Sidewall-accessible dense storage rack

{
  "publication_number": "US10028401B2",
  "country": "US",
  "kind": "B2",
  "title": "Sidewall-accessible dense storage rack",
  "abstract": "Rack configurations provide increased storage device density without compromising cooling or immediate device availability. A device rack has a frame including posts which define an interior containing system board(s) with electronic device connectors. The system board is fixed relative to the frame, and the rack is devoid of sliding rails and cable management arms for the devices, thereby reducing rack weight and mechanical complexity. A vertical plenum within the rack between loaded system boards carries cooling air for the devices and may also permit use of a service robot to install or replace hot-pluggable hard disk drives or other devices, which can be arranged in columns. As one objective measure of the increased density provided, a connector density is at least a specified number of hundreds of mechanically and electronically releasably connectable electronic device connectors per cubic meter within the rack.",
  "claims": [
    "1. A device rack, comprising: a rack frame including posts having exterior surfaces which define a rack frame interior; at least one system board mechanically fixed in position relative to the posts, the at least one system board having a connector surface, at least three-quarters of the connector surface being located within the rack frame interior; at least two hundred electronic device connectors, each electronic device connector having a system board portion and an electronic device portion, the system board portion being mechanically secured to at least one system board connector surface within the rack frame interior, the electronic device portion being mechanically and electronically releasably connectable to at least one electronic device; and wherein the device rack is further characterized in at least one of the following ways: (a) the rack frame interior is devoid of any sliding rails which collectively move at least ten percent of the electronic device connectors out of the rack frame interior at one time, or (b) the rack frame interior is devoid of any hinged cable management arm directly attached to the rack frame, and wherein the at least one system board includes three system boards, each of which is substantially vertical and is mechanically fixed in position relative to the posts, the system boards collectively having at least three hundred electronic device connectors located within the rack frame interior, and wherein a first plenum and a second plenum within the rack frame interior are each defined at least in part by bordering at least a hundred adjacent electronic devices, at least a hundred electronic device connectors, and at least two system boards, each plenum being substantially vertical, the plenums collectively having a volume which is between one-third and two-thirds of the rack frame interior volume.",
    "2. The device rack of claim 1, wherein the device rack is characterized in both listed ways, namely, (a) and also (b).",
    "3. The device rack of claim 1, further comprising at least two hundred electronic devices, each of which is releasably mechanically and electrically connected to at least one of the electronic device connectors, and wherein a plenum within the rack frame interior is defined at least in part by virtue of bordering electronic devices, electronic device connectors, and at least one system board, the plenum having a volume which is between one-third and two-thirds of the rack frame interior volume.",
    "4. An array of at least seven device racks according to claim 1, including a reference device rack with at least three other racks on each side, wherein each device rack has a front and two sides, wherein the fronts of the racks are aligned within one inch of a vertical plane through the front of the reference device rack, wherein a connector density within each rack frame interior is at least 700 mechanically and electronically releasably connectable electronic device connectors per cubic meter, and wherein the array is further characterized in at least one of the following ways: a gap of at least 400 mm exists between any sides of any two of the racks; or each rack has a side that is within 10 mm of a side of another of the racks.",
    "5. A device rack servicing method, comprising: gripping an electronic device which has a plug containing at least one power line and at least one data signal line; positioning the gripped electronic device until it is within 25 mm of a matching connector on a system board which is mechanically fixed in position within a rack frame interior that is defined by exterior surfaces of posts of a rack frame, wherein positioning the gripped electronic device includes moving the gripped electronic device from a position entirely outside the rack frame interior, through a service gap within the rack frame interior in between at least two system boards which are both stationed within the rack frame interior, to the position within 25 mm of the matching connector; pushing the plug of the gripped electronic device onto the matching connector until the plug and the connector are releasably mechanically connected; and avoiding moving the connector relative to the rack frame posts during said positioning and pushing.",
    "6. The method of claim 5, further comprising at least one of the following: placing the electronic device in service without moving any sliding rail within the rack frame interior; placing the electronic device in service without moving any hinged cable management arm within the rack frame interior unless the arm carries a signal to a robot which performs said gripping.",
    "7. The method of claim 5, wherein said gripping, positioning, and pushing are performed by a robot within a rack frame interior that has a connector density of at least 1200 mechanically and electronically releasably connectable electronic device connectors per cubic meter.",
    "8. The method of claim 5, wherein the method provides hot-plug servicing, namely, said pushing is performed while the system board is electrically powered, and wherein the plug and the connector are releasably mechanically and electrically connected with one another after the pushing.",
    "9. The method of claim 5, further comprising directing cooling air through the service gap toward at least five hundred hot-pluggable electronic storage devices which are plugged into electronic device connectors within the rack frame interior.",
    "10. The method of claim 5, wherein the gripping, positioning, and pushing are performed by a robot while the system board is electrically powered, the plug and the connector are releasably mechanically and electrically connected with one another after the pushing, the connector is one of at least one thousand hot-pluggable storage device connectors within the rack frame interior, and the gripping, positioning, and pushing as performed by a robot cause less operational downtime of the connector than gripping, positioning, and pushing performed by a human would require.",
    "11. The method of claim 5, wherein the system board is one of a plurality of system boards located within the rack frame interior, the system boards collectively carry at least eight hundred electronic storage device connectors which are mechanically and electrically connected to respective powered electronic storage devices, and the method further comprises: gripping one of the electronic storage devices with a service robot gripper; robotically pulling the gripped electronic storage device away from the respective electronic storage device connector, thereby mechanically and electrically disconnecting the electronic storage device from one of the system boards; and robotically moving the disconnected electronic storage device to a position outside the rack frame interior."
  ],
  "description_excerpt": "Hard disk drives, flash memories, and other electronic components are sometimes mounted on printed circuit boards which are in turn placed in trays, in a chassis, or in other arrangements, and then mounted in a rack. Provisions are made for cooling the mounted components, e.g., by circulating cooling air against them. Provisions are also made for physically accessing mounted components, e.g., by attaching component boards to sliding rails that can be moved to bring the components outside the rack. Hinged cable management arms are sometimes used in connection with such sliding rails, to permit continued power and signal connectivity while a component board slides along the rails.\n\nSome embodiments are directed to the technical activity of increasing device density within a rack or array of racks while still allowing airflow to cool most or all of the electronic components within the rack(s). Some embodiments are directed to the related technical activity of servicing a storage rack, e.g., by connecting and/or disconnecting individual storage devices without powering down or off-lining other storage devices in the same rack. Other technical activities pertinent to teachings herein will also become apparent to those of skill in the art.\n\nSome embodiments provide a device rack which has a rack frame including posts whose exterior surfaces define a rack frame interior. At least one system board is located at least partially within the rack frame interior. A plurality of electronic device connectors are mounted on the system board(s), such as hard disk drive connectors.",
  "cpc": [
    "H05K 7/10",
    "G11B 33/128",
    "H05K 7/1438",
    "H05K 7/1448",
    "H05K 7/1492",
    "H05K 7/20709"
  ],
  "ipc": [
    "H05K 7/10",
    "H05K 7/20",
    "G11B 33/12",
    "H05K 5/00",
    "H05K 7/14"
  ],
  "assignees": [
    "Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC"
  ],
  "inventors": [
    "Mark Edward Shaw",
    "Wilson V. Vu",
    "Martha Geoghegan PETERSON",
    "Hien A. THAI",
    "Eric C. Peterson"
  ],
  "filing_date": "2015-12-18",
  "publication_date": "2018-07-17",
  "grant_date": "2018-07-17",
  "priority_date": "2015-12-18",
  "application_number": "US-201514975614-A",
  "family_id": "57750609",
  "cited_by_count": 5,
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}