Patent Application
20120229971
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of information handling system chassis, and more particularly to information handling system shared infrastructure chassis with flexible depth.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Large enterprises depend upon information handling systems to perform a number of vital functions, from supporting internal employee operations to public sales. Often, large enterprises have specialized information technology groups that manage information handling system operations. Information technology administrators are typically tasked with maintaining enterprise server information handling system data centers where banks of server information handling system racks operate to support enterprise operations. Each server information handling system rack supports multiple information handling systems with access to power and cooling resources. Over time, many large enterprises have built multiple data centers distributed around the world to provide local resources for customers and employees and to provide redundancy in the event of disruptions that might occur at particular locations, such as power outages due to natural disasters. Most data centers have similar structures that are designed to provide power and cooling to information handling systems, however, the specific power and cooling capabilities of a data center often vary depending upon when and where the data center was built. For example, power consumption of processing components has tended to grow over time with increased processing capability of the processing components, so older data centers tend to support less power per unit area than newer locations.
Variations in data center capability present information handling system manufacturers with difficult design choices. One choice is to maximize the amount of components that can fit in an information handling system with a very deep and power hungry solution that needs a deep server rack and dense cooling, however this limits design to use in only the newest data centers. Another choice is to design an information handling system to fit in the smallest data center, however, this limits product features and typically results in reduced sales to newer data centers because it leaves expensive data center capability unused. Another choice is to develop new information handling systems around specific depth requirements of each individual customer, however, individual designs for specific customers are generally cost prohibitive. Some limited ability does exist to adapt a given chassis to different usable depths, such as by using an adjustable EIA flange or by cutting an extrusion to length and filling in wall lengths. One example is the DELL 4220 and 4820 racks, which use common internal components with EIA flanges cut to either 42 U or 48 U tall and fills empty space with doors and structural pieces. The limited adaptability provided in this manner comes with considerable complexity and cost.
Therefore a need has arisen for a system and method which provides a chassis having a shared infrastructure that supports a factory configurable depth.
In accordance with the present invention, a system and method are provided which substantially reduce the disadvantages and problems associated with previous methods and systems for adjusting a chassis to accept different amounts of processing components. A tray component adjusts in depth to fit in chassis support components having different depths. The tray component is configured with processing components based on space available for a selected depth.
More specifically, a data center determines the depth available for a server rack based on available space or other factors. A chassis support component having plural slots, each slot having an appropriate depth, is selected from plural chassis support components of plural different depth. A tray component for each of plural slots is selected from between selectable depths to a depth that fits within the chassis component slot depth. For example, overlapping support bases are slid relative to each other to adjust the tray component depth and then locked in place with a screw. The tray component is populated with processing components that will fit into selected depth, such as processing components that support a server or a storage function. An infrastructure component couples to the chassis support component in the slot proximate the tray component to provide power, cooling or other infrastructure functions.
The present invention provides a number of important technical advantages. One example of an important technical advantage is that an end user's information handling system features are optimized around the depth that the end user has available in a data center. Adjustable chassis depth provides a low cost solution using a common basic architecture for multiple depths. Infrastructure components need only be engineered once in order to support multiple configurations and depth. Design and manufacture costs are reduced while flexibility is increased for meeting specific customer needs as defined by existing data center cooling and power infrastructure capabilities.
The present invention may be better understood, and its numerous objects, features and advantages made apparent to those skilled in the art by referencing the accompanying drawings. The use of the same reference number throughout the several figures designates a like or similar element.
A server rack adapts to different depths by positioning an infrastructure component relative to a processing tray of a selected depth with different sized processing trays provide information handling systems of varying capability. For purposes of this disclosure, an information handling system may include any instrumentality or aggregate of instrumentalities operable to compute, classify, process, transmit, receive, retrieve, originate, switch, store, display, manifest, detect, record, reproduce, handle, or utilize any form of information, intelligence, or data for business, scientific, control, or other purposes. For example, an information handling system may be a personal computer, a network storage device, or any other suitable device and may vary in size, shape, performance, functionality, and price. The information handling system may include random access memory (RAM), one or more processing resources such as a central processing unit (CPU) or hardware or software control logic, ROM, and/or other types of nonvolatile memory. Additional components of the information handling system may include one or more disk drives, one or more network ports for communicating with external devices as well as various input and output (I/O) devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a video display. The information handling system may also include one or more buses operable to transmit communications between the various hardware components.
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Server rack information handling system 12 provides a data center solution with a shared infrastructure that supports a factory configurable depth. The solution breaks server rack information handling system 12 into three separable components: a tray component 22 that contains the processing components for performing the server and storage functions; a chassis support component that is essentially a large support shelf that holds plural tray components 22 in slots 14; and an infrastructure component 26 that provides infrastructure, such as power and cooling. The location of infrastructure component 26 is variable along the depth of slot 14 based upon the attachment point 28 where infrastructure component 26 attaches to chassis support component 24. The depth of the location of infrastructure component 26 may be set during manufacture of the chassis or after delivery to a data center. The depth of tray component 22 is set to fill the portion of slot 14 that remains available after infrastructure component 26 is installed. The capability of the processing components disposed on tray component 22 depends in part on the amount of room that is provided on tray component 22 after the position of infrastructure component 26 is established.
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Although the present invention has been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made hereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
