초록 ▼

A system for receiving and supporting a plurality of devices connected to a network. The system comprises a rack having a front side providing access to a plurality of chassis bays for receiving a chassis and aligning a back end of the chassis for blind docking with an electrical power source. The c

A system for receiving and supporting a plurality of devices connected to a network. The system comprises a rack having a front side providing access to a plurality of chassis bays for receiving a chassis and aligning a back end of the chassis for blind docking with an electrical power source. The chassis includes a power supply, a fan, and a front side providing access to a plurality of module bays for receiving a module and aligning a back end of the module for blind docking with the power supply. A compute module is received in a module bay and directly blind docked to the power supply. The system further includes at least one other module received in a module bay within the same chassis as the compute module and directly blind docked with the same power supply along with the compute module. The at least one other module is interchangeably selected from the group consisting of a second compute module and an expansion module, wherein the one or more components of the expansion module are controlled by the motherboard of the compute module within the same chassis.

대표청구항 ▼

What is claimed is: 1. A system for receiving and supporting a plurality of modules, comprising: a rack having a front side providing access to a plurality of chassis bays, each chassis bay being adapted to receive a chassis and align a back end of the chassis for blind docking with an electrical p

What is claimed is: 1. A system for receiving and supporting a plurality of modules, comprising: a rack having a front side providing access to a plurality of chassis bays, each chassis bay being adapted to receive a chassis and align a back end of the chassis for blind docking with an electrical power source; a chassis received in a chassis bay and blind docked to an electrical power source, the chassis including a power supply, a fan, and a front side providing access to a plurality of module bays, each module bay configured to receive a module and align a back end of the module for blind docking with the power supply; a compute module received in a module bay and directly blind docked to the power supply, the compute module including a motherboard in communication with an input/output panel on a front side of the module; and at least one other module received in a module bay within the same chassis as the compute module and directly blind docked with the same power supply along with the compute module, wherein the at least one other module is interchangeably selected from the group consisting of a second compute module and an expansion module, wherein the expansion module includes one or more components selected from the group consisting of a hard disk drive, PCI card, or combinations thereof, and wherein the one or more components of the expansion module are controlled by the motherboard of the computer module within the same chassis. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the rack forms two columns of chassis bays. 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the chassis includes two module bays. 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the chassis includes twelve 3.5 inch disk drive bays and one compute module bay. 5. The system of claim 1, further comprising: a plurality of chassis, each chassis received in a chassis bay of the rack, wherein the plurality of chassis includes at least one chassis with two module bays and at least one chassis with three module bays. 6. The system of claim 1, further comprising: a plurality of chassis, each chassis received in a chassis bay of the rack, wherein the plurality of chassis includes at least one chassis including two compute modules and at least one chassis including a compute module and an expansion module. 7. The system of claim 6, wherein the compute module includes a disk drive bay. 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one other module is an expansion module. 9. The system of claim 1, further comprising: a plurality of chassis, each chassis including at least one compute module; and a network switch disposed in the rack and having an input/output panel accessible from the front of the rack; and wherein each compute module communicates with the network switch via a cable having both ends fully accessible from the front of the rack without disturbing the position of any other component of the system. 10. The system of claim 9, wherein the network switch extends perpendicular to each compute module and is disposed along the side of each compute module. 11. The system of claim 10, wherein each cable extends between the input/output panel of a compute module and the input/output panel of the switch without blocking the front of adjacent compute modules. 12. The system of claim 1, wherein the rack has a back side opposite the front side, wherein the back side provides an air opening that is covered by a heat exchanger. 13. The system of claim 12, wherein an operational position of the heat exchanger blocks access to the plurality of modules from the back side of the rack. 14. The system of claim 13, wherein the heat exchanger is hinged to the rack for movement between the operational position and a second position for access into the rack from the back side of the rack. 15. The system of claim 12, wherein the fans direct air flow into the front side of the rack and out the back side of the rack through the heat exchanger. 16. The system of claim 12, wherein the heat exchanger includes tubes for circulating a cooling fluid. 17. The system of claim 16, wherein the heat exchanger is a fin tube heat exchanger. 18. The system of claim 1, wherein the input/output panel of each compute module provides the only communication pathway between that compute module and any other compute module in a different chassis. 19. The system of claim 1, wherein each compute module is a basic server. 20. The system of claim 1, wherein the fans are powered and controlled by the power supply in the same chassis.