Base board architecture for a server computer and method therefor

#The present disclosure generally relates to memory devices for use with computers and other processing apparatuses. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to Serial ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment; SATA) or Serially Attached SCSI (SAS) computer hard disk drives, system interfacing and a simplified tiled architecture for the base plane to provide signals and power to the hard disk drives.

#Hard disk drives (HDDs) using rotating media are a low-cost and robust solution for permanent storage of data. Current generations of HDDs exist in different form factors, with the 2.5″ form factor prevailing in the mobile sector and the 3.5″ form factor being the most common solution in desktop, server and workstation environments. The system interface of either of the above form factors may conform to the Serial ATA (SATA) or the Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) standard with the first being prevalent in the consumer market segment and the latter more commonly used in the enterprise market segment.

#Contemporary high density storage servers are typically modular designs having a drive enclosure and provisions to plug in additional modules into a server or storage bay. The modules are typically server modules or I/O modules that interface with the outside world through SAS connections. The modules are also typically field-replaceable units (FRUs), whereas the drive enclosure is the main unit of the entire configuration and uses a base board (also referred to as base plane or drive plane) as an interface to the drives. The drives are inserted from the top of the enclosure, which is referred to as top-loading configuration.

#FIG. 1 illustrates a top plan view of a typical base board as used in typical current high density servers.

#FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective view of the typical base board of FIG. 1 with a HDD inserted into a drive connector.

#FIG. 3 illustrates a base board divided into a mezzanine printed circuit board and several additional tiles, according to one aspect.

#The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appended drawings is intended as a description of various configurations and is not intended to represent the only configurations in which the concepts described herein may be practiced. The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of various concepts. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these concepts may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well known structures and components are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring such concepts.

#In the following description, certain terminology is used to describe certain features of one or more embodiments. The term “mass storage device” may refer to a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive, or any type of drive for storing data. Additionally, the term “mass storage device” may refer to other technologies, such as non-volatile memory express (NVMe) technology, for storing data on non-volatile memory devices.

#The present disclosure is directed to solving the problems of signal integrity and development cost of high speed server base boards used in high density or high capacity server computer systems having at least one compute node, server or I/O module (IOM), a power supply unit (PSU) or a power distribution unit (PDU) in any configuration known in the art, including bus bars. In the preferred embodiment, at least a portion of the base board is split into several identical tiles, each of which is capable of supporting four SAS, SATA or NVMe drives. A compute node may be adapted for network connection to a host system that communicates data to and from the compute node.