Storage enclosure and methods

There is disclosed a storage enclosure (10) and method of manufacturing a storage enclosure (10) comprising a plurality of bays (22) for receiving disk drives (100), the storage enclosure comprising: a chassis (24); a plurality of guide members (28), each bay having a first guide member at one end of the bay and a second guide member at the opposed end of the bay, the guide members (28) being constructed and arranged to engage with and guide a disk drive (100) into the bay (22) and to hold the disk drive (100) in a received position in the bay (22); and, a plurality of resilient mounts (97) by which each guide member (28) is attached to the chassis (24), wherein the mount (97) is arranged to isolate the disk drive from the chassis to reduce vibration being transmitted between the disk drive and the chassis.

The present invention relates in aspects to storage enclosures, to a method of receiving a disk drive in one of a plurality of bays in a storage enclosure, and to a method of manufacturing a storage enclosure having a plurality of bay for receiving disk drives.

In preferred embodiments, the present invention relates to carriers for containing disk drives in storage enclosures, such as “redundant array of inexpensive disks” (RAID) arrays, “just a bunch of disks” (JBOD) functionality or “switched bunch of disks” (SBOD) functionality or “expander-based bunch of disks” (EBOD) functionality based on “SAS expander” technology, “storage array network” (SAN) or “network attached storage” (NAS) storage, server enclosures and other mass storage devices.

The use of storage enclosures for containing disk drive units is well known in the art per se. Such enclosures are usually modular, having disk drive bays at the front of the enclosure for receiving disk drive units mounted in carriers, and bays at the rear of the enclosure for receiving various other modules, such as power supply units (PSUs), cooling modules and various electronics modules. These electronics modules typically include one or more controllers for the disk drive assemblies, providing input/output connections to the enclosure and implementing the desired functionality of the disk drives, e.g. as “just a bunch of disks” (JBOD) or an RAID array, etc. The electronics modules may also provide enclosure management services or other functionality. The various modules connect into a midplane within the enclosure. The modules are removable from the enclosure for maintenance and/or replacement. Often modules at the rear of the enclosure are provided in duplicate or more so that a certain measure of redundancy can be provided in case of failure of a module. Many different layouts and configurations of data storage enclosures are possible and, indeed, available commercially.

One important consideration in the manufacture of storage enclosures and carriers for storage enclosures is the layout and positioning of the disk drive units within the enclosure and the way they are mounted. It is desirable to make best use of the available space in the storage enclosure to fit in as many disk drive units as possible to increase the amount of storage the enclosure can provide. However, there are various considerations balanced against this desire to fit in as many disk drives as possible. For example, the structure of the carrier and enclosure should preferably allow the disk drive units to be easily removed from and inserted to the enclosure, possibly by “hot-swapping” the disk drives so that that the enclosure need not taken out of use while the disk drive unit is swapped. The structure must also be strong and robust enough to support the disk drive units. It is also necessary to ensure that adequate cooling is provided to the disk drive units to prevent overheating. This is usually implemented by providing a cooling airflow through the enclosure which cools the disk drive units and/or other components of the enclosure. The support structure should also therefore allow adequate airflow between the disk drive units.

A further consideration is that disk drives generate vibration when in use. The trend in disk drive manufacture is for increased spindle speeds and increased areal densities of data on the disk, e.g. higher numbers of tracks per inch. This tends to make disk drives more sensitive to mechanical vibration. It is desired for the mounting system to manage the vibration that may be generated by potentially a large number of disk drives operating simultaneously in a confined space.

In the prior art, a typical arrangement is to have a lattice of cells at the front of the enclosure into which disk drives can be inserted by the user in carriers. Drives are slotted into the lattice through the front of the enclosure. The drives are typically “hard mounted” via a carrier to the enclosure and thus to the rack to which the enclosure is mounted. This provides a transmission path for external vibrations, for example generated by power supply fans, cooling fans, other disk drives, etc., to be transmitted to the disk drives in the enclosure and thus negatively affect the performance of the drives. This problem is exacerbated by the desire to fit as many drives as possible into a given volume.

Other solutions for controlling vibration proposed by the prior art involve attaching large masses to the disk drives to reduce vibration of the disk drives. However, this solution creates other challenges as it leads to a very heavy enclosure and problems in supporting the increased weight. Thus, this solution is not desirable for some applications.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a storage enclosure comprising a plurality of bays for receiving disk drives, the storage enclosure comprising:

a chassis;

a plurality of guide members, each bay having a first guide member at one end of the bay and a second guide member at the opposed end of the bay, the guide members being constructed and arranged to engage with and guide a disk drive into the bay and to hold the disk drive in a received position in the bay; and,

a plurality of resilient mounts by which each guide member is attached to the chassis, wherein the mount is arranged to isolate the disk drive from the chassis to reduce vibration being transmitted between the disk drive and the chassis.

It should be noted that references to a disk drive being received in the bay should be interpreted as including the case where a disk drive is mounted in a carrier or other intermediary structure which is in turn received in the bay.

This invention describes a way of individually isolating drives from their surrounding structure thus reducing external vibrations entering the disk drive and affecting its performance. The combination of a damping mount and rigid location array ensures spatial location within the chassis array whilst providing a “soft” mount.

The present invention is particularly advantageous when used in conjunction with a storage enclosure as disclosed in the co-owned application U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/722,012, filed 11 Mar. 2010, entitled “Storage Enclosure, Carrier and Methods”, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. This storage enclosure provides a rigid structural framework for supporting disk drives in carriers in drawers, where the weight of the disk drives is transferred to the sides of the drawers and then, via runners, to the sides of the enclosure and then to the rack or cabinet in which the enclosure is mounted. This enables the enclosure to achieve a particularly high density of disk drives within the volume of the enclosure. The resultant structure to support the weight of the disk drives is stiff.

This however allows efficient transmission of vibration through the structure. This, coupled with the close proximity of neighbouring disk drives, could result in diminished performance of the disk drives due to vibration affecting the disk drives. In this preferred embodiment, the soft mounting of the guide members via the mounts within the stiff chassis prevents or significantly reduces external vibration reaching the disk drives, whilst maintaining a positive location for the guide members. The preferred embodiment “floats” the guide member or members in the drawer on mounts in such a way that each axis (in the x, y & z directions and any combination thereof) is isolated from the rigid chassis and drawer structure whilst still maintaining dimensional accuracy within the disk drive array.

The arrangement can also be made light in weight. For example, the chassis can be made from thin sheet metal members, the guide members can be made from plastics and the mounts can be made from elastomer or other suitable materials.

In a preferred embodiment, the enclosure has drawers in which the bays are arranged to receive a disk drive with a downward plugging direction. In a preferred embodiment, the disk drive is held in the bay with an orientation in which it is on its side, with the guide members engaging with the ends of the disk drive (i.e. for standard disk drive, the end of the drive with a connector and its opposed end).

In a preferred embodiment, the guide member has a plurality of projections and each mount has a hole therethrough, wherein the projections are received in the holes of the mounts in order to attach the guide member to the chassis. This provides a preferred way of attaching/detaching the guide members to the chassis that is simple to manufacture and assemble. The guide member can be “press fit” to the chassis via the mount. Thus, tools are not required. Also the arrangement does not require much space in the enclosure. The mounts may be attached for example to a sheet member of the chassis, i.e. a member having a very thin width, meaning that the elements required to attach the positioning members to the chassis can take up relatively little room in the enclosure. The sheet member provides stiffness to support the weight of the disk drives, whilst taking up relatively little room, whereas the resilient mounts isolate the disk drives from vibration being transmitted by the structure.

In a preferred embodiment, the projection has a head portion that is larger than the hole in the mount, the mount being compliant to allow the head portion to pass through the hole to secure the guide member in place. This helps secure the guide member is place and prevent the members becoming detached when the bay is unpopulated by a disk drive/carrier.

In a preferred embodiment, the mounts comprise bushes attached to holes in the chassis.

In another embodiment, the mounts comprise a sheet of resilient material attached to the chassis, the chassis having holes corresponding to the holes in the mounts.

In a preferred embodiment, the chassis comprises at least one sheet member, wherein the sheet member has guide members attached to both of its sides for corresponding bays on either side of the sheet member. This helps keep the size of the mounting arrangement small, whilst providing a stiff chassis for supporting the weight of the disk drives. This helps keep the size of the mounting arrangement small.

In a preferred embodiment, the guide members have holes or depressions therein for receiving the head portions of the projections of the corresponding guide members on the other side of the sheet member. This allows the guide members to be mounted closer to the sheet member and for the sheet member to be thinner without the heads of the projections interfering with the guide members on the other side of the sheet member. This helps minimise the space taken up by the mounting arrangement.

In a preferred embodiment, the projections of each guide member are staggered relative to each other. By appropriate positioning of the mounts, this can help reducing different modes of vibration being transferred to the disk drive.

In a preferred embodiment, at least one guide member comprises a resiliently biased lift element arranged to lift the disk drive at least partially out of the bay.

In preferred embodiments a latch mechanism is used either on the carrier or in the bay to secure the disk drive/carrier in the received position against the bias of the lift elements. This arrangement of the lift elements helps hold the disk drive securely in place in the bay. This arrangement also makes removal of the disk drive from the bay more simple, e.g. by releasing the latch, so the disk drive/carrier rises partway out of the bay due to the lift elements to a position where the disk drive extends above the other disk drives, so that the operator can easily grasp sides of the disk drive/carrier to remove it.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided in combination, a storage enclosure according as described above and a disk drive held in a carrier, wherein the carrier is received in the bay and held in position by a guide member at each end of the bay.

Preferably the guide members and the carrier have shaping that cooperates to guide the carrier into the bay and helps hold the carrier in the received position in the bay. Preferably the shaping at the two ends of the carrier is keyed to the shaping of the guide members to help prevent incorrect insertion of the carrier/disk drive in the bay.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of receiving a disk drive in one of a plurality of bays in a storage enclosure, the method comprising:

advancing the disk drive into the bay; and,

guiding the disk drive into a received position in the bay with a guide member at each end of the bay,

wherein the storage enclosure has a chassis and each guide member is attached to the chassis by a plurality of resilient mounts arranged to isolate the disk drive from the chassis to reduce vibration being transmitted between them.

According to a forth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a storage enclosure having a plurality of bay for receiving disk drives, the enclosure having a chassis and a plurality of guide members, the bays having a guide member at each end for guiding a disk drive into a received position in the bays, the method comprising:

attaching a plurality of resilient mounts to the chassis; and,

attaching the guide members to the chassis by pushing a plurality of protrusions of each guide member through corresponding holes in the mounts.

Preferably, the mount is overmoulded to a hole or other aperture in the chassis. The mount may be attached to a sheet metal member of the chassis. The protrusion may be an interference fit or snap fit to the hole in the mount.

FIG. 1shows an example of a 3.5 inch (88.9 mm) disk drive unit100. The disk drive unit100has a top face101, a bottom face102, side faces103, a front end104and a rear end105. The rear end105holds a rearward facing connector or connectors106for making power and data connection to the disk drive unit100, e.g. a SATA connector. The height107of the disk drive unit100is 26.1 mm. The width108of the disk drive unit100is 101.6 mm. These dimensions are specified in the industry standard specification (SFF-8301).

FIG. 2shows an example of a storage enclosure10as disclosed in the co-owned application U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/722,012, filed 11 Mar. 2010, entitled “Storage Enclosure, Carrier and Methods”, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. This enclosure10has a novel and advantageous layout of and manner of supporting disk drives in the enclosure. The present invention in preferred embodiments is suitable for use with this storage enclosure10. However, in principle, the present invention can be used with storage enclosures having other suitable layouts, and arrangements and orientations of disk drives.

As is conventional, references to “sides”, “above”, “below”, “downward” etc, in relation to the enclosure and/or its bays are given with reference to the orientation of a conventionally mounted enclosure, i.e. one mounted laterally in a 19 inch (approx. 482.6 mm) rack. References to “above” and “side” in relation to the enclosure should be interpreted consistently with this. Nonetheless, these terms should also be construed accordingly to cover a situation where the enclosure is arranged so as to be turned on its side to be vertically arranged, or indeed in any orientation.

Briefly, the enclosure10comprises a housing11having a top face11A, bottom face11B, and side faces11C. The housing also has flanges12for fastening the storage enclosure10to a rack5. The storage enclosure10has a 5U height (approx. 222.2 mm), a width sized to fit in a standard 19 inch rack (approx 48 cm) and a depth of approximately 1 m.

The front part of the storage enclosure10contains two drawers20. Runners21positioned either side of the drawers20allow the drawers20to be moved forward and backward between a received position in the enclosure10(as shown by the topmost drawer20) and a withdrawn position (as shown by the lowermost drawer20). Each drawer20contains a plurality of bays22which are populated by disk drives100in carriers50. Each drawer20has a single layer of bays22arranged in three rows of fourteen disk drives extending across the width of the drawer20.

The rear of the enclosure10contains a plurality of cooling modules13arranged to draw cooling air through the enclosure10from front to rear; a plurality of power supply modules14, for providing power to the enclosure; cables17for making data and power connection with the disk drives in the drawers; and a plurality of electronics modules15, by which external connection may be made to the storage enclosure10and which provide the desired organisation of the disk drives100to the storage enclosure10. For example, the electronics modules15may arrange the disk drive units100as a RAID array, or a JBOD (Just a Bunch Of Disks), or SBOD (Switched Bunch Of Disks), etc. A midplane18is disposed between the front and rear of the enclosure10to distribute data and power signals between the various components of the enclosure10. The various ways of arranging modules at the rear of a storage enclosure are known in the art per se and are not described in detail herein.

FIG. 3shows a detailed view of a drawer20with some bays22populated with disk drives100in carriers50and some bays22empty. The structural framework of the drawer20consists of side members23and cross members24running between the side members23so as to define three general spaces27(shown inFIG. 2) within the drawer20corresponding respectively to the three rows of disk drives100. The cross members24have apertures26, which allow cooling air to be drawn through the enclosure10to cool the disk drive units. Guide members28are attached to the cross members24, and have shaping arranged help guide the disk drive carriers50into the bays22(described in more detail below). The guide members28may be manufactured for example from moulded plastics and attached to the cross members24. Each bay22also has an upward facing connector (omitted from the drawings for clarity) for connecting to a disk drive inserted into that bay22and the drawer20has further circuitry and cables (omitted from the drawings for clarity) for distributing the signal between the disk drives100and the midplane18.

FIG. 4shows a carrier50attached to a disk drive100. The carrier50comprises a cage-like structure that fits around the disk drive unit100, holding the disk drive unit100therein. The cage comprises a top piece55and a bottom piece56, which run along the sides103of the disk drive100, and a front end piece57and a rear end piece58at the front and the rear faces104,105of the disk drive100respectively, which connect between the top piece55and bottom piece56.

The front and end pieces57,58have shaping59to reciprocate with the shaping of the guide members28in the bays22(shown byFIG. 3) in order to guide the carrier50into and out of a received position within the bays22when advanced from above. The shaping59also includes a downward facing surface59afor engagement with the ejection system of the bays22(described below).

These pieces55,56,57,58may be made from for example moulded plastics. Preferably the pieces55,56,57,58are relatively thin in order to minimise the amount of space taken up by the carrier50and thus maximise the space in the enclosure10available for holding disk drive units.

The carrier50also has an adaptor board80. The adaptor board80is fixed to the front end piece57of the carrier50adjacent the rear end105of the disk drive unit100. The adaptor board80has a first connector81mounted on the board arranged to plug into the disk drive connector106. The adaptor board80has a second connector82at the bottom edge of the adaptor board80facing downwards with the disk drive100oriented as shown inFIG. 4, i.e. with the disk drive on its side103. Preferably, the second connector82is an edge connector. The first connector81and the second connector82are electrically connected together. Thus, when the carrier50is inserted into a bay22orientated as shown inFIG. 4with a downward plugging direction, the second connector82mates to the upward facing connector in the bay22(not shown) and thus connects the disk drive100to the enclosure10.

The top of the carrier50also has a latch assembly60, comprising a latch member61disposed along the top side of the disk drive100and slidably attached to the top piece55of the cage so as to be slidable a short distance longitudinally along the side103of the disk drive100(arrows91,91). The latch member61is shown in partial transparency inFIG. 4to enable the top piece55to be seen. The latch member61can preferably slide at least about 5 mm. The latch member61is preferably thin and made from sheet metal. A spring62or other biasing means is provided between the latch member61and the top piece55of the cage to bias the latch member61in a latching direction (arrow91). The latch member61has a ridged portion63in its centre which provides grip to the operator to allow the operator to operate the latch60(described below). A hook64extends downwardly at each corner of the latch member61with the end of the hook64facing the latching direction91, i.e. in the same direction as the one in which the latch member61is biased by the spring62. The upper surface of the end of the hook64is generally horizontal and provides a lock surface66. The lower surface of the end of the hook is angled to face downwardly and towards the latch direction91and provides a cam surface67.

Turning back toFIG. 3, the shaping of the guide members28has the form of a downwardly extending recessed portion71between two downwardly-extending protruding portions70in each bay22. As can be seen fromFIG. 3and the sectional view ofFIG. 5, a lift element72is disposed in a cavity73in each guide member28. The lift elements72can move up and down in the cavities73. A finger74of the lift element extends through a vertical slot75in the recessed portion71of the guide member28so as to extend into the channel between the protruding portions70. A spring76, or other biasing means, disposed in the cavity73biases the lift element72upwards. The lift elements72are preferably provided in the guide members28at both ends of the bay22.

When the carrier50is inserted into the bay22, the shaping59of the carrier50is received in the channel formed between the protruding portions70of the guide member28such that the carrier50is guided into the bay22as it is advanced downwards by the operator. Preferably the channel/shaping is different at the two ends of the carrier50so that in effect the carrier50is keyed to the bay22, preventing incorrect insertion of the carrier into the bay by the operator. When the carrier50is partway inserted into the bay22, the fingers74of the lift elements72contact the bearing surfaces59ain the front and rear pieces57,58of the carrier50, so as to provide a biasing force upwards as the carrier50is pushed fully home into the bay22by the operator pressing down on the carrier50. The lift elements72in the guide members28at the front and rear end of the bays preferably give a 4 kg preload.

As shown inFIGS. 6 and 7, the guide members28have hooks77for reciprocating and latching with the hooks64of the latch60of the carrier50. The hooks77each have a camming surface78facing in the opposite direction to the camming surface67of the carrier hooks64, and a lock surface79facing in the opposite direction to the horizontal lock surface79of the carrier hooks64.

As the carrier50is pushed fully home, the camming surfaces67of the hooks64of the carrier50engage and bear against with the camming surfaces78of the guide members28, causing the latch member61to move laterally (in the direction shown by arrow90inFIG. 4) against the bias of the spring62as the carrier50is pushed home until the hooks64,77clear each other. Once past each other, action of the spring62causes the latch member61to snap back in the latch direction91(shown byFIG. 4) into its locking position, wherein the lock surfaces66of the carrier hooks64are positioned underneath and facing the lock surfaces79of the guide member hooks77. At this point, the operator can stop applying downward pressure on the carrier50and the lock surfaces66,79of the hooks64,77bearing on each other against the upward bias provided the lift element72hold the carrier50securely in place in the bay22. This locking position is shown inFIG. 6.

If desired, a visual indicator can be provided to show the operator that the latch60has successfully engaged in the locked position, for example by providing a red portion somewhere on the top piece55which is visible when the latch60is in the unlocked position, but hidden by the latch member61when the latch60is in the locked position.

To remove a carrier50from a bay22, the latch60is released by the operator sliding the latch member61in the release direction90by applying a force to the ridged portion63on top of the latch60until the hooks64,77are clear of each other, as shown inFIG. 7. As the operator releases the downward pressure, the lift elements72lift up the carrier50partway out of the bay22so as to be slightly proud of other carriers50, allowing the sides of the carrier50to be gripped by the operator and thereby aiding simple removal of the carrier50from the enclosure10.

Thus a way of securing a disk drive100in a storage enclosure10is provided. Four latch points are provided with camming surfaces to ensure that the carrier50self-latches when it is pushed into the bay22. The arrangement of the latch member61ensures each corner of the carrier50is latched simultaneously.

The latch is also simple for the operator to manipulate. Once the carrier50is inserted into the entrance of the bay22, the operator simply pushes down the carrier50by applying downward pressure to the ridged portion63until the carrier50latches in place. To remove the carrier50, the operator simply pushes the latch member61to the release position by applying lateral pressure to the ridged portion63until the latch60disengages and the lift elements72lift the carrier50part way out of the bay22, and then grasps the carrier50at its sides and lifts the carrier50to complete the removal of the carrier50.

The preferred latch60has the advantage of taking very little space. In particular, the latch member61and top piece55of the carrier50can be arranged in a 2.2 mm high envelope in a preferred embodiment. The lateral movement of the latch member61between the locked and released positions is preferably more than 1 mm and less than 10 mm, and more preferably more than 2 mm and less than 5 mm, which is adequate to allow engagement and disengagement of the hooks64,73, whilst taking up little lateral space. This is highly beneficial, since this allows disk drive units100to be packed more tightly in the enclosure10, allowing more to be provided in an enclosure10of a given size.

Furthermore, the latch member61and bottom piece56of the carrier50extend around the sides of the disk drive100and slightly wrap around onto the top and bottom faces101,102of the disk drive100creating a channel85between the top and the bottom faces101,102adjacent disk drive units100in the drawer20bounded by the latch member61and bottom piece56of the carrier50. These channels85are aligned with the apertures26in the cross members24allowing cooling air to be drawn through the drawers20to cool the various disk drives100therein. Thus the latch60not only does not interfere with providing air flow to the disk drives100, but in fact contributes to forming an airflow channel to the disk drives100, allowing better cooling.

The carrier50has a single touch point to both insert and remove the disk drive from the enclosure10, which is ridged portion63to enable the operator to gain traction when moving it, which provides simple operation for the operator.

Other arrangements are possible. For example, lift elements72can be provided at either end or both ends of the disk drive100, or indeed other biasing means can be provided underneath the disk drive100. The lift elements72can be provided by the carriers50rather than the guide members28of the bays22. The latch assembly60may have hooks for engaging with the bays22at different positions. Other orientations of disk drive100in the carrier50and other plugging directions are possible.

FIGS. 8 and 9show in detail how the guide members28are attached to the cross members24.FIG. 8shows the rear of a guide member28, i.e. showing foremost the face that abuts the cross member24when attached to the cross member24. The lift element72and spring76in its cavity73can be seen. Projecting from the rear of the guide member28are a plurality of lugs95, three in this example, each comprising a shaft portion95aand a head portion95b. Preferably, there are at least three lugs96, though different numbers of lugs96are possible. However many lugs95are present, the lugs95are preferably staggered relative to each other so as to be not all co-linear. In this example, the lugs95are disposed at different heights on the guide member28and have at least two lateral positions relative to the vertical axis of the guide member28. A plurality of holes96is provided on the guide member28. The position of the holes96are a mirror image of the position of the lugs95.

FIG. 9shows a cross member24with guide members28attached to its far side (guide members28not shown on the foremost side for clarity). The cross member24has a plurality of holes96. In this example, there are two vertical columns of three holes96for each guide member. Each hole has a mount97attached thereto. The mounts97are compliant and may be made of any suitable material, for example an elastomer or another material capable of damping vibrations. The mounts97may be overmoulded to the holes96. The mount97has the general form of a bush, or grommet, or eyelet surrounding the hole, i.e. the mount97comprises a thin, generally circular portion lying against both the front and rear surfaces of the cross member24connected by a portion extending through the hole96, the mount97having a hole97atherethrough. The positions of the holes97acorrespond to the positions of the lugs95and holes96of the guide member28.

The guide member28can be attached to the cross member28by pushing the lugs95through the holes97ain the mounts97. The head portion95bis larger than the hole97ain the mount97but can pass through the hole97adue to the compliant material used for the mount97. When the head portion95bhas been forced through the hole97a, it prevents the guide member28from detaching from the cross member28during normal operation of the enclosure10. The guide member28can be removed by the operator pulling the guide member28clear by supplying a sufficient force to make the head portions95bpass back through the holes97a. Thus, the guide member28is securely held in position and the only contact between the guide member28and the cross member24is via the mounts97. This allows the mount97to provide isolation and/or vibration damping between the disk drive100and the supporting structure of the enclosure.

As will be appreciated, the remaining empty holes97ashown inFIG. 9are used to attach guide members28on the front face of the cross member24(“front-facing guide members” herein forth) for use with the row of bays22in front.FIG. 10shows a horizontal cross sectional view taken through line200(shown inFIG. 9) through the cross member24with both front- and rear-facing guide members28attached. The front-facing guide members28also have shaping70,71and lift elements72similar to the rear-facing guide member28shown inFIG. 8. Thus, when inserted into their bays22, the carriers50are constrained by guide members28at both ends of the bay22.

The combination of compliant mount97and rigid location array provided by the guide members28ensure spatial location within the chassis array whilst providing a “soft” mount. This allows the disk drives100in their carrier50to be isolated from their surrounding structure thus attenuating external vibrations entering the disk drive and affecting its servo performance and damping the disk drive concerned to help reduce vibration produced by that disk drive being transmitted to the rest of the system. This arrangement “floats” the guide members28in the drawer20on mounts in such a way that each axis (x, y & z and any combination thereof) is isolated from the rigid chassis23,24of the drawer20whilst still maintaining dimensional accuracy within the disk drive array.

Other arrangements are possible. For example, instead of the mounts97being individual bushes attached around the holes in the cross member24, the mounts can be provided by a sheet of resilient material (not shown) attached to the cross member24having holes corresponding to the holes96in the cross member24. The sheet of resilient material can for example be bonded to the cross member24. A sheet of resilient material would preferably be provided for each side of the cross member24(assuming guide members28were being mounted to both sides of the cross member24). The guide member28would then attach as before, with the lugs95being pushed through the holes in the sheet of resilient material and cross member24. Alternatively, this example can dispense with the arrangement of lugs of the guide member28being received in holes in the mounts97/cross member24. Instead, the resilient mounts can bonded between the cross member24and the guide member28. In both cases, a sheet of resilient material can be provided for each guide member28, or a single sheet can be provided for the whole of the cross member24, i.e. for multiple guide members28.

Embodiments of the present invention have been described with particular reference to the example illustrated. However, it will be appreciated that variations and modifications may be made to the examples described within the scope of the present invention.