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Their comments about storage cluster density are interesting. I'm still shocked that hard drive design basically hasn't changed at all. What I'd like to see is

Their comments about storage cluster density are interesting. I'm still shocked that hard drive design basically hasn't changed at all. What I'd like to see is hard-drives that don't need to be screwed in and don't need sleds. Instead they are machined with grooves on the tops, bottoms and sides to be "slide in, slide out" and have the grooves be multipurpose in the sense that they are designed for airflow. i.e. the top of one hard drive mates with the bottom of an identical hard drive to create channels through which air can be forced through and cool both drives maximally, simultaneously. Basically take the level of machining Apple puts into designing the the Macbook Pros and apply it to hard drives. If designed correctly, you should be able to pack them together, side by side in a way that they lock (like a jigsaw puzzle or the Heineken World Bottle[0]) in a stable "lattice" of hard drives that only permit sliding out to one side and permit efficient cooling. Screws and sleds are so yesteryear. [0] http://www.fastcodesign.com/1672684/heineken-s-lost-plan-to-build-houses-out-of-beer-bottles http://www.fastcodesign.com/1672684/heineken-s-lost-plan-to-... [1] I hope that HN comments like these constitute prior art in case someone decides to go out and do this and patent the idea.

jemfinch 13y ago
Your idea sounds heavy. A lot of storage deployments are limited (surprisingly) not by space or power, but by the weight that can be supported on the raised floors common in POPs, so something that increases (storage) density while simultaneously increasing (mass) density would be a non-starter.
deleted 13y ago
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sigstoat 13y ago
since the tops are thin sheet metal, and the bottoms are circuit boards, i don't think we'll see mating surfaces there. but they could probably make some side grooves, and little cutouts for spring loaded latches to catch on. add some cutouts on the front that something could grab onto, and you might be able to avoid the need for the sled and screws, without building up an entire latticework out of drives. there probably needs to be structure to hold the back plane(s) and line them up with the drives, anyways.
- malandrew 13y ago
  I get the impression that the circuit board would be best placed on one of the sides or entirely on one end. Placing it on the bottom pretty much nullifies efficient heat exchange along one of the broadest surfaces to use for cooling.
jlgaddis 13y ago
> ... pack them together, side by side in a way that they lock ... So what happens when you have, say, five drives like that and the one in the middle fails? How do you get it out?
- malandrew 13y ago
  I was trying to describe something where that isn't a problem. Hence the emphasis on being able to slide out in my original comment.
Amadou 13y ago
There have been consumer-grade sledless disk "docks" for SATA since practically the day the standard was created. Here's one: http://www.icydock.com/goods.php?id=163 http://www.icydock.com/goods.php?id=163 I suspect they are prone to vibration issues that would make them inappropriate for enterprise use, but here's a rackable enclosure too: http://www.serialcables.com/products.asp?cat=305&tier=255 http://www.serialcables.com/products.asp?cat=305&tier=255

jemfinch 13y ago

Your idea sounds heavy. A lot of storage deployments are limited (surprisingly) not by space or power, but by the weight that can be supported on the raised floors common in POPs, so something that increases (storage) density while simultaneously increasing (mass) density would be a non-starter.

deleted 13y ago

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sigstoat 13y ago

since the tops are thin sheet metal, and the bottoms are circuit boards, i don't think we'll see mating surfaces there. but they could probably make some side grooves, and little cutouts for spring loaded latches to catch on. add some cutouts on the front that something could grab onto, and you might be able to avoid the need for the sled and screws, without building up an entire latticework out of drives. there probably needs to be structure to hold the back plane(s) and line them up with the drives, anyways.

malandrew 13y ago
I get the impression that the circuit board would be best placed on one of the sides or entirely on one end. Placing it on the bottom pretty much nullifies efficient heat exchange along one of the broadest surfaces to use for cooling.

jlgaddis 13y ago

> ... pack them together, side by side in a way that they lock ... So what happens when you have, say, five drives like that and the one in the middle fails? How do you get it out?

malandrew 13y ago
I was trying to describe something where that isn't a problem. Hence the emphasis on being able to slide out in my original comment.

Amadou 13y ago

There have been consumer-grade sledless disk "docks" for SATA since practically the day the standard was created. Here's one: http://www.icydock.com/goods.php?id=163 http://www.icydock.com/goods.php?id=163 I suspect they are prone to vibration issues that would make them inappropriate for enterprise use, but here's a rackable enclosure too: http://www.serialcables.com/products.asp?cat=305&tier=255 http://www.serialcables.com/products.asp?cat=305&tier=255