which is within 15% of the
Optimal Configuration performance/watt, validated through the testing data requirements
in Section 3.5 below.
(a) Performance will be measured using the appropriate relative weighting of workloads
defined in Table 6.
(b) Modeled data may not be used for Expanded Maximum Qualified Configuration
submissions.
(c) The resulting storage device count may be rounded up to the nearest drawerboundary.

ii)

Flexible Minimum Qualified Configuration: A product configuration that includes a
combination of base components that generate a system which is smaller in storage
device count than the Fixed Minimum Qualified Storage Configuration and which is within
15% of the Optimal Configuration performance/watt, validated though the testing datarequirements in Section 3.5 below.
(a) Performance will be measured using the appropriate relative weighting of workloads
defined in Table 6.
(b) Modeled data may not be used for Expanded Minimum Qualified Configuration
submissions.
(c) The resulting storage device count may be rounded down to the nearest drawerboundary.

5) Mixed Qualification Range: Defined by testing one of the fixed points in 1.I.3 and one of theflexible points in 1.I.4, provided they are on opposite sides of the Optimal Configuration.
On the side with the Flexible Configuration, the qualification range is extended from the
Optimal Configuration out to the chosen flexible point. If the Fixed Minimum Qualified
Configuration was chosen, the range is kept to 20% smaller than the Optimal Configuration.
If the Fixed Maximum Qualified Configuration was chosen, the range is kept to 5% larger. A
fixed testing point described in 1.I.3 can be used in place of a flexible testing point
described in 1.I.4 to extend a range of qualification so long as that point in storage device
count is within 15% of the Optimal Configuration performance/watt, validated through thetesting data requirements in Section 3.5 below.
6) Systems Composed of Combinations of Single Device Optimal Configurations: A productfamily which has demonstrated more than one Single Device Optimal Configuration may besold as ENERGY STAR qualified using a combination of those Single Device Optimal
Configurations, provided all of the following apply:

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i)

Combined systems are configured using only those storage devices, or validated
replacement storage devices (Section 3.6), and configuration options which were used in
the individual qualified Optimal Configurations.

ii)

The combined system consists of percentage allocation of storage devices, or validated
replacement storage devices (Section 3.6), from one or more Optimal Configurations.

iii) The total sum of all percent allocations of storage devices drawn from the Optimal
Configurations must equal 100%.
iv) After allocation, storage devices and drawers are rounded per the Maximum andMinimum Qualified Configuration rules above.
v) When rounding to a drawer, storage devices are added or removed (as appropriate) tomaintain storage device percentages in a proportion as close as possible to the
proportion used in the combined system configuration prior to drawer rounding.
vi) Allocation of Optimal Configurations is also used when a storage product provides Block
I/O capability in addition to NAS capabilities. In this usage, the system wide percentage ofdefined allocations will include the portion of the system providing NAS functionality.
vii) Multiple transaction or streaming optimizations may be submitted to incorporate different
storage device technologies and customer usage needs.
7) Systems Composed of Multiple Device Types in an Optimal Configuration: An Optimal
Configuration that contains more than one type of addressable storage device may bequalified as part of an ENERGY STAR product family provided all of the following apply:i)

System features used during qualification of Multiple Device Configurations must include
automated storage tiering for those portions of the Multiple Device Configurations
containing mixed storage devices.

ii)

If SSD storage devices are used as part of the qualified Multiple Device Configuration,
they must be included in all qualification testing and modeling.

iii) The ratio of the different storage devices in the qualified Multiple Device Configurationmust be maintained as closely as possible during testing of the required Minimum andMaximum Qualified Configurations, as well as in all configurations sold as ENERGYSTAR qualified.
iv) Multiple Device Configurations may be combined with Single Device Configurations
under the same product family, and combinations of Multiple and Single Device
Configurations from that family may be sold as ENERGY STAR qualified.
v) End-user selectable automated storage tiering functionality must be included with all
Multiple Device Configurations sold as ENERGY STAR qualified,vi) All other conditions in Section 1.I.6 above for both Single Device Optimized
Configurations and Multiple Device Optimized Configurations must be met.
8) Capacity Optimization Family Restriction: Since the scope in 2.1.1 only encompasses
Online systems, a product family may not be based solely on Capacity Optimized
Configurations. Every storage device submitted for qualification under Capacity Optimized
Configurations must also include one or more Transaction Optimized Configuration(s)and/or Streaming Optimized Configuration(s) using the same storage device. A Capacity
Optimized Configuration may only be submitted as an addition to one (or more) of the otheroptimizations.

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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.
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) Automated Storage Tiering: Automatic movement of data between different types ofstorage devices. Tiering may occur within a single storage product or may span multiple
storage products. For the purposes of this specification, only tiering within a single storage
product is applicable. If automated storage tiering is enabled during testing, then the multistorage device groups necessary for tiering may be represented as a single storage device
when determining testing and qualification ranges and when calculating storage device
allocations. While doing so, the ratio of each discrete storage device within the multistorage device group must remain as constant as the system architecture and configuration
options allow.
4) 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.
5) 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.
6) 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.
7) 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 systems

ENERGY STAR Program Requirements for Data Center Storage – Eligibility Criteria

Page 8 of 19v) 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.
8) Physical Data: Data generated by testing a storage product using the ENERGY STAR Test
Method for Data Center Storage.
9) Modeled Data: Data generated from an algorithmic tool, designed either by the ENERGYSTAR Partner or a third party, which generates estimated test results (e.g., power,
performance) for a set of storage product configuration inputs.
10) Read/Write: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.
iv) Sequential Write: An I/O load consisting of consecutively issued write requests toadjacently addressed data.
11) Response Time: The time required for the UUT to complete an I/O request.
12) Unit Under Test (UUT): The storage product being tested.

2

QUALIFYING 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 Online 2, 3, or 4 Storage Taxonomy categories with thefollowing additional criteria;

2a) contain a controller with advanced data recovery capabilityb) support Block I/O storage functions either entirely or as an additional capability; andc) implement scale-up or scale-out storage.

2

As defined in the “SNIA Emerald

TM

Power Efficiency Measurement Specification”, Version 2.0.2.

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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:

3i.

Personal / Portable Data Storage Products;

ii.

Computer Servers;

iii.

Blade Storage Products;

iv.

Direct Attached Storage Productsv.

Network Attached Storage Products that cannot perform block I/O;

vi.

Storage Products capable of object based storage;vii.

Storage devices in the following categories of the taxonomy: Near-online, Removable Media
Library, Virtual Media Library, Adjunct Storage Products, and Interconnect Elements;

QUALIFICATION 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. 6.6 (available at
http://www.plugloadsolutions.com/docs/collatrl/print/Generalized_Internal_Power_Supply_Effic
iency_Test_Protocol_R6.6.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 Table 1.
Table 1: Efficiency Requirements for PSUs
20%
50%
PSU Type
Rated Output Power
Load Load
Redundant and NonRedundant Capable
All Output Levels
85%
89%
PSU

ENERGY STAR Program Requirements for Data Center Storage – Eligibility Criteria

100%
Load
85%

Page 10 of 19

ii.

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 Load
Redundant and NonRedundant Capable
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.

3.3

Power Modeling Requirements

3.3.1

3.4

Power Modeling Presale tool: For systems that qualify using modeled data, EPA expects thata power modeling tool characterizing the storage product will be made available tomanufacturer qualified purchasers of the product. The power modeling tool must provide anestimated energy efficiency performance of a deployed configuration based on user-selectedconfiguration characteristics. Systems that are qualified using modeled data are expected tomake performance/watt data available to manufacturer qualified purchasers of the product.

Energy Efficiency Feature Requirements

3.4.1

To qualify 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 3 in quantities greater than or equal to those listed in Table 4.
Table 3: Recognized COM Features
FeatureVerification Requirement
COM: Thin Provisioning
COM: Data Deduplication
COM: Compression
COM: Delta Snapshots

SNIA verification test
SNIA verification test
SNIA verification test
SNIA verification test

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Table 4: COM Requirements for Online 2, 3, and 4 Systems
Minimum number ofStorage ProductCOMs required to be
Categorymade available
Online 2
Online 3
Online 40
1
1

Information Reporting Requirements

3.5
3.5.1

Active and Idle State Efficiency Disclosure: To qualify for ENERGY STAR, all active and idle
state test results based on workload tests listed in Table 5 shall be reported:
Table 5: Required Workload Tests for all Configurations
Workload Test
Hot BandRandom Read
Random Write
Sequential Read
Sequential Write
Ready Idle

3.5.2

3

Workload Weighting Requirements: The weighted percentages shown in Table 6 shall be used
to calculate the appropriate Optimal Configuration point for a given storage product.

Workload Test
Hot Band
Sequential Read
Sequential Write
Ready Idle

Table 6: Workload Weighting Requirements
Transaction
Streaming
Optimization
Optimization
100%
0%
0%
50%
0%
50%
0%
0%

Capacity Optimization
0%
0%
0%
100%

Note: To optimize for a streaming workload, manufacturers should identify a system configuration andstorage device count where the weighted sum (per Table 6) 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 qualification. The same weighting of the sums should also be used
for subsequent qualification measurements (e.g. determining optional flexible or mixed qualification
ranges).

3

SNIA defined workload tests in Table 5 and through the rest of this document can be found in the “SNIATM
Emerald Power Efficiency Measurement Specification” Version 2.0.2. Further detail may be found atwww.snia.org/green.

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3.5.3

Testing Data Requirements for Scale-up Storage Products using only Physical Data: The
following test data is required for each configuration submitted for qualification as ENERGY
STAR:
i.

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

ii.

The manufacturer must choose a storage device representative of its highest predicted
deployed volume for the chosen workload.

iii. The manufacturer may determine to test either a Fixed Size Qualification Range, a Flexible
Size Qualification Range, or a Mixed Qualification Range.
iv. For the chosen workload type, highest predicted deployed volume storage device, andqualification range, physical data for all 6 measurements listed in Table 5 shall be submitted
for a manufacturer determined Single or Multiple Device Optimal Configuration point.
Additionally:a) If a fixed range, two additional points must be tested, one 40% smaller and one 15%
larger in storage device count compared to the Optimal Configuration.
b) If a flexible range, two additional points must be tested. The points are manufacturer
determined. One must be at least 40% smaller and the other at least 15% larger instorage device count compared to the Optimal Configuration.
c) If a mixed range, test the smaller (larger) fixed point at 40% smaller (15% larger) instorage device count, and test the larger (smaller) manufacturer determined flexible point.
v.

To include any additional storage devices (not chosen in 3.5.3.ii) for the selected workload,
physical data for all 6 measurements listed in Table 5 shall be submitted for all of thefollowing system sizes for each additional storage device:(a) A manufacturer determined Single or Multiple Device Optimal Configuration point. No
additional smaller or larger points are necessary.
(b) Configurations using additional storage devices qualified under 3.5.3.v will assume thequalification range of the configuration qualified under 3.5.3.iv.

vi. To qualify additional workload types, repeat the above starting at 3.5.3.i for a different
workload.
vii. The following rules apply to all testing above:(a) Test points with storage device counts smaller and larger than the Optimal Configuration
may be rounded down and up, respectively, to the nearest drawer boundary.
(b) Configurations consisting exclusively of SSD storage devices (and that are also not partof a Multiple Device Configuration qualification) are not required to submit physical test
point results. Note this exclusion does not apply to configurations consisting of mixed
storage devices where one of the devices is an SSD or when an SSD storage device isrepresentative of the highest predicted deployed volume by the manufacturer.
(c) Verification testing of COM features (Table 3) 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.
(d) If the storage product is not marketed with storage device configurability or scalability
needed to achieve either the smaller or larger test points above, then these points are notrequired.
(e) As noted in 1.I.8, a product family may not be based solely on Capacity workload
Optimized Configurations. Every storage device submitted for qualification under
Capacity Optimized Configurations must also include one or more Transaction workload
Optimized Configuration(s) and/or Streaming workload Optimized Configuration(s) using
the same storage device. A Capacity workload Optimized Configuration may only besubmitted as an addition to one (or more) of the other optimizations.

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(f) As noted in 1.J.3, if automated storage tiering is enabled during testing, then the multistorage device groups necessary for tiering may be counted as single storage devices
when determining testing and qualification ranges and when calculating storage device
allocations. The ratio of each single storage device within the multi-storage device groupmust remain as constant as possible across different test points.
3.5.4

Testing Data Requirements for Scale-up Storage Products using Physical and Modeled Data:
The following test data is required for each configuration submitted for qualification as
ENERGY STAR:i.

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

ii.

The manufacturer must choose a storage device representative of its highest predicted
deployed volume for the chosen workload.

iii. The manufacturer may determine to test either a Fixed Size Qualification Range, a Flexible
Size Qualification Range, or a Mixed Qualification Range.
iv. For the chosen workload type, highest predicted deployed volume storage device, andqualification range, physical data for all 6 measurements listed in Table 5 shall be submitted
for a manufacturer determined Single or Multiple Device Optimal Configuration point.
Additionally:a) If a fixed range, two additional points must be tested, one 40% smaller and one 15%
larger in storage device count compared to the Optimal Configuration.
b) If a flexible range, two additional points must be tested. The points are manufacturer
determined. One must be at least 40% smaller and the other at least 15% larger instorage device count compared to the Optimal Configuration.
c) If a mixed range, test the smaller (larger) fixed point at 40% smaller (15% larger) instorage device count, and test the larger (smaller) manufacturer determined flexible point.
v.

If manufacturer generated modeled data for all physical measurements submitted in Section
3.5.4.iv above are within ±5%, modeled data shall be submitted for all of the following systemsizes;(a) Manufacturer determined Optimal Configuration points for all other storage devices
qualified for the respective workload type that are not defined in Section 3.5.4.ii
above;(b) At least 6 manufacturer chosen points smaller in storage device count compared to
the Optimal Configuration, with two of those points being at least 10% smaller than
the small physical point tested in 3.5.4.iv(c) At least 6 manufacturer chosen points larger in storage device count compared to the
Optimal Configuration, with two of those points being at least 10% larger than thelarge physical point tested in 3.5.4.iv

vi. To qualify additional workload types, repeat the above starting at 3.5.4.i for a different
workload.
vii. The following rules apply to all testing above: See Section 3.5.3.vii
3.5.5

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

All testing and data requirements of Sections 3.5.3 and 3.5.4 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.

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3.5.6

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

3.5.7

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;(b) Storage controller details (e.g. model name and number);(c) Software configuration;(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 qualified system configurations, including maximum, minimum and optimal
configurations of qualified product families; and disclosure of the time period used 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 qualified storage products within the family; andvii. Energy Efficiency Performance data (performance/watt) for required active and idle state test
reporting specified in Table 7 below:
Table 7: Active and Idle State Efficiency Test Results Displayed on the ENERGY STAR Website
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

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3.5.8

3.6

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

Discrete power and performance data for all tested configurations;ii.

Response time measurement data for all tested configurations.

Storage Product Family Variation Allowances

3.6.1

Storage Product Performance Improvement Cap: Any changes to a storage product after
testing (replacement storage devices, storage controller firmware, etc.) shall not lead to achange of greater than 20% of the overall system performance/watt as defined by Table 6(with the exception of the Ready Idle metric). Any combination of changes that cause thestorage product‟s performance/watt value to cross this threshold will require testing of a new
Optimal Configuration for inclusion in the product family definition.

3.6.2

Replacement Storage Devices in As-Shipped Configurations: In order to reduce testingburden, manufacturers may replace storage devices that were used during qualification withstorage devices that have similar energy efficiency (performance/watt) compared to the device
being replaced after qualification. Storage product manufacturers must submit specification
sheets for the original and replacement devices to validate the following:i.

No change in the following categories:(a) Interface type, quantity, or transfer speed(i) A Replacement Storage Device may contain new transfer speeds providing the
new speeds are not able to be utilized in the storage system due to architectural /design limitations (e.g., new transfer speeds not supported by the host bus
adapter).

ii.

No reduction in the following features:(a) Data capabilities (e.g. Self-encryption);(b) Power management-related features and capabilities (e.g. Power Down Modes).

iii. Reported values within ± 10% for all of the following categories:(a) Average seek time;(b) Average latency;(c) Reported average power consumption in like modes of operation;(d) Rotational speed;(i) Not applicable to Non-Rotational storage devices;(ii) If the storage device is capable of multiple spindle speeds, the discreet speeds
must be within 5%, and the criteria for entering each of those speeds must be thesame.
iv. Reported values within -5%/+15% for the following category:(e) Sustained transfer rate.
v.

Equal or greater reported values for the following categories:(c) Capacity;(b) Cache size in the storage device.

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3.7

Standard Performance Data Measurement and Output Requirements

3.7.1

Data Elements: Online 3 and Online 4 storage products shall be capable of measuring andreporting the following data elements at the storage product level:

3.7.2

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 (optional), 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, iPDU, 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.
3.7.3

3.7.4

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.

ii.

Inlet air temperature (optional): Inlet air temperature measurements must be sampledinternally to the storage 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.

3.7.5

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

Use of iPDUs: Section 3.7 may be satisfied using iPDUs. In order to satisfy the Data Elements
requirement, an iPDU must:i.
Meet all requirements for accuracy, sampling, and data reporting;ii. Be made available for sale and delivery with certified ENERGY STAR storage products byappearing on the manufacturer‟s website and/or in marketing material where information on
the storage product is displayed.

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4

TESTING
Test Methods

4.1
4.1.1

Test methods identified in Table 8 shall be used for purposes of evaluating active and idle
state storage product energy efficiency.
Table 8: 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. Aug- 2013.

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 range defined by the Maximum Qualified Configuration, Minimum
Qualified Configuration, and Optimal Configuration, manufacturers continue to be held
accountable for any efficiency claims made about their products, including those not tested or
for which data was not reported;

EFFECTIVE DATE
5.1.1

Effective Date: The Version 1.0 ENERGY STAR Data Center Storage specification shall takeeffect on December 2, 2013. 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 throughstakeholder 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 and Idle State Efficiency Criteria: EPA intends to set active and idle state efficiency
criteria in Version 2.0 for all storage products in which it has enough data to adequately
differentiate products.

6.2

Right Sizing of Power Supplies: EPA will investigate opportunities for encouraging rightsizing of power supplies in Version 2.0.

6.3

Redundant Power Supply Standby: EPA will investigate requiring redundant power
supplies to switch to standby when not in use in Version 2.0. EPA is aware that this circuitry isalready offered by some manufacturers in data center products.

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6.4

Expansion of Scope: EPA will investigate expanding the scope of Version 2.0 to potentiallycover larger Online products, as well as Near-Online, Removable Media Libraries, Virtual Media
Libraries, and NAS only products. EPA may also explore requirements for SAN equipment if it notcovered in the Version 1.0 Large Network Equipment Program Requirements currently underdevelopment.

6.5

Improved Input Power Calculation:: EPA will investigate requiring improvements to the
Input Power calculations, such as rolling average capability in Version 2.0.

6.6

Inlet Air Temperature Sensing: EPA will investigate making the current option to provide air
inlet temperature measurements in Section 3.7 a requirement in Version 2.0.

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