Is it time to re-think the data-centre disk-drive?

Google have just published a paper into the redesign of the technology at the centre of every infrastructure – the disk drive.   Currently the two main types are flash based SSD’s and magnetic platter based HDD’s.

• SDD’s offer very fast IOPS (I/O operations per second) however can be very expensive in terms of “GB per £”
• HDD’s have slower IOPS but less expensive “GB per £”

However Google’s argument is that with a simple rethink these two technologies could be much better suited to the increased data demands of today’s Cloud based architecture.

Internally the disks perform various functions to detect / fix errors.  Google questions why we need this complexity – today’s software defined storage layer should be able (and better) to carryout this function.  Both SSD’s and HDD’s are available in 3.5″ or 2.5″ designs – WHY?  The 3.5″ format was to match the floppy of yesteryear – when was the last time you seen one in a server or array?  The 2.5″ design was made available for laptops – great for them but why are laptop designed disks being used in today’s data-centre?

Yes we need a rethink – a disk produced especially for Cloud.  For more information please goto Google’s research available here : http://research.google.com/pubs/pub44830.html