Method and apparatus for reducing power consumption by a disk drive through disk block relocation
First Claim
1. An apparatus comprising(a) an execution unit for executing programming instructions;
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Abstract
An apparatus is programmed with a plurality of programming instructions for generating, if possible, an alternative disk block allocation for a current disk block allocation that will yield reduced overall power consumption for a sequence of disk accesses. In some embodiments, the programming instructions include the logic for tracing the sequence of disk accesses to determine the current disk block allocation, the logic for generating the alternative disk block allocation, if possible, using the trace results, and the logic for effectuating the alternate disk block allocation, if generated. In one particular embodiment, the logic for generating the alternative disk block allocation employs a random search approach, while in another embodiment, the logic for generating the alternative disk block allocation employs a heuristic approach.
40 Citations
38 Claims
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1. An apparatus comprising
(a) an execution unit for executing programming instructions; - and
(b) a storage medium coupled to the execution unit and having stored therein a plurality of programming instructions to be executed by the execution unit for analyzing trace data of a sequence of disk accesses, the trace data including disk locations accessed and the order the disk locations are accessed, and for generating a new set of disk locations to relocate the contents of the accessed disk locations to reduce power consumed by the disk drive in effectuating access of the relocated contents, the new set of disk locations being generated employing a cost function that relates power consumption by power consuming elements of the disk drive to disk locations and the order the disk locations are accessed. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A machine implemented method comprising the steps of:
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a) tracing a sequence of disk accesses, and generating trace data for the disk accesses traced including disk locations accessed and the order the disk locations are accessed; b) generating, if possible, a new set of disk locations to relocate the contents of the disk locations accessed, wherein the new set of disk locations are to yield reduction in power consumption by the disk drive when effectuating access of the relocated contents, and the new set of disk locations are to be generated employing a cost function that relates power consumption by power consuming elements of the disk drive to disk locations and the order the disk locations are accessed. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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- 34. A storage medium having stored therein a plurality of programming instructions to be executed by an execution unit for analyzing trace data of a sequence of disk accesses, the trace data including disk locations accessed and the order the disk locations are accessed, and for generating a new set of disk locations to relocate the contents of the accessed disk locations to reduce power consumed by disk drive when effectuating access of the relocated contents, the new set of disk locations being generated employing a cost function that relates power consumption by power consuming elements of the disk drive to disk locations and the order the disk locations are accessed.
Specification