Note: The following is speculation best I know. I'm recalling from memory what I've read on the internet written by someone who did not have a direct source. G

Note: The following is speculation best I know. I'm recalling from memory what I've read on the internet written by someone who did not have a direct source. Glacier uses low-speed (5400 RPM) consumer drives, which they then clock down lower to save energy. Any given 'rack' only has enough power to power a few drives on that rack, the rest is powered down. To prevent multiple customers from all trying to pull their data out they needed to introduce a rate limiting system, which they did with this exorbitant pricing.