High density data storage system with improved storage device access

• US 9,763,350 B2
• Filed: 01/23/2013
• Issued: 09/12/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 01/23/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dot Hill Systems Corporation (Seagate Technology Holdings Plc)
• Original Assignee: Seagate Technology LLC (Seagate Technology Holdings Plc)
• Inventors: Rust, Brenden Michael, Morris, Charles Powell
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Hoa C
• Assistant Examiner(s): Augustin, Christopher L
• Application Number:
  US13/747,585
• Publication Number:
  US 20140203696A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,693 Days
• Field of Search: 361727
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 33/02 Cabinets; Cases; Stands; Disposition of apparatus therein or thereon
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 33/126 Arrangements for providing electrical connections, e.g. connectors, cables, switches
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 33/128 of the plurality of recording/reproducing devices, e.g. disk drives, onto a chassis
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/14 Mounting supporting structure in casing or on frame or rack
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/1421 Drawers for printed circuit boards
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49826 Assembling or joining

Abstract

A storage enclosure includes a chassis, which includes a plurality of drawers arranged horizontally in the chassis. Each drawer of the plurality of drawers is extendable through a front surface of the chassis and is able to mount one or more side-accessible storage devices. For any drawer of the plurality of drawers bordering a side surface of the chassis, when the drawer is extended all storage devices are inserted to or removed from the drawer through an opposite side of the drawer to the side surface of the chassis.

Claims

1. A storage enclosure, comprising:

a chassis, comprising;

a plurality of storage device drawers arranged horizontally in the chassis, each of which may be installed, removed, and extended from the chassis regardless of the presence, absence, or extended position of other drawers of the plurality of drawers, each of which is extendable through a front surface of the chassis and is able to mount one or more side-accessible storage devices, each of the plurality of storage device drawers comprising;

a control for a user to activate an offline/online request for a storage controller to take a corresponding storage device drawer offline or online; and

an indicator to identify to the user when it is safe to remove the corresponding storage device drawer from the chassis; and

a pair of rear-accessible redundant storage controller drawers each comprising a redundant storage controller, each of the redundant storage controllers providing a separate data communication path to each drawer of the plurality of storage device drawers, in response to a fault in the storage enclosure prevents one of the redundant storage controllers from communicating with a drawer of the plurality of storage device drawers, the one of the redundant storage controllers communicates with the drawer of the plurality of storage device drawers through the other of the redundant storage controllers, in response to the user activating the offline/online request for the corresponding storage device drawer, the pair of redundant storage controllers configured to verify data stored in the corresponding storage device drawer is redundant and activate the indicator on the corresponding storage device drawer,

for every drawer of the plurality of storage device drawers bordering a side surface of the chassis, when the drawer is extended all storage devices are inserted to or removed from the drawer through an opposite side of the drawer to the nearest side surface of the chassis.

2. The storage enclosure of claim 1, wherein no storage device drawer requires top or bottom access to insert or remove a storage device, wherein any storage device may be inserted or removed from every extended drawer of the plurality of storage device drawers even if any side surface of the chassis is parallel to and in contact with a wall and the wall is adjacent to the extended drawer.

3. The storage enclosure of claim 2, wherein only one drawer of the plurality of storage device drawers is extendable through the front surface of the chassis at the same time.

4. The storage enclosure of claim 2, wherein the storage enclosure is rackmountable, wherein access to any drawer or storage device is not affected by vertical position of the storage enclosure within a rack or other modules or storage enclosures vertically adjacent to the storage enclosure.

5. The storage enclosure of claim 2, wherein each drawer of the plurality of storage device drawers is slidingly engaged to the chassis on one or more slides on at least one of a bottom and a side surface of the drawer, wherein the one or more slides allow each drawer to be extended a predetermined distance from the chassis.

6. The storage enclosure of claim 5, wherein each storage device drawer remains fully functional when the storage device drawer is extended the predetermined distance from the chassis, wherein fully functional comprises power is provided to the storage device drawer and each storage device in the storage device drawer and communication paths are enabled between the storage device drawer and the storage enclosure.

7. The storage enclosure of claim 6, wherein communication paths are enabled between the storage device drawer and the storage enclosure comprises bidirectional communication may occur between the storage device drawer and any storage devices in the storage device drawer and the pair of redundant storage controllers in the storage enclosure.

8. The storage enclosure of claim 6, wherein the storage enclosure comprises three storage device drawers, wherein each storage device drawer stores up to sixteen storage devices.

9. The storage enclosure of claim 6, wherein each storage device drawer is mechanically and electrically independent from all other drawers of the plurality of storage device drawers, wherein power failures in any one drawer are prevented from affecting any other drawer of the plurality of storage device drawers regardless of a number of power supplies in the storage enclosure.

10. A method, comprising:

pulling a drawer of a plurality of storage device drawers arranged horizontally in a chassis outwardly from a front surface of the chassis, each drawer configured to be installed, removed, and extended from the chassis regardless of the presence, absence, or extended position of other drawers of the plurality of storage device drawers, each drawer comprising a control for a user to request a storage controller take a corresponding storage device drawer offline and online and an indicator to identify to the user when it is safe to remove the corresponding storage device drawer from the chassis, each drawer extendable through the front surface of the chassis and able to mount one or more side-accessible storage devices, each of a pair of redundant storage controllers providing a separate data communication path to each drawer of the plurality of storage device drawers, and for every drawer of the plurality of storage device drawers bordering a side surface of the chassis, when the storage device drawer is extended all storage devices are installed or removed from the storage device drawer through an opposite side of the storage device drawer to the closest side surface of the chassis;

performing one of inserting and removing a storage device from the drawer; and

pushing the drawer into the chassis,

in response to the user activating the control of the corresponding storage device drawer, the pair of redundant storage controllers configured to verify data stored in the corresponding storage device drawer is redundant and bring the corresponding storage device drawer online.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein no storage device drawer requires top or bottom access to insert or remove a storage device, wherein any storage device may be inserted or removed from every drawer of the plurality of storage device drawers even if any side surface of the chassis is parallel to and in contact with a wall and the wall is adjacent to the drawer extended a predetermined distance.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein each drawer of the plurality of storage device drawers is slidingly engaged to the chassis on one or more slides on at least one of a bottom and a side surface of the drawer, wherein pulling comprises allowing each storage device drawer to be extended a predetermined distance from the front surface of the chassis.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein each storage device drawer remains fully functional when the storage device drawer is extended up to the predetermined distance from the chassis, fully functional comprising:

providing power from the chassis to the storage device drawer and each storage device in the storage device drawer; and

enabling communication paths between each storage device and the storage device drawer and the storage device drawer and the pair of redundant storage controllers in the storage enclosure.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the storage enclosure comprises three storage device drawers, wherein each storage device drawer stores up to sixteen storage devices.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein each storage device drawer is mechanically and electrically independent from all other drawers of the plurality of storage device drawers, wherein power failures in any one drawer are prevented from affecting any other drawer in the plurality of storage device drawers regardless of a number of power supplies in the storage enclosure.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein only one drawer of the plurality of storage device drawers is extendable through the front surface of the chassis at the same time.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the storage enclosure is rackmountable, wherein access to any storage device drawer or storage device is not affected by vertical position of the storage enclosure within a rack or other modules or storage enclosures vertically adjacent to the storage enclosure.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein there are three drawers in the plurality of storage device drawers, wherein storage devices in two of the three drawers of the plurality of storage device drawers are accessed from only one side, wherein storage devices in the third drawer of the plurality of storage device drawers are accessed from only the opposite side as the other two drawers of the plurality of storage device drawers.

19. A storage enclosure, comprising:

a rackmountable chassis;

a left storage device drawer;

a right storage device drawer; and

a center storage device drawer, wherein the center storage device drawer is horizontally located between the left storage device drawer and the right storage device drawer,

the left storage device drawer, center storage device drawer, and right storage device drawer independently extendable up to a predetermined distance through a front surface of the storage enclosure, each storage device drawer comprising a control for a user to request a storage controller take a corresponding storage device drawer offline and online and an indicator to identify to the user when it is safe to remove the corresponding storage device drawer from the chassis, each storage device drawer storing one or more side-accessible storage devices, storage devices in the left storage device drawer are inserted or removed only through the right side of the left drawer when extended, storage devices in the right storage device drawer are inserted or removed only through the left side of the right storage device drawer when extended,

each of a pair of redundant storage controllers providing a separate data communication path to each of the left, center, and right storage device drawers, in response to in response to the user activating the control of the corresponding storage device drawer to take the drawer offline, the pair of redundant storage controllers configured to verify data stored in the corresponding storage device drawer is redundant and activate the indicator on the corresponding storage device drawer,

in response to a DC power short occurring in one of the left, center, and right storage device drawers, the others of the left, center, and right storage device drawers are unaffected by the DC power short, in response to the DC power short persisting for more than a predetermined time period, the storage enclosure removes DC power from the one of the left, center, and right storage device drawers where the DC power short occurred.

20. The storage enclosure of claim 19, wherein no storage device drawer requires top or bottom access to insert or remove a storage device, wherein any storage device in the left storage device drawer may be inserted or removed when the left storage device drawer is extended the predetermined distance if the left side surface of the left storage device drawer is parallel to a first wall and the left side of the rackmountable chassis is in contact with the first wall, wherein any storage device in the right storage device drawer may be inserted or removed when the right storage device drawer is extended the predetermined distance if the right side surface of the right storage device drawer is parallel to a second wall and the right side of the rackmountable chassis is in contact with the second wall.