A method for allocating workloads based on a total cost of ownership (TCO) model includes receiving a workload; estimating a cost for allocating the workload to each disk of disks in a disk pool based on a TCO model; determining a disk among the disks in the disk pool that minimizes a TCO; and allocating the workload to the disk. The TCO model incorporates a plurality of cost factors for estimating costs for each disk in the disk pool for allocating the workload.