Patent ID: 7603515

Claim:
A midplane-less storage system comprising an enclosure including: a control board having an electrical connector attached thereto and a processing unit; a disk drive module including an adapter board and a disk drive, the disk drive having memory for storing data and an electrical connector, the adapter board having a first electrical connector that is directly electrically connected to the electrical connector of the disk drive, the adapter board having a controller and a second electrical connector that is mated to the electrical connector of the control board; and a communication bus extending from the control board to the disk drive module through the second electrical connector of the adapter board mated to the electrical connector of the control board and through the first electrical connector of the adapter board directly electrically connected to the electrical connector of the disk drive, the processing unit of the control board communicating with the controller of the adapter board over the communication bus in accordance with a communication protocol in order to control operation of the disk drive.