Standard form factor electronic module carrier comprising multiple separately-removable sub-carriers
An electronic module carrier in one embodiment comprises a carrier housing having a front portion and a rear portion, and a plurality of sub-carriers configured for separate insertion into and removal from respective sub-carrier slots in the front portion of the carrier housing. Each of the sub-carriers is configured to support at least one non-volatile memory module. The electronic module carrier is configured with a designated standard form factor for insertion into and removal from a carrier slot in a front portion of an electronic equipment chassis. For example, the standard form factor may be a 2.5″ storage drive form factor. The non-volatile memory modules may comprise respective flash drives or other types of non-volatile memory modules implemented using an M.2 form factor.
1. An electronic module carrier comprising:
a carrier housing having a front portion and a rear portion; and
a plurality of sub-carriers configured for separate insertion into and removal from respective sub-carrier slots in the front portion of the carrier housing;
wherein each of the sub-carriers is configured to support at least one non-volatile memory module; and
wherein a given one of the sub-carriers comprises:
a slidable tray configured for attachment of a corresponding one of the non-volatile memory modules thereto; and
a sub-carrier latching mechanism coupled to a front portion of the slidable tray and configured to allow the slidable tray to be secured in place within the carrier housing when the slidable tray is fully inserted into its corresponding sub-carrier slot in the front portion of the carrier housing.
2. The electronic module carrier of claim 1 wherein the electronic module carrier is configured with a designated standard form factor for insertion into and removal from a carrier slot in a front portion of an electronic equipment chassis.
3. The electronic module carrier of claim 2 wherein the standard form factor comprises a 2.5″ storage drive form factor.
4. The electronic module carrier of claim 2 wherein the electronic module carrier and a plurality of additional carriers each having the standard form factor are configured for separate insertion into and removal from respective carrier slots in the front portion of the electronic equipment chassis.
5. The electronic module carrier of claim 1 wherein at least a subset of the non-volatile memory modules comprise respective flash drives.
6. The electronic module carrier of claim 1 wherein at least a subset of the non-volatile memory modules comprise respective M.2 modules.
7. The electronic module carrier of claim 1 wherein at least a subset of the non-volatile memory modules are configured as respective hot-pluggable modules.
8. The electronic module carrier of claim 1 wherein the sub-carrier slots in the front portion of the carrier housing are arranged in an n-by-m matrix of equal-sized slots wherein n and m are positive integers at least one of which is greater than or equal to two.
9. The electronic module carrier of claim 8 wherein both n and m are equal to two.
10. The electronic module carrier of claim 1 wherein the rear portion of the carrier housing comprises a plurality of circuit card edge connectors configured to mate with corresponding circuit card edges of respective ones of the non-volatile memory modules when their respective sub-carriers are fully inserted into the respective sub-carrier slots.
11. The electronic module carrier of claim 1 wherein the rear portion of the carrier housing further comprises at least one circuit board having installed thereon PCIe interface circuitry adapted for connection to the non-volatile memory modules when their respective sub-carriers are fully inserted into the respective sub-carrier slots.
12. The electronic module carrier of claim 11 wherein said at least one circuit board further comprises at least one PCIe switch integrated circuit.
13. The electronic module carrier of claim 1 wherein a given one of the sub-carriers comprises:
at least one light-emitting diode arranged at a rear portion of the sub-carrier;
at least one corresponding indicator element arranged at a front portion of the sub-carrier; and
at least one light pipe configured to couple light from the at least one light-emitting diode to the at least one corresponding indicator element.
14. The electronic module carrier of claim 1 wherein sub-carrier latching mechanisms of respective ones of the sub-carriers of the electronic module carrier when in their respective locked positions are deployed within a frontal periphery of the carrier with the frontal periphery being defined at least in part by a carrier latching mechanism coupled to the front portion of the carrier housing.
15. A method comprising:
configuring an electronic module carrier to include a carrier housing having a front portion and a rear portion; and
providing a plurality of sub-carriers configured for separate insertion into and removal from respective sub-carrier slots in the front portion of the carrier housing;
wherein each of the sub-carriers is configured to support at least one non-volatile memory module; and
wherein a given one of the sub-carriers comprises:
a slidable tray configured for attachment of a corresponding one of the non-volatile memory modules thereto; and
a sub-carrier latching mechanism coupled to a front portion of the slidable tray and configured to allow the slidable tray to be secured in place within the carrier housing when the slidable tray is fully inserted into its corresponding sub-carrier slot in the front portion of the carrier housing.
16. The method of claim 15 further comprising configuring the electronic module carrier with a designated standard form factor for insertion into and removal from a carrier slot in a front portion of an electronic equipment chassis.
17. The method of claim 16 wherein the standard form factor comprises a 2.5″ storage drive form factor.
18. An electronic equipment chassis comprising:
a chassis housing having a front portion and a rear portion;
the front portion of the chassis housing comprising a plurality of carrier slots;
the carrier slots being configured for insertion and removal of respective ones of a plurality of carriers each having a standard form factor;
wherein at least one of the carriers comprises an electronic module carrier, the electronic module carrier comprising:
a carrier housing having a front portion and a rear portion; and
a plurality of sub-carriers configured for separate insertion into and removal from respective sub-carrier slots in the front portion of the carrier housing;
wherein each of the sub-carriers is configured to support at least one non-volatile memory module; and
wherein a given one of the sub-carriers comprises:
a slidable tray configured for attachment of a corresponding one of the non-volatile memory modules thereto; and
a sub-carrier latching mechanism coupled to a front portion of the slidable tray and configured to allow the slidable tray to be secured in place within the carrier housing when the slidable tray is fully inserted into its corresponding sub-carrier slot in the front portion of the carrier housing.
19. The electronic equipment chassis of claim 18 wherein the carrier slots in the front portion of the electronic equipment chassis are configured as respective parallel and vertically-oriented carrier slots.
20. An electronic equipment rack comprising at least one electronic equipment chassis as recited in claim 18 .