Patent ID: 8612644

Claim:
A storage apparatus for storing data, comprising: a controller unit coupled to a host computer and configured to carry out processing according to an access request from said host computer; a plurality of disk devices each having at least one disk port; an intermediary device having a plurality of intermediary ports for access from said controller unit to said plurality of disk devices, wherein a first disk device of said plurality of disk devices being coupled to said intermediary device via a first port of said at least one disk port and a first intermediary port of said plurality of intermediary ports; wherein said intermediary device sends a power saving command to said first disk device according to a parameter set by said controller units, said power saving command being configured to change and operation mode of said first disk port of said first device to a power saving mode and changes an operation mode of said first intermediary port to a power saving mode after receiving a response from said first disk device, wherein said parameter is set by said controller unit using an SMP (Storage Management Protocol) command, and wherein said power saving command is a primitive or an ordered set.