Technique for migrating data between storage devices for reduced power consumption
US6732241B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 7, 2001 |
| Grant date | May 4, 2004 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 4, 2022 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY02D10/00
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method of and apparatus for migrating data between storage devices for reducing power consumption. Unlike prior techniques for conserving power by spinning down a magnetic disk (e.g., in a laptop computer), the present invention migrates data based on the assumption that the disk is maintained spinning (e.g., in a server). Accordingly, the incremental power consumed by maintaining data on the disk is nominal in comparison to the amount of power required to store the data in volatile memory (e.g., RAM). Data placement is largely based on the goal of minimizing power consumption during periods when the data is not being accessed. Further, unlike conventional techniques in which data is removed from RAM only when a better candidate is available to replace the data, the present invention may move data from RAM regardless of whether replacement data is available. This is avoids consumption of power to maintain data in RAM that is idle. Thus, under certain conditions, the inventive technique for data migration in a computer system reduces power consumption in comparison to conventional algorithms.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.