DRIVE MESSAGE ROUTER
First Claim
1. A multi-drive non-transient storage unit (mass storage unit) comprising:
- a plurality of disk drives each possessing at least one magnetic disk and a disk drive connector;
a drive message router possessing the disk drive connector, a controller, and solid state storage, the drive message router does not possess a magnetic disk;
a motherboard that is connected to each of the disk drives and the drive message router via the disk drive connectors, wherein the motherboard is adapted to communicate to each of the disk drives and the drive message router via a disk drive protocol, the drive message router is seen as a disk drive by the motherboard;
a bezel electrically connected to the drive message router via a bus that is adapted to transfer data in a non-disk drive protocol;
a plurality of lights visibly disposed on the bezel;
a plurality of different light sequence instructions retained in the solid state memory, wherein each of the light sequence instructions instructs the plurality of lights to illuminate in a different pattern; and
a data packet retained in the solid state memory wherein the data packet includes a message to execute a subset of the plurality of different light sequence instructions, the data packet originating from the motherboard, based on the message to execute the controller adapted to control illumination of the plurality of lights in the subset of the plurality of different light sequence instructions via the non-disk drive protocol.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Embodiments described are generally directed to a mass storage unit possessing a plurality of non-volatile data storage devices each possessing non-transitory mass storage memory hardware, a drive message router possessing with a plurality of different light sequence instructions retained therein, a motherboard that is connected to each of the non-volatile data storage devices and the drive message router via a bus that is adapted to transfer data via a data storage protocol arranged for mass data storage, a bezel electrically connected to the drive message router via an electrical cable that is adapted to transfer signals in a non-data storage protocol, a plurality of lights visibly disposed on the bezel. The drive message router is adapted to receive a data packet in the data storage protocol from the motherboard via the bus. Once received, an execution instruction is extracted from the message to carry out a subset of the light sequence instructions in a particular order. A sequence of electrical signals is transmitted from the drive message router to the plurality of lights based on the subset of the light instructions via the electrical cable. The plurality of lights are illuminated as dictated in the sequence of electrical signals.
5 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A multi-drive non-transient storage unit (mass storage unit) comprising:
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a plurality of disk drives each possessing at least one magnetic disk and a disk drive connector; a drive message router possessing the disk drive connector, a controller, and solid state storage, the drive message router does not possess a magnetic disk; a motherboard that is connected to each of the disk drives and the drive message router via the disk drive connectors, wherein the motherboard is adapted to communicate to each of the disk drives and the drive message router via a disk drive protocol, the drive message router is seen as a disk drive by the motherboard; a bezel electrically connected to the drive message router via a bus that is adapted to transfer data in a non-disk drive protocol; a plurality of lights visibly disposed on the bezel; a plurality of different light sequence instructions retained in the solid state memory, wherein each of the light sequence instructions instructs the plurality of lights to illuminate in a different pattern; and a data packet retained in the solid state memory wherein the data packet includes a message to execute a subset of the plurality of different light sequence instructions, the data packet originating from the motherboard, based on the message to execute the controller adapted to control illumination of the plurality of lights in the subset of the plurality of different light sequence instructions via the non-disk drive protocol. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method comprising:
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providing a mass storage unit possessing a plurality of disk drives each possessing at least one magnetic disk, a drive message router possessing a plurality of different light sequence instructions retained in non-transitory solid state memory, the drive message router does not possess a magnetic disk, a motherboard that is connected to each of the disk drives and the drive message router via a bus that is only adapted to transfer data via a disk drive storage protocol, a bezel electrically connected to the drive message router via an electrical cable that is adapted to transfer data in a non-disk drive protocol, a plurality of lights visibly disposed on the bezel; transferring a data packet from the motherboard to the drive message router via the disk drive storage protocol over the bus; extracting an execution instruction from the message to execute a subset of the light sequence instructions in a particular order; retrieving the subset of the light instructions from the non-transitory ? solid state memory; transmitting a sequence of electrical signals from the drive message router to the plurality of lights based on the subset of the light instructions via the electrical cable; and illuminating the plurality of lights as dictated in the sequence of electrical signals. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method comprising:
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providing a mass storage unit possessing a plurality of non-volatile data storage devices each possessing non-transitory mass storage memory hardware, a drive message router possessing with a plurality of different light sequence instructions retained therein, a motherboard that is connected to each of the non-volatile data storage devices and the drive message router via a bus that is adapted to transfer data via a data storage protocol arranged for mass data storage, a bezel electrically connected to the drive message router via an electrical cable that is adapted to transfer signals in a non-data storage protocol, a plurality of lights visibly disposed on the bezel; a) the drive message router receiving a data packet in the data storage protocol from the motherboard via the bus; b) extracting an execution instruction from the message to carry out a subset of the light sequence instructions in a particular order; c) transmitting a sequence of electrical signals from the drive message router to the plurality of lights based on the subset of the light instructions via the electrical cable; and d) illuminating the plurality of lights as dictated in the sequence of electrical signals. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification