Patent ID: 7319586

Claim:
A method comprising: providing a single drive enclosure holding a plurality of disk drives including a first, a second, a third, and a fourth drive in a first row of disk drives, wherein the first row extends generally from an air-inlet side of the enclosure to an air-outlet side of the enclosure, wherein the first and second drives have major faces parallel to and at least as close to one another as they are to any other drives, the second and third drives have major faces parallel to and at least as close to one another as they are to any other drives, and the third and fourth drives have major faces parallel to and at least as close to one another as they are to any other drives, and wherein an air-inlet manifold extends along a first side of the first row and an air-outlet manifold extends along an opposite second side of the first row; flowing air generally from an air-inlet side of the enclosure into and at least partially through the air-inlet manifold in a direction generally toward an air-outlet side of the enclosure along a first side of the first row; flowing air between the first and second drives from the air-inlet manifold along the first side of the first row to the air-outlet manifold along a second side of the first row, flowing air between the second and third drives from the air-inlet manifold along the first side of the first row to the air-outlet manifold along the second side of the first row, and flowing air between the third and fourth drives from the air-inlet manifold along the first side of the first row to the air-outlet manifold along the second side of the first row.