Patent ID: 6640235
Filing Date: 2003-10-28
Classification: G06F,G11B,H05K

Abstract:
A modular expandable disk drive storage system comprising:at least two modules, each module including a housing and at least one disk drive unit having a disk drive and a power converter located within the unit, said disk drive unit being slidably mounted within said housing, each module defining a front, back, top, bottom, and left and right sides, an inside and an outside, said modules being stacked one on top of another, the modules all facing in the same direction; a data cable connected to the front, outside portion of the bottom most of said modules, said data cable connecting said modular expandable disk drive storage system to an external computer; a power cable connected to an external power source; at least two power connectors located on the front, outside portion of each module, said power connectors of each module being internally electrically connected to each other; at least one power interconnection cable connected to the front, outside portion of each module, said power interconnection cable plugged into one of the power connectors on each of two adjacent modules, and electrically connecting the power connectors to each other; at least two data connectors located on the front, outside portion of each module, said data connectors of each module being internally electrically connected to each other; at least one data interconnection cable connected to the front, outside portion of each of said modules, said data interconnection cable plugged into one of the data connectors on each of two adjacent modules, and electrically connecting the data connectors to each other; air circulating means mounted on each of said modules and located on one of the back, left, and right side of each module for cooling the contents of said modules; at least one power switch mounted on each module, accessible only from the front, outside of said modules, and electrically connected between said power cable and said power conversion means; at least one address selection switch mounted on each module electrically connected to said at least one disk drive unit for selecting the address of the disk drive unit and accessible only from the front, outside of said module; ventilation means in each module for allowing air contained within said module to be expelled from said module; at least one activity indicator mounted on each module, visible from the outside of said module and electrically connected to said at least one disk drive unit for indicating when said disk drive unit is being addressed; and mounting means located on the top and bottom of each module for affixing the top of one module to the bottom of another module to prevent movement of one module relative to another module once the modules have been assembled in the modular expandable disk drive storage system.