SNIA Solid State Storage Datacenter TCO Calculator

The SSS TCO model produces the Total Cost of Ownership for hard disk and solid state storage drives.
The model is very dynamic and flexible. Using actual comparison data, the model returns the storage TCO
weighing the following variables:
I/O transfer size
Percentage random read/write for an application
Current HDD RPM, size, and capacity
The calculator is setup to test a given application, and not the entire datacenter. Answer the questions
(within the "TCO Calculator" tab) to best represent your current storage setup. You can even change the
fundamental assumptions within the model (using the yellow highlighted fields under the "Assumptions" tab)
The model will provide the TCO results for 3 areas of cost:
Power - The total power used by the drive including cooling costs. See assumptions for cooling and lifetime details
Disk Array - The cost of enclosures to house the drives. Also includes the enclosure power consumption
Drive Cost - The outlay for the drives, including additional elected warranty or maintenance plans

Use the following steps/tabs to test Solid State Storage TCO for your datacenter
Step 1 - README: Use this tab to understand the parameters and functionality of the calculator
Step 2 - TCO Calculator: This tab is the actual calculator. All other tabs feed into it. Fill out questions
1 through 14 to best approximate your storage setup and to test SSS solutions.
Step 3 - SSS Input: The Calculator has a default SSS solution (found in the "SSS Input" tab). If you have
another SSS solution you'd like to try, input data into the yellow characteristic and performance cells.
You can add up to 3 additional solutions.
Step 4 - HDD Input: View current HDD assumptions and make changes if your datacenter differs from
the base assumptions. HDD performance data is already pre-populated.
Step 5 - Environment Data: View environment assumptions and make changes if your storage
differs from these base assumptions

The Calculator will determine the number of SSSs needed using the following priorities
Capacity - The minimum capacity will always be met. Capacity is determined based on the chosen HDD configuration
Performance - The results will always be at least equal to or greater than the current HDD IOPS output
Raid Configuration - The Raid selection will affect the number of drives needed - see chart below
The Calculator assumes the following minimum drives for raid options:
Raid
# of drives
0
1
5
6
10

2
2
3
4
4

Additional Unmeasured Cost Savings

SSSs may provide savings beyond the four areas noted above. However, these savings may not occur in every
instance or they may be too complex to quantify. These include:
Datacenter expansion avoidance - Increased IOPS can mean more productivity with less space
Power cap avoidance - Many datacenters cannot add additional drives or units due to power cap constraints. SSSs lower power consumption
Lower power costs due to power tiering - SSS lowers the total Watts used
Memory displacement - It is possible SSSs may reduce the number of GBs of DRAM needed in a server, cache requirements

Drive Lifetime TCO Analysis

TCO
Impact
$0

I/O Performance
Improvement
0%

IOPS
Gain
0

Reduction in
power
0.0%

TCO

Previous
HDD Total
0

Total HDD
Consumed
Storage
HDD
0 GB
Capacity

Total
SSS
0

Total
Usable
SSS
Capacity
0 GB

Calculator

Application Entry

Evaluate Opportunities

Examine Assumptions

On this tab, enter data in each of the yellow

fields below. This sets up the parameters for an
application-based storage . Fill out questions 1
through 14 to see how Solid State Storage will
affect your application. The calculator has been
populated with data from a sample SSD and
HDDs. Go to the "SSS Input" tab to input data
for your SSS solutions.

Adjust inputs for alternative scenarios and use

the results header above to see the
immediate affect. Toggle between SSS
options (Question 12) to find the best solution
for your application in terms of TCO and IOPS
gain.

Use the "Application Input" tab to understand

and change the application assumptions. Use
the "SSS Input" and "HDD Input" tabs to
change the data for your specific storage.

Compare Solution
Providers
Add additional SSS options
and find the best solution for
you.

Questions 1 - 11: Answer the following questions about your current application's storage needs
1

What is the I/O transfer size in KB?

Which of the following most closely characterizes your application's I

4K
95/5

example:
%reads/%writes

4K - 8K

16K - 32K

64K - 128K

OS,
Transactions

Large File Transfer

Video Streaming

For questions 3 - 11, input information about your current Hard Drive configuration.
2.5 Inch
SAS
15K rpm
Select your current HDD per unit raw capacity
73 GB
How many Hard Drives do you currently have in the application?
0
What percentage of your Hard Drive capacity is consumed?
0%
What RAID configuration do you currently use?
RAID 5
Do you currently purchase maintenance plans for your hard drives?
yes
How many instances (or systems) of the above configuration do you have?
0

Select your current HDD size

Select your HDD storage interface

Select your current HDD RPM

6
7
8
9
10
11

(Include headroom if needed)

For questions 12 - 14, Please choose your solid state solution

12

Choose a SSS solution

13

What RAID configuration will you use for your SSS?

RAID 5

14

Will you purchase maintenance plans for your SSS?

yes

Sample 128GB SLC Use the SSS Input tab to enter your own parameters

Recommended minimum number of Solid State

Storage devices based on responses for questions 1
- 14.

recommendation

Minimum drives based on SSS RAID

requirements (Q13), capacity of selected
SSS solution, capacity coverage of HDDs,
and performance parity (or greater) with
HDD solution.
1
1

HDD Power Cost

HDD Cooling Cost
Total HDD Energy Cost

Disk Array

SSS Power Cost

Lifetime Cost
$
$
$
$
- Power Savings

SSS Power Cost

SSS Cooling Cost

Disk Array

HDD Cost of Enclosures

HDD Enclosure Energy Draw

Lifetime Cost
$
$

SSS Cost of Enclosures

SSS Enclosure Energy Draw

Total HDD Enclosure Cost

Total SSS Enclosure Cost

$
$

Drive and Maintenance

Lifetime Cost
$
$
$

Drive and Maintenance

SSS Cost
Maintenance/Warranty
Cost

Lifetime Cost
$
$
$
-

SSS Total Cost of

Ownership
Upfront Cost
Per Year Cost
Total usable capacity

$
$
$

HDD Cost
Maintenance/Warranty Cost

HDD Total Cost of Ownership

Upfront Cost
Per Year Cost
Total usable capacity

$
$
$

Lifetime Cost
$
$
$
-

HDD Power Cost

Lifetime Cost
$
$
-

SSS Value for

Application

- Space Savings

$0

Disk I/O Improvement

0.00%
- GB
0.0% Fewer Watts

Total capacity
Reduction in Power

SSS TCO Calculator - Cost Breakdown

$1
$1
$1

Cost

TCO Results

$1
$1
$1
$0
$0
$0
$0
$-

HDD

SSS

HDD

Cost of Drives

Maint/Warranty

Power
Disk Array

$
$

SSS
$
$

$
$

Please
Please ask
ask the
the solid
solid state
state storage
storage vendor
vendor for
for the
the following
following information,
information, or
or use
use results
results from
from your
your own
own test
test environment.
environment.
Accurate
Accurate information
information is
is vital
vital to
to create
create aa credible
credible comparison
comparison for
for your
your datacenter.
datacenter. The
The SSS
SSS vendor
vendor should
should have
have the
the specs
specs on
on
hand.
hand.
1.)
2.)
3.)
4.)

Yellow cells are active and are used for data entry
Enter from one to three solid state storage solutions under "SSS Specifics"
Enter the IOPS performance for each solution under "SSS Performance"
Use the "Reset SSS Inputs" button to clear data

SSS
SSS Performance
Performance

SSS
SSS Specifics
Specifics
Cost
Capacity
per
(GB)
Drive
Sample 128GB S
128 $ 1,280
Solid State
Options

SSS Default
Option 2
Option 3
Option 4

Maintenance

Watts
at full
load
2.0

numbers
belowhardware/software
are from one specific
hardware/software
configuration
which
wasresults
not configured/tuned to produce optimal results
PerformancePerformance
numbers captured
below arecaptured
from one specific
configuration
which was not configured/tuned
to produce
optimal
These Random Read/Write performance numbers do not reflect performance for Sequential I/O workloads (i.e.,DB transaction logs)
Performance
results
vary
widely based on the
hardware/software/tuning
configurations used
Performanceresults
vary widely based
on the
hardware/software/tuning
configurations
used
IT IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that you populate the tables below with test results data from your own test environment

17.0% Percentage adder to total SSS bill

Input Single Drive Random IOPS Performance (No RAID)

of materials, if selected in calculator

Per Drive RAID Perf. Efficiency*
No RAID
100%
RAID 0
75%
RAID 1
50%
RAID 5
45%
RAID 6
25%
RAID 10
50%

Default
100%
75%
50%
45%
25%
50%

*Performance efficiency will improve with the number of drives

This is a 6 drive efficiency

Random Read/Write
.5K

Sampl
e
128GB
SLC

4K
8K
16K
32K
64K
128K
1,024K
32,768K

Random Read/Write
.5K

100/0

95/5

65/35

50/50

35/65

5/95

0/100

12,045

11,808

6,002

4,845

4,829

4,366

4,299

5,771
4,633
3,597
2,696
1,961
1,288
156
5

5,535
4,469
3,504
2,591
1,898
1,224
147
5

4,372
3,600
2,837
2,255
1,531
932
109
4

3,740
3,065
2,557
2,231
1,411
820
95
4

3,295
2,822
2,387
2,121
1,268
725
79
4

3,018
2,633
2,198
1,989
1,038
551
74
4

2,920
2,522
2,168
1,833
971
532
73
4

100/0

95/5

65/35

50/50

35/65

5/95

0/100

100/0

95/5

65/35

50/50

35/65

5/95

0/100

100/0

95/5

65/35

50/50

35/65

5/95

0/100

4K
8K
16K
32K
64K
128K
1,024K
32,768K

Random Read/Write
.5K
4K
8K
16K
32K
64K
128K
1,024K
32,768K

Random Read/Write
.5K
4K
8K
16K
32K
64K
128K
1,024K
32,768K

HDD
HDD Specifics
Specifics
HDD
Assumptions

2.5
15K HDD Power drawn at full
load
10K HDD Power drawn at full
load HDD Power drawn at full
7200
load

3.5

2.5

Random Read/ 100/0

.5KB
400.0

3.5

Active Power Consumption (watts)

11.0
9.5
7.0

14.6
13.5
10.0

11.0

14.6

9.5
7.0

13.5
10.0

15K
Baseline
Performanc
e

put cost per hard drive for your current environment

SATA 2.5 inch

36

15K RPM $171

10K RPM $ 65
7200 RPM $ 10
SAS 2.5 inch

36

15K RPM $190

10K RPM $ 72
7200 RPM $ 11
FC 2.5 inch

36

15K RPM $209

10K RPM $ 79
7200 RPM $ 12
3.5 inch drive discount

73

146

300

$225
$121
$ 20

$321
$160
$ 29

$659
$305
$ 54

73

146

300

$250
$134
$ 23

$356
$178
$ 32

$732
$339
$ 60

73

146

300

$275
$148
$ 25

$392
$196
$ 35

$805
$373
$ 66

500

500

1000

###
###
$565
###
$100 $200
500

Default Values
36

73

146

300

$ 171

$ 225

$ 321

$ 659

65

$ 121

$ 160

$ 305

$ 509

10

1000

###
###
$509
###
$ 90 $180

1000

###
###
$622
###
$110 $220

Device = SAS HDD, 73GB, 10K IO/Sec.

Device = SAS HDD, 73GB, 15K RPM

Default
Assumptions

20

29

54

36
$ 190

73
$ 250

146
$ 356

300
$ 732

$
$

$ 134
$ 23

$ 178
$ 32

$ 339
$ 60

72
11

500
###
90

146
$ 392

300
$ 805

79

$ 148

$ 196

$ 373

$ 622

12

$ 110

66

65/35

50/50

35/65

5/95

0/100

414.6

557.3

549.3

583.1

606.8

683.5

4K
8K

386.1
375.6

407.9
398.4

479.7
465.3

493.0
483.0

476.4
507.8

584.1
554.2

659.5
629.2

16K

363.3

382.3

420.4

459.1

451.9

524.7

588.5

32K

337.0

354.7

379.8

398.2

410.4

461.5

509.0

No RAID
1 Drive

Random I/O

Read%/Write%
100/0
512B
297.0

95/5

65/35

50/50

35/65

5/95

0/100

321.6

464.6

459.6

490.6

586.6

496.7

4KB
8KB

298.9
285.9

313.8
305.4

397.7
378.1

414.9
390.5

431.9
356.1

420.4
445.3

538.1
516.9

16KB

277.4

291.2

342.1

350.0

379.1

416.2

456.4

32KB

253.0

265.0

296.1

304.4

304.7

344.4

379.9

64K

297.9

310.7

323.8

333.1

338.4

385.3

417.5

64KB

215.5

227.4

243.9

239.4

253.7

274.5

294.3

128K

247.8

260.1

262.1

261.7

268.0

289.5

310.1

128KB

170.0

178.2

183.4

180.0

184.5

192.6

203.1

1,024K

64.2

65.6

61.5

60.5

57.8

59.5

60.7

1MB

34.3

35.7

34.7

35.0

35.4

36.9

37.7

32,768K

2.6

2.6

2.6

2.7

2.7

2.7

2.7

32MB

1.6

1.7

1.9

1.8

1.9

1.6

1.6

###
$ 180

###
$ 200

500 1,000
###
###

73
$ 275

35

###

Read%/Write% 100/0
95/5
65/35
50/50
35/65
5/95
0/100
512B
1,918.9 1,928.1 1,772.5 1,760.1 1,777.1 1,691.9 1,912.8

500 1,000
###
###
$ 565
$ 100

36
$ 209

25

1,000

95/5

RAID-10 (6
drives)

###
$ 220

4KB

1,734.3

1,820.4

1,679.9

1,682.7

1,646.5

1,580.9

1,777.9

8KB

1,697.7

1,756.3

1,601.1

1,597.9

1,543.1

1,482.8

1,670.2

1,572.4

1,609.8

1,472.2

1,451.7

1,395.4

1,334.8

1,489.9

32KB
64KB

1,383.8
1,121.6

1,401.8
1,121.8

1,273.2
1,001.6

1,241.0
966.1

1,177.3
914.6

1,117.3
850.1

1,218.3
912.0

4KB

1,309.2

1,395.2

1,311.5

1,310.9

1,355.9

1,334.0

1,423.6

8KB

1,261.1

1,335.1

1,238.1

1,232.2

1,243.1

1,264.0

1,309.7

16KB
32KB
64KB

1,178.4

1,228.4

1,127.8

1,117.2

1,114.0

1,087.4

1,146.3

1,034.2
826.0

1,055.6
837.3

956.9
738.5

945.2
724.5

928.9
696.6

888.9
657.8

128KB

818.4

806.4

707.7

667.8

612.0

544.1

568.7

906.1
662.1

128KB

592.9

591.1

512.0

493.5

468.1

435.4

1MB

242.0

240.7

186.2

161.9

124.3

116.2

423.9

112.1

1MB

168.0

166.0

141.6

134.4

116.6

114.8

32MB

8.9

8.9

8.5

8.4

8.2

8.2

110.0

8.2

32MB

6.9

7.0

6.2

5.9

5.5

5.3

5.3

Read%/Write% 100/0
95/5
65/35
50/50
35/65
5/95
0/100
512B
2,082.7 2,113.7 2,363.1 2,546.5 2,816.6 3,431.2 3,843.5

RAID-1 (6
drives)

4KB

1,954.9

2,032.9

2,252.3

2,419.8

2,668.6

3,164.6

3,573.0

8KB

1,878.6

1,937.6

2,152.2

2,319.0

2,563.5

2,962.8

3,348.3

RAID-0

6 drives
Random I/O

Read%/Write%
100/0
95/5
65/35
50/50
35/65
5/95
0/100
512B 1,642.4 1,672.7 1,829.0 1,976.2 2,165.2 2,854.6 3,108.3
4KB

1,515.9

1,577.5

1,735.2

1,872.7

2,068.9

2,637.5

2,871.0

8KB

1,457.6

1,513.1

1,645.7

1,775.7

1,952.3

2,414.0

2,627.2

16KB

1,737.4

1,786.8

1,973.8

2,122.6

2,317.1

2,664.8

2,966.4

16KB

1,347.0

1,392.4

1,491.6

1,603.1

1,739.7

2,128.1

2,309.0

1,518.1
1,216.9

1,552.2
1,237.8

1,700.6
1,345.2

1,829.3
1,428.8

1,975.2
1,482.5

2,203.4
1,680.0

2,413.5
1,810.8

32KB
64KB

1,171.7
920.4

1,199.9
935.6

1,277.1
988.4

1,364.6
1,048.2

1,451.1
1,096.6

1,700.3
1,280.7

1,845.3
1,326.5

128KB

872.6

885.0

949.5

1,006.6

1,056.7

1,106.1

1,169.2

128KB

650.1

656.5

690.6

718.7

720.1

765.3

770.6

1MB

209.6

209.6

195.9

188.1

160.6

161.8

158.1

1MB

134.2

135.1

126.2

117.7

106.4

100.9

97.1

32MB

15.8

15.7

15.4

15.3

15.2

15.3

15.2

32MB

9.9

9.9

9.6

9.8

9.7

9.6

9.5

Read%/Write% 100/0
512B
1,727.0
1,560.9
4KB
1,527.9
8KB
1,415.1
16KB
1,245.4
32KB
1,009.4
64KB
736.5
128KB
217.8
1MB
8.0
32MB

4KB
8KB
16KB
32KB
64KB
128KB
1MB
32MB

Read%/Write%
512B

RAID-6 (6
drives)

Random I/O

32KB
64KB

95/5

65/35

50/50

35/65

5/95

0/100

1,735.3
1,638.4
1,580.7
1,448.9
1,261.6
1,009.6
725.7
216.6
8.0

1,595.2
1,511.9
1,441.0
1,325.0
1,145.9
901.4
637.0
167.6
7.7

1,584.1
1,514.4
1,438.1
1,306.5
1,116.9
869.5
601.1
145.7
7.5

1,599.4
1,481.9
1,388.8
1,255.9
1,059.5
823.2
550.8
111.9
7.3

1,522.7
1,422.8
1,334.5
1,201.3
1,005.6
765.1
489.7
104.6
7.3

1,721.5
1,600.1
1,503.1
1,340.9
1,096.5
820.8
511.8
100.9
7.3

35/65

5/95

0/100

Read%/Write% 100/0
95/5
65/35
50/50
512B
2,001.0 1,986.1 1,243.7 1,151.1

RAID-5 (6
drives)

6 Drives

Read%/Write%
100/0
95/5
65/35
50/50
35/65
5/95
0/100
512B 1,471.5 1,473.5 1,392.7 1,428.4 1,437.4 1,383.8 1,539.2

16KB

30%

RAID-0 (6
drives)

RAID-10

1,666.4
1,590.7
1,436.4
1,209.6
910.7
618.9
201.0
14.8

1,760.7
1,647.7
1,458.9
1,195.6
892.2
601.4
187.9
14.5

1,246.2
1,143.2
1,013.8
830.9
631.0
437.4
139.4
11.2

1,072.7
938.6
852.8
702.6
538.9
378.6
124.7
10.0

100/0

95/5

65/35

50/50

864.3

988.6

890.6
810.3
747.2
621.9
477.4
337.2
110.8
8.8

798.3
731.6
692.8
549.4
429.4
301.3
105.7
7.3

931.4
857.3
764.0
623.9
478.3
331.7
110.4
7.0

35/65

5/95

0/100

Read%/Write%
100/0
95/5
65/35
50/50
35/65
5/95
0/100
6 drives
512B 1,324.3 1,326.1 1,253.4 1,285.6 1,293.6 1,245.4 1,385.3
1,178.2 1,255.7 1,180.3 1,179.8 1,220.3 1,200.6 1,281.2
4KB
1,135.0 1,201.6 1,114.3 1,109.0 1,118.8 1,137.6 1,178.7
8KB
Random I/O
1,060.6 1,105.6 1,015.0 1,005.5 1,002.6
978.7 1,031.7
16KB
930.7
950.0
861.2
850.6
836.0
800.0
815.5
32KB
743.4
753.6
664.7
652.0
626.9
592.1
595.9
64KB
533.6
532.0
460.8
444.2
421.3
391.8
381.5
128KB
151.2
149.4
127.4
121.0
104.9
103.3
99.0
1MB
6.2
6.3
5.5
5.3
4.9
4.8
4.7
32MB

RAID-5

6 Drives
Random I/O

RAID-6
6 Drives

Read%/Write%
100/0
95/5
65/35
512B 1,581.7 1,592.5 1,210.4
4KB
8KB
16KB
32KB
64KB
128KB
1MB
32MB

1,270.6
1,300.5
1,130.8
913.3
690.1
470.8
154.4
9.3

Read%/Write%
100/0

1,079.4
960.5
828.5
660.4
488.8
334.3
106.1
7.9

95/5

65/35

1,500.5 1,502.2

50/50

35/65

5/95

0/100

970.8

865.5

817.7

919.8

875.7
795.1
667.2
565.4
423.9
291.0
96.2
7.5

799.2
642.9
619.8
498.7
375.3
260.8
85.6
7.1

726.9
651.9
567.4
456.0
342.4
239.9
79.5
6.5

778.2
744.8
647.6
508.5
367.7
250.6
77.3
6.4

50/50

35/65

5/95

0/100

858.8

732.3

606.9

687.5

894.9

772.0

673.6

568.1

632.7

1,320.5

1,475.9

861.7

751.0

632.7

546.3

610.6

4KB

1,017.8

1,163.8

809.9

641.2

566.5

492.1

538.9

8KB

1,148.1

1,219.5

812.3

658.6

551.0

473.9

538.3

8KB

871.2

970.3

700.9

572.8

488.4

416.8

470.6

888.5
632.5
456.8
358.5
136.8
10.5

936.4
657.2
468.7
361.9
127.4
8.0

649.1
467.2
348.3
244.8
95.1
6.0

526.3
387.1
296.2
213.8
85.8
5.6

468.0
338.4
266.9
189.5
76.4
5.1

380.6
297.5
242.3
173.3
68.1
4.4

438.3
328.9
270.7
182.6
68.6
4.3

16KB
32KB
64KB
128KB
1MB
32MB

678.8
487.4
363.3
288.3
120.1
8.2

746.2
521.4
383.8
296.1
108.7
6.4

548.9
389.3
292.3
204.0
82.5
4.8

446.9
330.9
258.1
181.6
76.3
4.5

385.2
293.3
237.7
163.8
69.3
4.6

341.6
248.7
212.8
144.1
68.6
4.3

381.0
280.5
228.2
146.6
69.0
4.4

Random I/O

512B

1,389.4
1,313.5
1,149.2
934.5
687.1
464.4
142.0
9.0

4KB
16KB
32KB
64KB
128KB
1MB
32MB

1,932.7 1,892.3 1,123.9

964.3

RAID-1

If needed, change assumptions to reflect your storage setup

Datacenter and Storage Environment Assumptions

Storage service life/refresh cycle in ye
2.5 inch drives per enclosure
3.5 inch drives per enclosure
Disk Array enclosures
Empty enclosure power draw at full lo
Number of watts to cool 1 watt
Power cost per kwh for your region
Maintenance cost as a % of drive cost

Model
Assumptio
ns

$
$

Default

5
25
12
3,250 $
100
1.2
0.158 $
17%
1.37

5
25
12
3,250
100
1.2
0.158
17%