USENIX Conference Policies
Adaptive Disk Spin-down Policies for Mobile Computers
Fred Douglis, AT&T Bell Laboratories; P. Krishnan, Brown University; Brian Bershad, University of Washington
Mobile computers typically spin down their hard disk after a fixed period of inactivity. If this threshold is too long, the disk wastes energy; if it is too short, the delay due to spinning the disk up again frustrates the user. Usage patterns change over time, so a single fixed threshold may not be appropriate at all times. Also, different users may have varying priorities with respect to trading off energy conservation against performance. We describe a method for varying the spin-down threshold dynamically by adapting to the user's access patterns and priorities. Adaptive spin-down can in some circumstances reduce by up to 50 the number of disk spin-ups that are deemed by the user to be inconvenient, while only moderately increasing energy consumption.
author = {Fred Douglis and P. Krishnan and Brian Bershad},
title = {Adaptive Disk Spin-down Policies for Mobile Computers},
booktitle = {Second USENIX Symposium on Mobile and Location-Independent Computing ( Second USENIX Symposium on Mobile and Location-Independent Computing)},
year = {1995},
address = {Ann Arbor, MI},
url = {https://www.usenix.org/conference/second-usenix-symposium-mobile-and-location-independent-computing/adaptive-disk-spin-down},
publisher = {USENIX Association},
month = apr
}