Server with vertical drive arrangement

1. A server comprising:

a planar backplane mounted in a horizontal orientation in a rack mount server; and

a plurality of disk drive connectors mounted to and extending vertically from the planar backplane that connect disk drives to the planar backplane and hold the disk drives in a vertical orientation in a dense server arrangement.

2. The server according to claim 1 further comprising:

a plurality of disk drive connectors coupled to the top and bottom surfaces of the planar backplane that connect the disk drives to the planar backplane and hold the disk drives in a vertical orientation in a dense server arrangement on both sides of the planar backplane.

3. The server according to claim 1 wherein:

the disk drives are mounted aligning a maximum disk drive dimension in the vertical orientation whereby server depth is minimized.

4. The server according to claim 1 further comprising:

at least one disk drive; and

a chassis configured to contain the at least one disk drive and the planar backplane.

5. The server according to claim 4 wherein:

the planar backplane is arranged as a printed circuit assembly; and

the server includes only the single printed circuit assembly.

6. The server according to claim 1 further comprising:

at least one fan arranged to direct airflow horizontally across the horizontally-oriented planar backplane.

7. A server comprising:

a planar backplane adapted for operation in a horizontal orientation in a server configured for rack mounting;

a plurality of disk drive connectors coupled to the planar backplane and configured to hold disk drives in a vertical orientation in a dense server arrangement; and

at least one four-bar linkage coupled to the planar backplane and adapted to insert and remove disk drives from the disk drive connectors, enabling the disk drives to be installed and removed via a horizontal motion and engaged and disengaged via a vertical motion.

8. A server comprising:

a chassis;

a single printed circuit assembly mounted interior to the chassis, the printed circuit assembly further comprising a planar backplane mounted in a horizontal orientation; and

at least one disk drive mounted to the planar backplane and attached in a vertical orientation on the planar backplane.

9. The server according to claim 8 wherein:

the planar backplane connects the at least one disk drive to the planar backplane to hold the at least one disk drive in a vertical orientation in a dense server arrangement.

10. The server according to claim 8 further comprising:

a plurality of disk drive connectors coupled to the top and bottom surfaces of the planar backplane that connect the disk drives to the planar backplane and hold the disk drives in a vertical orientation in a dense server arrangement on both sides of the planar backplane.

11. The server according to claim 8 wherein:

the disk drives are mounted aligning a maximum disk drive dimension in the vertical orientation whereby server depth is minimized.

12. The server according to claim 8 further comprising:

at least one fan arranged to direct airflow horizontally across the horizontally-oriented planar backplane in airflow channels between the vertically oriented disk drives whereby flow resistance is reduced.

13. A server comprising:

a chassis;

a single printed circuit assembly mounted interior to the chassis, the printed circuit assembly further comprising a planar backplane adapted for operation in a horizontal orientation;

at least one disk drive attached in a vertical orientation on planar backplane; and

at least one four-bar linkage coupled to the planar backplane and adapted to insert and remove disk drives from the disk drive connectors, enabling the disk drives to be installed and removed via a horizontal motion and engaged and disengaged via a vertical motion.

14. A method comprising:

arranging a planar backplane in a horizontal orientation in a rack mount server; and

configuring the planar backplane to connect to and mount a plurality of disk drives on at least one planar side of the planar backplane in a vertical orientation in a dense server arrangement.

15. The method according to claim 14 further comprising:

configuring the planar backplane to connect to and mount the plurality of disk drives on at least one planar side of the planar backplane in a vertical orientation on top and bottom planar backplane surfaces.

16. The method according to claim 14 further comprising:

configuring the planar backplane to connect to and mount the plurality of disk drives on at least one planar side of the planar backplane in an alignment with a maximum disk drive dimension in the vertical orientation whereby server depth is minimized.

17. The method according to claim 14 further comprising:

configuring a chassis to contain the at least one disk drive and the planar backplane;

arranging the planar backplane as a printed circuit assembly; and

configuring the server to include only the single printed circuit assembly.

18. The method according to claim 14 further comprising:

arranging at least one fan to direct airflow horizontally across the horizontally-oriented planar backplane in airflow channels between the vertically oriented disk drives whereby flow resistance is reduced.

19. A method comprising:

arranging a planar backplane in a horizontal orientation in a server configured for rack mounting;

configuring the planar backplane to accept and mount a plurality of disk drives in a vertical orientation in a dense server arrangement; and

coupling at least one four-bar linkage to the planar backplane; and

adapting the at least one four-bar linkage to insert and remove disk drives from the disk drive connectors.

20. The method according to claim 19 further comprising:

configuring the at least one four-bar linkage to install and remove the disk drives in a horizontal motion and to engage and disengage the disk drives in a vertical motion.