High-density disk array enclosure

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9715258-B1
Application number	US-201615077929-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Mar 23, 2016
Priority date	Mar 9, 2016
Publication date	Jul 25, 2017
Grant date	Jul 25, 2017

Abstract

In one embodiment a disk array enclosure includes: a two rack (2RU) enclosure configured with a multiplicity of rows of backplane slots on an inner bottom panel of the 2RU enclosure, a multiplicity of 2.5 inch disks mounted lengthwise in parallel to the inner bottom panel, and a multiplicity of paddle cards, each connected to one of the 2.5 inch disks and slotted into one of the backplane slots.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A disk array enclosure comprising:
a two rack (2RU) enclosure configured with a multiplicity of rows of backplane slots on an inner bottom panel of said 2RU enclosure; and
a multiplicity of 2.5 inch disks mounted lengthwise in parallel to said inner bottom panel; and
a multiplicity of paddle cards, each connected to one of said 2.5 inch disks and slotted into one of said backplane slots.

2. The disk array enclosure according to claim 1 wherein each of said paddle cards is connected to at least a signal/power connector on one of said 2.5 inch disks.

3. The disk array enclosure according to claim 2 wherein each of said paddle cards provides connectivity between an associated said signal/power connector and bone of said backplane slots.

4. The disk array enclosure according to claim 2 wherein said signal/power connector is positioned at approximately 90 degree angle from said backplane slots.

5. The disk array enclosure according to claim 2 wherein said signal/power connector is a Serial General Purpose Input/Output (SGPIO) bus according to the SFF-8485 standard.

6. The disk array enclosure according to claim 1 and further comprising:
a removable top panel.

7. The disk array enclosure according to claim 1 wherein said multiplicity of rows comprises at least two rows.

8. The disk array enclosure according to claim 1 wherein said multiplicity of rows comprises four rows.

9. A method for efficient allocation of storage volume in a two rack unit (2RU) disk array enclosure, the method comprising:
installing backplane slots on an inner bottom panel of said 2RU disk array enclosure;
rotating an angle of signal/power connectors by approximately 90 degrees on a multiplicity of 2.5 inch disks by connecting each of said signal/power connectors to a first connector on a paddle card interface, wherein said paddle card interface is configured with a second connector disposed at an approximately 90 degree angle to said first connector; and
for each of said 2.5 inch disks, connecting said second connector to one of said backplane slots.

10. The method according to claim 9 and further comprising:
accessing said multiplicity of 2.5 inch disks via a removable upper panel on said 2RU disk array enclosure.

11. The method according to claim 9 wherein said installing comprises:
installing said backplane slots in at least two rows along said inner bottom panel.

12. The method according to claim 9 wherein said signal/power connectors are Serial General Purpose Input/Output (SGPIO) buses according to the SFF-8485 standard.

13. The method according to claim 9 wherein said installing comprises:
installing said backplane slots in at least four rows along said inner bottom panel.

Assignees

• Cisco Tech Inc

Inventors

• Bai Yun
• Gao Le
• Li Qiang

Classifications

• H01R12/737

  Printed circuits being substantially perpendicular to each other (for printed connections H05K3/366) · CPC title

• G06F1/187 Primary

  Mounting of fixed or removable disk drives · CPC title

• G06F1/186

  Securing of expansion boards in correspondence to slots provided at the computer enclosure · CPC title

• H01R12/7088

  Arrangements for power supply · CPC title

• G11B33/126

  Arrangements for providing electrical connections, e.g. connectors, cables, switches · CPC title