Soft Start & Hard Drive Protection

Leading drive manufacturers take great lengths to understand and describe the dangers that their precious drives will be exposed to once placed in various and unforeseen storage systems. Similarly, developers of new drive interface technologies and protocols carefully define specifications that attempt to assure drive protection during critical system operations. They both realize that hard drive failures can create substantial system downtime, and that downtime can greatly impact business and thus the bottom line.

The Dangerous Environment

It is not safe to assume that every storage enclosure manufacturer designs with the knowledge that drive problems can be greatly reduced by incorporating appropriate hot swap and power management circuitry. Specifically, in a RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Drives) system, the operational situations that require design experience and that must be considered are the power effects of drive spin-up and the hot replacement of a failed drive.

Spin-up - Each drive in an array consumes more than twice its normal operational power during spin-up. This demand can result in power supply overload, possibly causing severe damage to the entire array's power supply due to overheating. The answer to the high demands of spin-up power is NOT to simply install an oversized and costly power supply.

Hot-Swapping Failed Drives - Each time a failed drive in an enclosure is hot-swapped with a new one, the resulting "inrush" current can cause voltage glitches and substantial electromagnetic energy capable of damaging related electronic components and possibly other system devices. Allowing this type of condition to occur negates the very purpose for implementing a redundant drive array in the first place.

Safe at StorCase

StorCase enclosures, with a reputation for combining robust materials and design experience to assure excellent heat dissipation, superior cooling and maximum protection against rotational vibration, also incorporate the finest circuitry and techniques for drive power protection.

The StorCase Soft Start implementation consists of two critical features, each of which play a specific role in contributing to long-term drive protection:

1) During Power Up - StorCase Soft Start enclosure circuitry controls the power provided to each installed drive by gradually allowing it to "ramp up" to operational levels. This eliminates dangerous "inrush" current to the drive. To protect the power supply from the high demands of drive spin-up, each StorCase enclosure also uniquely manages drive power-up by controlling the number of and the sequence that the installed drives receive power. This technique provides what is referred to as "staggered spin-up".

2) During Drive Insertion (after power-up) - StorCase Soft Start circuitry prevents each drive from receiving operational power until a complete drive insertion is detected by the enclosure. This avoids power "arcing" on the power contact pin.

Drive manufacturers and technology developers both depend on RAID enclosure manufacturers to understand and implement the latest techniques to assure that hard drives operate in an environment that meets required specifications. The critical Soft Start feature found on Data Express® removable drive enclosures and InfoStation® backplane chassis distinguishes StorCase products from otherwise functionally similar products offered by competitors, once again demonstrating the StorCase dedication to providing the Safest Place for Your Data®.