Patent ID: 8478936

Claim:
An object addressable storage (OAS) system comprising: a plurality of storage devices, each of which stores a plurality of content units; at least one input/output (I/O) interface configured to receive access requests to access the OAS system, wherein an access request to access a content unit stored on one of the plurality of storage devices identifies the requested content unit using an object identifier that, from the perspective of an entity issuing the access request, does not indicate any physical or logical storage location of the requested content unit on the OAS system; and at least one controller, coupled to at least some of the plurality of storage devices and the at least one I/O interface, configured to: during operation of the OAS system, selectively spin down at least one of the plurality of storage devices, wherein after spinning down the at least one of the plurality of storage devices, at least one other of the plurality of storage devices remains active and the at least one controller remains available to process access requests received via the at least one I/O interface; when an access request is a request to store a content unit, select physical storage for the content unit based on which of the plurality of storage devices is eligible to be spun down such that the content unit is stored on a first one of the plurality of storage devices that is not eligible to be spun down and a copy of the content unit is stored on a second one of the plurality of storage devices that is eligible to be spun down.