Methods and apparatus for securing disk drives in a disk array

An apparatus for supporting a plurality of disk drives in a disk array system, comprising:

• a cage defining a plurality of openings, the cage configured to be received within an enclosure;
• a plurality of disk drives rigidly connected to one another, and wherein the plurality of disk drives are rigidly mounted in the cage;
• and
• a locking system configured to secure individual disk drives into the openings in the cage in a rigid manner.

A disk array system comprising:

• a plurality of disk drives rigidly connected to one another;
• a chassis configured to support the plurality of disk drives;
• a frame configured to support the chassis;
• a disk drive connecting member rigidly connected to the plurality of disk drives to thereby rigidly connect the disk drives to one another;
• and
• wherein the disk drives are rigidly secured to the chassis, and the chassis is rigidly secured to the frame.

A disk array system comprising:

• a plurality of disk drives rigidly connected to one another;
• a chassis configured to support the plurality of disk drives;
• a frame configured to support the chassis;
• and wherein:
• at least a first one of the disk drives defines a tongue element of a tongue-and-groove connector;
• at least a second one of the disk drives defines a groove element of a tongue-and-groove connector;
• and
• wherein the tongue element of the first one of the disk drives is connected to the groove element of the second one of the disk drives to form a tongue-and-groove connection between the disk drives, and wherein the tongue element and the groove element form an interference fit there between to thereby rigidly connect the disk drives to one another.

A disk array system comprising:

• a plurality of disk drives rigidly connected to one another;
• a chassis configured to support the plurality of disk drives;
• a frame configured to support the chassis;
• and wherein
• at least a first one of the disk drives defines a first groove element of a tongue-and-groove connector;
• at least a second one of the disk drives defines a second groove element of a tongue-and-groove connector;
• and
• further comprising a tongue element;
• and
• wherein the first groove element and the second groove element are positioned juxtaposed to one another, the tongue element is inserted into the juxtaposed groove elements, and the tongue element and the groove elements form an interference fit there between to thereby rigidly connect the disk drives to one another.

A method of supporting a plurality of disk drives in a disk array system, comprising:

• providing a first disk drive;
• providing a second disk drive;
• rigidly connecting the first disk drive to the second disk drive;
• mounting the rigidly connected disk drives into the disk array system;
• and
• wherein a first and a second of the disk drives are each characterized by a self-excitation force when in operation, each of the self excitation forces producing a characteristic frequency resulting in a characteristic vibration pattern for each disk drive, the method further comprising inverting one of the disk drives before connecting it to the other disk drive to thereby allow the characteristic vibration pattern of each disk drive to attenuate the characteristic vibration pattern of the other disk drive.

A method of supporting a plurality of disk drives in a disk array system, comprising:

• providing a plurality of disk drives in a matrix, the matrix comprising a plurality of rows of the disk drives and a plurality of columns of the of the disk drives;
• rigidly connecting the disk drives in each row to one another;
• rigidly connecting the disk drives in each column to one another;
• and mounting the disk drives into the disk array system.