2.5″ Enterprise Arrays

I was asked the question today, when will Enterprise arrays support 2.5″ drives as standard? It’s a good question, as at first glance the savings should be obvious; smaller, lower power drives, more drives in an array and so on.

However things aren’t that simple. Doing the comparisons and working out some of the basic calculations such as Watts per GB or GB per cm3 then 2.5″ drives don’t offer that much of a saving (if at all). I’ve posted some sample comparisons here.

I’m not aware of any vendors who are planning to offer 2.5″ drives in Enterprise arrays. Looking at the mechanics of making the conversion, then there would be a few issues; first is the interconnect, SAS versus FCAL, however that should be an easy one to resolve. Second, there’s the physical layout of the drives and prividing maintenance access to each of them. That might prove more tricky, achieving a high density footprint and providing access to each drive individually.

If anyone is aware of anyone planning to use 2.5″ drives as standard, please let me know.