Top accessible disk drive carrier for horizontally mounted hard drive

A disk drive carrier comprising:

• a frame including:
• a plurality of supports configured to be in physical communication with a disk drive;
• a first index tab connected to the supports, the first index tab configured to align the disk drive with a connector on a backplane of a server tray;
• and an arm connected to the supports, the arm configured to engage the disk drive with the connector in a horizontal orientation;
• and a shuttle including:
• an enclosure to receive the frame and the disk drive in a vertical orientation, wherein the shuttle is configured to horizontally move along the server tray and to enable the disk drive to connect with the connector in the horizontal orientation;
• and an alignment key connected to the enclosure, the alignment key configured to slide along the first index tab and to align the disk drive with the connector;
• and a lock of the shuttle, wherein the lock is configured to hold the shuttle in a first position to enable the disk drive to connect with the backplane.

A disk drive frame comprising:

• a plurality of supports configured to be in physical communication with a disk drive;
• and an arm connected to the supports, the arm configured to engage the disk drive with a connector on a backplane of a server tray in a horizontal orientation;
• an enclosure of a shuttle, wherein the disk drive and disk drive frame are inserted into the enclosure in a vertical direction from the top of the disk drive frame prior to the disk drive being engaged with the connector on the backplane;
• and a lock of the shuttle, wherein the lock is configured to hold the shuttle in a first position to enable the disk drive to connect with the backplane.