A storage system, according to one embodiment, includes a receptacle, a controller, and a locking mechanism. The locking mechanism is configured to prevent physical removal of a hard disk drive from the receptacle in response to a determination that a hard disk in the hard disk drive is in motion. The locking mechanism is configured to allow physical removal of the hard disk drive from the receptacle in response to a determination that the hard disk is not in motion. An apparatus, according to another embodiment, includes a drive having an integrated locking mechanism. The drive is configured to prevent physical removal of the drive from a receptacle in response to a determination that a medium in the drive is in motion, and allow physical removal of the drive from the receptacle in response to a determination that the medium in the drive is not in motion.

A control device is provided which can perform a retraction operation of a head included in a disk storage device with lower power consumption. The control device of the disk storage device includes a control unit that controls a motor and retracts the head from over a disk to a ramp mechanism when power supply is shut down, an acquisition unit that acquires information related to a moving distance of the head that retracts to the ramp mechanism, and a calculation unit that calculates the moving distance of the head based on the information acquired by the acquisition unit. The control unit switches an operation of the motor from a first retract operation to a second retract operation when determining that the head reaches a first position after passing through an inclined surface of the ramp mechanism based on the moving distance calculated by the calculation unit.

A storage system, according to one embodiment, includes a receptacle, a controller, and a locking mechanism. The locking mechanism is configured to prevent physical removal of a hard disk drive from the receptacle in response to a determination that a hard disk in the hard disk drive is in motion. The locking mechanism is configured to allow physical removal of the hard disk drive from the receptacle in response to a determination that the hard disk is not in motion. An apparatus, according to another embodiment, includes a drive having an integrated locking mechanism. The drive is configured to prevent physical removal of the drive from a receptacle in response to a determination that a medium in the drive is in motion, and allow physical removal of the drive from the receptacle in response to a determination that the medium in the drive is not in motion.

In one embodiment, a computer-implemented method includes determining whether a medium in a drive is in motion, the drive being mounted in a receptacle. In response to determining that the medium is in motion, physical removal of the drive from the receptacle is prevented. In another embodiment, a computer program product for controlling removal of a drive includes a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith. The computer readable storage medium is not a transitory signal per se. The program instructions are readable and/or executable by a computer to cause the computer to perform the foregoing method.

A control device is provided which can perform a retraction operation of a head included in a disk storage device with lower power consumption.

The control device of the disk storage device includes a control unit that controls a motor and retracts the head from over a disk to a ramp mechanism when power supply is shut down, an acquisition unit that acquires information related to a moving distance of the head that retracts to the ramp mechanism, and a calculation unit that calculates the moving distance of the head based on the information acquired by the acquisition unit. The control unit switches an operation of the motor from a first retract operation to a second retract operation when determining that the head reaches a first position after passing through an inclined surface of the ramp mechanism based on the moving distance calculated by the calculation unit.

According to one embodiment, a controller of a magnetic disk device calculates a first power amount that is an amount of power required for an unload operation of a magnetic head based on a state of a VCM while the VCM is operating. The controller calculates a first set value based on the first power amount. When an amount of second data that is first data stored in a volatile memory and not yet written to a magnetic disk exceeds the first set value, the controller executes a first write operation of writing a part or all of the second data to the magnetic disk. When supply of power from outside is interrupted, the controller executes the unload operation and saving of the second data to a nonvolatile memory by using power generated by a back electromotive force of the second motor.

Embodiments generally relate to data storage in a computing system. The present technology discloses techniques that that can enable an optimized mechanism to change spinning speed of data storage disk drives. The present technology can use a service controller, e.g. a Baseboard Management Device (BMC), to communicate with a disk controller to change the spinning speed of disk drives. The present technology can improve energy efficiency by efficiently controlling the spinning speed of disk drives. It can also reduce data access latency by promptly spinning up a disk from a spun-down state.

In a magnetic disk apparatus according to an embodiment, a power supply circuit generates second power from first power supplied by an external power supply, and generates third power when the first power is cut off. The third power is generated based on regenerative energy generated by stoppage of a motor. A controller writes data received from a host device to a magnetic disk via a cache area by the second power while the first power is supplied, and executes a backup process when the first power is cut off. The backup process is executed by disabling communication with the host device and saving content of the cache area to the first memory by the third power. A monitoring circuit keeps connection with the external power supply even when the first power is cut off. The controller enables communication with the host device when the first power is restored.

In a magnetic disk apparatus according to an embodiment, a power supply circuit generates second power from first power supplied by an external power supply, and generates third power when the first power is cut off. The third power is generated based on regenerative energy generated by stoppage of a motor. A controller writes data received from a host device to a magnetic disk via a cache area by the second power while the first power is supplied, and executes a backup process when the first power is cut off. The backup process is executed by disabling communication with the host device and saving content of the cache area to the first memory by the third power. A monitoring circuit keeps connection with the external power supply even when the first power is cut off. The controller enables communication with the host device when the first power is restored.