In response to the mounting challenges faced by IT organizations across the globe grappling with rising capacity requirements, a shortage of data center floor space and soaring energy costs, DataDirect Networks, Inc. announced the industry's most scalable, user-centric variable disk power down solution, D-MAID (Dynamic Massive Array of Idle Disks), now available on all of the company's S2A data infrastructure platforms.

"Conventional MAID implementations limit customers' energy cost savings and management flexibility by spinning-down and spinning-up just a pre-set portion of disks within each system," said John Webster, Principal IT Advisor and Senior Analyst, Illuminata. "With the introduction of D-MAID, DataDirect Networks is putting highly granular levels of energy management in the hands of customers who need scalability into the petabyte range."

D-MAID is the largest scale technology in the industry today that enables customers to dynamically spin down LUNs and enter a power savings mode based on user-specified parameters, greatly reducing power consumption. Contrast to static 'on/off' MAID implementations, D-MAID can have all disks actively serving data; or in a power saving sleep mode; or any combination in between -- enabling transparent access to all data sets in a storage platform. Optimized for large and complex backup, virtual tape library and archive applications, D-MAID supports user-configured disk idling periods and automatically manages disk arrays for optimum power efficiency.

This power management capability combined with the unparalleled density of DataDirect Networks S2A data infrastructure platforms -- which offer 74TB of capacity per square foot, up to 5 times more data storage density than other offerings -- equates to extreme levels of scalable capacity in the smallest footprint in the industry, reducing system instances in the data center and providing superior amortization of IT capital investments.

"In terms of scalable capacity, DataDirect Networks can package 1.2 petabytes into two floor tiles -- accomplishing with two racks, what takes competitors up to six or more," said Tom Trainer, President, Analytico, Inc. "The addition of its intelligent power management solution, D-MAID, to its S2A data infrastructure platforms makes for a very compelling value proposition for end-users."

Dave Fellinger, Chief Technology Officer of DataDirect Networks, added: "In a recent analysis of customer IT environments, we found S2A systems helped customers save up to 66 percent of their energy use, depending on their configuration and utility rates. For example, an S2A9700 or S2A9900 user in a metropolitan area with 1.2 PB of capacity and an 80 percent data dormancy rate, is forecast to go from using 21.7 kW to 10.3 kW, saving nearly $40,000 per year. These are tangible savings that customers can benefit from today."

According to David Vellante, Co-Founder and Principal Contributor of Wikibon, the world's first Web 2.0 technology research and advisory community, "because spinning disk drives typically account for 80 percent of a storage array's power consumption, a technology such as D-MAID can be highly effective at greening storage, which can account for as much as 30 percent of energy consumed in the data center. Wikibon is pleased to be working with DataDirect Networks to facilitate customer applications for incentive rebates offered by utilities such as Pacific Gas & Electric Company for utilizing technologies that conserve energy."

Solutions featuring D-MAID technology are available now and currently shipping from DataDirect Networks and its global OEM and reseller partners.