Drive carrier with in-molded screw plate

A method, comprising:

• providing a mold for a lateral rail of a drive carrier, the mold comprising first and second walls and alignment pins coupled to the first wall adjacent a location at which a screw hole is to be formed in the lateral rail;
• providing a screw plate comprising a screw passthrough and alignment holes;
• mounting the screw plate to the first wall of the mold by inserting the alignment pins into the alignment holes;
• and
• forming the lateral rail with the screw plate in-molded therein by injecting molten plastic into the mold while the screw plate is mounted to the wall of the mold.

A computing system, comprising:

• a system chassis comprising a plurality of bays configured to removably receive drive carrier assemblies, respectively;
• a compute node housed in the system chassis;
• a plurality of a drive carrier assemblies received within the bays, respectively, wherein each of the drive carrier assembly comprises:
• a drive carrier comprising at least a first lateral rail formed from plastic and comprising a screw hole, and a metal screw plate in-molded into the first lateral rail surrounding the screw hole;
• and
• a media drive secured to the drive carrier by a screw inserted through the screw hole;
• wherein each of the media drives is communicably connected to the compute node.