Configuring a modular storage system

A modular storage system in communication with a host, comprising:

• a plurality of drive bays for disk drives;
• a first enclosure including:
• a first controller canister including first controller canister processing components comprising a first processor, a first memory for use by the first processor, and first controller canister hardware to communicate with the disk drives when positioned in the drive bays and coupled to the drive bays, a first host interface to communicate with the host, and a plurality of lanes to connect to a bus interface to connect with the host interface;
• a first expansion canister including first expansion canister processing components, and first expansion canister hardware required to communicate with the disk drives when positioned in the drive bays, wherein the first expansion canister processing components comprise instances of a subset of fewer of the first controller canister processing components in the first controller canister, wherein the first controller canister occupies a greater volume of the first enclosure than the first expansion canister, and wherein the first expansion canister does not include any additional host interface to communicate with the host;
• and
• at least one first power supply supplying power to the first controller canister and the first expansion canister;
• and
• a second enclosure including:
• a second controller canister including second controller canister processing components comprising a second processor, a second memory for use by the second processor, and second controller canister hardware to communicate with the disk drives when positioned in the drive bays;
• a second expansion canister including second expansion canister processing components and second expansion canister hardware required to communicate with the disk drives when positioned in the drive bays, wherein the second expansion canister processing components comprise instances of a subset of fewer of instances of the second controller canister processing components in the second controller canister, wherein the second controller canister occupies a greater volume of the second enclosure than the second expansion canister;
• and
• at least one second power supply supplying power to the second controller canister and the second expansion canister.

A method for configuring a modular storage system comprising:

• inserting two enclosures into the modular storage system having controller canisters and expansion canisters, wherein each of the two enclosures comprises a plurality of drive bays, one of the controller canisters, one of the expansion canisters, and a midplane connecting the drive bays to the controller and the expansion canisters, wherein each of the controller canisters includes controller canister processing components comprising a processor, memory for use by the processor, controller canister hardware to communicate with disk drives when positioned in the drive bays, a host interface to communicate with a host, and a plurality of lanes to connect to a bus interface switch to connect with the host interface, wherein each of the expansion canisters includes expansion canister processing components and expansion canister hardware required to communicate with the disk drives when positioned in the drive bays, wherein the expansion canister processing components comprise instances of a subset of fewer of the controller canister processing components in the controller canister, wherein each of the expansion canisters does not include any additional host interface to communicate with the host, wherein each of the controller canisters occupies a greater volume than one of the expansion canisters in a same enclosure of the two enclosures, and wherein each of the two enclosures include at least one power supply to supply power to the controller and the expansion canisters.