In its report of 2005, EPA revealed that total e-waste (electronic waste) quantity in United States was 2 million tons. The amount of e-waste that was reprocessed on a yearly basis in Europe came to an estimated figure of 10 kg per capita. Mobile phones, computers, computer-related peripherals, TVs, and electronic gadgets of various sizes all constitute this e-waste. In fact, e-waste is emerging as the world’s major trash component and putting the environment in a precarious position.

The figures mentioned above along with the alarming issues of global warming and energy crisis makes it even more necessary to look for sustainable technology solutions.
Electronic gadgets like mobile phones or computers become obsolete after a short time duration making the e-waste problem even more acute.

Hence, major computer/computer peripheral manufacturers like Western Digital are taking initiative in introducing more eco-friendly, greener products for energy efficient and long-lasting solutions. Parts which utilize less power, release less heat, and are easily recyclable are required in the present scenario. This impetus towards a more sustainable mode of computing is referred to as “Green Computing” or “Green Technology”.

One of the principal components in a computer is its HDD (hard disk drive). Being a mechanical component, compared to the other parts of the computer it uses a higher amount of power. These hard drives are needed in large volumes in data centers, enterprise-level storage solutions, etc. Hence in the energy conservation drive, reducing the hard drive’s power consumption is a chief aim of the makers.

Statistically it has been found that on a yearly basis, an ordinary computer used at home operates for 3120 hours (roughly). Compared to that, a computer that is used in an office operates for 8760 hours an year. A 1 TB (same as 1024 GB) hard disk drive uses power of 13.5 watts to 15 watts in a year. This figure could be multiplied by hundreds or thousands depending on the number of such drives used, which would result in quite a significant amount of energy.

It has been calculated that keeping your computer switched on round-the clock, the government has to bear a burden of 2.8 billion dollars for all the users in the U.S. This is only the figure for users of desktops, keeping data centers and big scale enterprise-storage solutions out of the picture. Hence there is a huge opportunity available for conserving energy. Major companies in the disk drive segment like Western Digital and enterprise-level storage sectors have taken initiative to use green technology in hard disk drives.

Western Digital has really been a pioneer in making “green” hard drives. Their signature products utilize the WD GreenPower Technology. These disks were in fact the first manufactured hard disk drives which consumed significantly less power than the other standard drives. WD GreenPower Technology drives consume 4 to 5 watts less power than standard ones.
Other companies soon followed the precedence set by Western Digital, each launching its own version of eco-friendly disk drives.

Technology

Many innovative techniques have been used in the hard disk drives manufactured by Western Digital to make them environment-friendly. Slowing down the spin speed of the hard disk drive is a key technique implemented. In comparison to the standard RPM speeds of 7200 to 10000, these ecologically friendly hard disk drives have speeds lower than 7200 revolutions per minute. In spite of the lower speeds, the performance has been kept intact for these “green” hard disks.

Another notable aspect in some of the green-powered hard disk drives is the auto-unload capability of the recording-heads during the idle period of the system. This reduces aerodynamic drag of the spinning disks. Less energy is consumed and less heat is released due to this. This advanced feature is a major strength of the WD Green-technology HDDs.

Other innovative features include IntelliSeek technology, which helps in determining the most suitable seek-method to retrieve the needed data that is present on another track. It uses the energy-efficient algorithm for seeking data and simultaneously lessening the drive’s acoustics and vibrations.

Advantages for the consumers

For a normal desktop owner the benefits do not appear to be that significant. Reducing 4 to 5 watts in ratings for power usage hardly gives savings of $10 per drive in a year.

But if you consider that by reducing energy consumption this much, carbon dioxide emissions are reduced by nearly 60 kg per drive yearly, the figures of 4 to 5 watts seem significant. A reduction of carbon dioxide emissions by 60 kg is equivalent to keeping your car in the garage for a fortnight yearly. Along with this, if it is taken into account those household computer users have more than one hard disk drive or a personal computer, the economic savings made as well as the environmental benefits are increased respectively. Effectively, the environment friendly hard drives can assist you in carbon footprint reduction.

The savings are more prominent when compared with the external hard disks which consume higher levels of power. Definitely, for an ecologically conscious consumer, it is worth investing in the hard disk drives which implement the green technology.

Advantages for Data Centers/Enterprises

In enterprise-standard HDDs too, green technology is being implemented. Storage requirements for large companies are huge and hence datacenters often require hundreds or thousands of HDDs. A recent EPA survey has revealed that site-infrastructure costs account for more than 50% of set-up and data maintenance costs in datacenters. This implies that the cost incurred behind electricity charges and cooling solutions comes to approximately the same as the hardware costs if calculated over a period of time. Also considering the aspect that large companies have thousands of desktop users, each having separate HDDs, hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars can be saved on a monthly basis.

If you consider a Western digital “green drive” (e.g. WD Caviar Green 1 TB HDD) as an instance, you can save more than $10/drive yearly and also reduce carbon discharges by 60 kg/drive in a year. This could mean yearly savings of approximately $100,000 where 10,000 hard disk drives are being used along with significant carbon-emission reductions.

“Green Drives” are really ideal for usage in financial institutions, huge data centers, web-service providers, etc. where massive storage capacities are required. Along with reduction in power bills these enterprises can play a major role in carbon footprint reduction by this method.

What is the future of “Green” hard drives?

Green technology is relatively new in the domain of HDDs. However there is room for improvement in this field, and coming decades should really come up with many such innovations. With the manner in which the number of mobile computers and notebooks are increasing, the requirement for HDDs consuming lower power is not just an environmental consideration, but also a practical approach.

Director
Field Application Engineering
APAC