Direct connection hard disk system, hard disk daughter board and server

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of servers, and particularly discloses a direct connection hard disk system, a hard disk daughter board and a server. The hard disk daughter board and a backboard board card which are detachably connected are designed, and the hard disk daughter board is detachably connected with the backboard board card through a first hard disk state signal connector; an uplink data interface of a hard disk connector on the hard disk daughter board is directly connected with the server mainboard through a high-speed signal line, a downlink data interface of the hard disk connector is connected with a hard disk, and a hard disk state signal and a power signal of the hard disk connector are connected with a backboard controller of the backboard board card through a first hard disk state signal connector. Compared with a traditional direct-connection hard disk backboard, the universal backboard board card can be used in a cross-generation mode, only corresponding hard disk daughter boards need to be additionally arranged according to the number and the type of hard disks, a high-speed signal link is shortened, the impedance design difficulty is lowered, heat dissipation is facilitated, and noise and power consumption of the whole machine are lowered.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of servers, and in particular to a direct-connected hard disk system, a hard disk daughter board and a server. Background Art

[0002] The direct-connected hard disk backplane is one of the key components of the server system and is the bridge between the server motherboard and the storage unit (hard disk). The current direct-connected hard disk backplane needs to access the high-speed transmission signal of the hard disk to provide power supply, status monitoring, and expansion of the number of hard disks. However, due to the large variety of hard disk forms, bandwidths, and speeds, the device layout and routing methods of each backplane are different and cannot be reused with each other. As a result, as the storage architecture of the server is constantly updated, the structural design of the direct-connected hard disk backplane always needs to be changed accordingly.

[0003] How to improve the versatility of the direct-connected hard disk backplane of the server is a technical problem that technical personnel in this field need to solve. Summary of the invention

[0004] The object of the present invention is to provide a direct-connected hard disk system, a hard disk daughter board and a server, so as to improve the versatility of the direct-connected hard disk backplane of the server.

[0005] In order to solve the above technical problems, the present invention provides a direct-connect hard disk system, including a hard disk daughter board and a backplane card; The hard disk sub-board comprises a hard disk connector and a first hard disk status signal connector, and the hard disk sub-board is detachably connected to the backplane board through the first hard disk status signal connector; The upstream data interface of the hard disk connector is directly connected to the downstream connector of the server mainboard through a high-speed signal line. The downstream data interface of the hard disk connector is used to connect the hard disk. The hard disk status signal and power signal of the hard disk connector are connected to the backplane controller of the backplane board through the first hard disk status signal connector.

[0006] On the one hand, the upstream data interface of the hard disk connector is connected to the downstream connector of the server mainboard through a high-speed signal cable.

[0007] On the other hand, the first hard disk status signal connector and the second hard disk status signal connector of the backplane board are plug-in connected.

[0008] On the other hand, it also includes a limiting device fixed to the backplane board for fixing the hard disk sub-board, the hard disk sub-board is provided with a buckle and a buckle releasing structure, and the limiting device is provided with a limiting structure corresponding to the buckle and the buckle releasing structure.

[0009] On the other hand, the high-speed signal link of the hard disk connector and the hard disk status signal line between the hard disk connector and the first hard disk status signal connector are installed at 90 degrees.

[0010] On the other hand, the high-speed signal line includes a high-speed clock signal line and a high-speed data signal line.

[0011] On the other hand, the high-speed signal line is a high-speed data signal line.

[0012] On the other hand, the reset pin and the device hot-swap management pin of the first hard disk status signal connector are connected to the downstream connector of the server mainboard through the solder wire connector and the cable of the hard disk daughter board.

[0013] On the other hand, the backplane board includes a second hard disk status signal connector, the backplane controller, a two-wire serial bus connector, an asset information storage chip, a temperature sensor, and a power connector; Wherein, the second hard disk status signal connector is used to connect the first hard disk status signal connector to the backplane controller; The two-wire serial bus connector is used to connect the server mainboard with the backplane controller, and the asset information storage chip and the temperature sensor are connected to the two-wire serial bus connector; The power connector is used to connect the power supply of the server mainboard and convert the power supply into the power supply output required by the backplane card.

[0014] On the other hand, the backplane board also includes a two-wire serial bus channel switching chip, the first end of the two-wire serial bus channel switching chip is connected to the second end of the two-wire serial bus connector, the first end of the two-wire serial bus connector is connected to the out-of-band monitoring system of the server mainboard, and the second end of the two-wire serial bus channel switching chip is connected to the first hard disk status signal connectors of multiple corresponding hard disk sub-boards via multiple second hard disk status signal connectors.

[0015] On the other hand, the hard disk daughter board is connected to the hard disk in a one-to-one correspondence.

[0016] On the other hand, the plurality of hard disk sub-boards are arranged horizontally and evenly mounted on the backplane board.

[0017] In order to solve the above technical problems, the present invention further provides a hard disk daughter board, comprising: A hard disk connector, wherein the upstream data interface of the hard disk connector is directly connected to the downstream connector of the server mainboard through a high-speed signal line, and the downstream data interface of the hard disk connector is used to connect the hard disk; A first hard disk status signal connector is connected to the backplane controller of the backplane board and is used to transmit hard disk status signals and power signals; The hard disk connector and the first hard disk status signal connector are designed to be separated, and the hard disk status signal of the hard disk connector is connected to the first hard disk status signal connector.

[0018] On the one hand, the upstream data interface of the hard disk connector is connected to the downstream connector of the server mainboard through a high-speed signal cable.

[0019] On the other hand, the first hard disk status signal connector and the second hard disk status signal connector of the backplane board are plug-in connected.

[0020] On the other hand, the high-speed signal link of the hard disk connector and the hard disk status signal line between the hard disk connector and the first hard disk status signal connector are installed at 90 degrees.

[0021] On the other hand, the hard disk daughter board is connected to the hard disk in a one-to-one correspondence.

[0022] In order to solve the above technical problems, the present invention also provides a server, including a server mainboard, a direct-connected hard disk system and a hard disk; The direct-connect hard disk system includes a hard disk daughter board and a backplane board; The hard disk sub-board comprises a hard disk connector and a first hard disk status signal connector, and the hard disk sub-board is detachably connected to the backplane board through the first hard disk status signal connector; The upstream data interface of the hard disk connector is directly connected to the downstream connector of the server mainboard through a high-speed signal line. The downstream data interface of the hard disk connector is used to connect the hard disk. The hard disk status signal and power signal of the hard disk connector are connected to the backplane controller of the backplane card through the first hard disk status signal connector.

[0023] On the one hand, the backplane board is installed horizontally on the server mainboard, and the hard disk daughter board is installed vertically on the backplane board.

[0024] On the other hand, the backplane board is installed vertically to the server mainboard, and the hard disk sub-board is horizontal to the server mainboard and installed vertically to the backplane board.

[0025] The direct-connected hard disk system provided by the present invention has the beneficial effect of designing a detachably connected hard disk daughter board and a backplane board card, the hard disk daughter board includes a hard disk connector and a first hard disk status signal connector, the hard disk daughter board is detachably connected to the backplane board card through the first hard disk status signal connector, the upstream data interface of the hard disk connector is directly connected to the downstream connector of the server mainboard through a high-speed signal line, the downstream data interface of the hard disk connector is connected to the hard disk, and the hard disk status signal and power supply signal of the hard disk connector are connected to the backplane controller of the backplane board card through the first hard disk status signal connector. Compared with the traditional direct-connected hard disk backplane, with the iterative update of the server storage architecture, the backplane board card can be used as a universal structure for cross-generation use, and only the corresponding hard disk daughter board needs to be added according to the number and type of hard disks, thereby realizing a highly reusable hard disk direct connection solution, reducing the on-board routing between the hard disk and the server mainboard that originally passed through the hard disk backplane, shortening the high-speed signal line, which is conducive to reducing the difficulty of impedance design, and is conducive to heat dissipation design, especially for high-density hard disk backplane scenarios, it has good ventilation performance, which is conducive to reducing the noise and power consumption of the whole machine.

[0026] The present invention also provides a hard disk daughter board and a server, which have the above-mentioned beneficial effects and will not be described in detail here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions of the prior art, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative work.

[0028] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of a traditional direct-connected hard disk backplane; Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the structure of a direct-connected hard disk backplane provided by an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 3 A schematic diagram of the assembly structure of a direct-connect hard disk system provided by an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the installation structure of a direct-connected hard disk system and a hard disk provided in an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 5 A side view of a mounting slot provided by an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 6 A schematic structural diagram of a mounting slot provided by an embodiment of the present invention from another perspective; Figure 7 A schematic diagram of the installation structure of a hard disk daughter board and an installation slot provided by an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 8A schematic diagram of a three-dimensional structure of a hard disk daughter board when it is separated from the installation slot provided by an embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 9 for Figure 8 The enlarged structural diagram of the A part of the hard disk daughter board is shown; Fig.10 A schematic diagram of a connection method for directly connecting a hard disk backplane provided in an embodiment of the present invention; Fig.11 A schematic diagram of another connection method for directly connecting to a hard disk backplane provided by an embodiment of the present invention; Fig.12 A side view of a chassis when a backplane board is installed horizontally provided in an embodiment of the present invention; Fig.13 A front view of a chassis when a backplane board is installed horizontally provided in an embodiment of the present invention; Fig.14 A side view of a chassis when a backplane card is vertically installed provided by an embodiment of the present invention; Fig.15 A front view of a chassis with a backplane board vertically installed provided by an embodiment of the present invention.

[0029] Reference numerals: 1-backplane board, 21-hard disk daughter board, 211-hard disk slot, 213-gold finger, 214-plug-in component, 2141-line end stop surface, 216-avoidance groove, 217-elastic component, 2171-locking part, 2172-connecting leg, 2173-pull strap connecting edge, 2174-limiting edge, 2175-limiting block, 218-pull strap channel, 22-installing slot, 221-signal connection end, 222-pin, 223-gold finger slot, 224-signal terminal, 225-plug-in cavity, 226-guide slide groove, 2261-arc chamfer, 227-board end stop surface, 228-lock buckle, 229-board end guide edge, 23-cable, 3-hard disk, 4-server motherboard, 401-downstream connector, 402-cable connector. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] The core of the present invention is to provide a direct-connected hard disk system, a hard disk daughter board and a server, which are used to improve the versatility of the direct-connected hard disk backplane of the server.

[0031] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0032] A direct-attached hard drive backplane (HDD backplane for short) is a key component in data center and server storage solutions. It supports large-scale data storage and high-efficiency data processing requirements by providing multiple hard drive connection ports and high-speed data transmission capabilities. In a server, a direct-attached hard drive backplane is an electronic device used to connect the hard drive to the server motherboard. It provides a fixed position for the hard drive and connects the hard drive to the interface on the motherboard. This backplane is usually designed with multiple hard drive connection ports to support high-speed data access. The design of a direct-attached hard drive backplane needs to consider the size of the hard drive, the interface type, the power system, the backplane size, and the mechanical structure.

[0033] Specifically, the main functions of the direct-connect hard disk backplane include the following four aspects: (1) Access transmission signals and provide transmission paths for hard disk high-speed signals and management signals. The direct-connected hard disk backplane is equipped with an upstream connector to connect the source end signal, such as the signal output by the disk logic array controller; the direct-connected hard disk backplane is equipped with a downstream connector to connect the hard disk end signal.

[0034] (2) Provide power supply for the hard disk. The power supply interface of the direct-connected hard disk backplane can provide working power for the hard disk and the components on the direct-connected hard disk backplane. Some direct-connected hard disk backplanes also support the function of sequential power-on of the hard disk.

[0035] (3) Support hard disk alarm. The monitoring management chip installed on some direct-connected hard disk backplanes is responsible for uploading the hard disk's working status and hard disk alarm signals to the source controller through the transmission path; it can also receive control commands from the source controller and send the commands to the hard disk or light up various status indicators on the direct-connected hard disk backplane.

[0036] (4) Expand the number of hard disks. Some direct-connect hard disk backplanes support expansion interfaces, which can be connected to the next-level backplane to support more hard disks.

[0037] Figure 1 The figure is a schematic diagram of the structure of a traditional direct-connected hard disk backplane.

[0038] The traditional direct-connect hard disk backplane consists of a whole board. Figure 1As shown, the traditional direct-connected hard disk backplane board mainly includes an upstream connector, a hard disk connector, and a backplane controller. Among them, the upstream connectors 0~n on the direct-connected hard disk backplane are connected to the downstream connectors 0~n of the server motherboard through cables, and are used to transmit high-speed signals between the central processing unit and the hard disk. On the direct-connected hard disk backplane, the hard disk connectors 0~n are connected to the upstream connectors 0~n through on-board routing. That is to say, a high-speed signal link between a hard disk and a central processing unit at least includes on-board routing between the central processing unit and the downstream connector on the server motherboard, the cable between the downstream connector on the server motherboard and the upstream connector on the direct-connected hard disk backplane, and the on-board routing between the upstream connector on the direct-connected hard disk backplane and the hard disk connector on the direct-connected hard disk backplane. The other end of the hard disk connector provides a hard disk interface, which can be connected to hard disks 0~n.

[0039] In addition, the conventional direct-connected hard disk backplane also includes a monitoring bus connected to the out-of-band management system of the server mainboard, so as to accept the out-of-band monitoring of the operating status of the direct-connected hard disk backplane and the connected hard disk by the out-of-band management system. In addition, the conventional direct-connected hard disk backplane also includes a power connector connected to the power system of the server mainboard, which is used to convert the power provided by the server mainboard into power supply of various voltage standards required by the direct-connected hard disk backplane.

[0040] In the traditional direct-connected hard disk backplane, due to the large variety of hard disk forms, bandwidths, and speeds, the device layout and routing methods of each backplane are different and cannot be reused with each other, so it is impossible to achieve a universal design of the hard disk, and it is difficult to achieve cross-generation reuse. In addition, this high-density backplane has poor heat dissipation performance. For example, a high-density hard disk backplane (such as a 12*2.5-inch hard disk configuration) has a high power consumption of the entire machine, and it also mostly adopts a vertical backplane layout, which is perpendicular to the wind direction, resulting in a low opening rate of the hard disk backplane, which is often very challenging to improve the heat dissipation performance. In order to ensure heat dissipation, it is only possible to avoid installing hard disks in all hard disk slots to prevent the hard disk from blocking the heat dissipation holes on the direct-connected hard disk backplane. As mentioned above, since the high-speed signal at the source of the server motherboard needs to pass through the backplane layer to reach the hard disk connector side, when the hard disk needs to support a higher rate, the material and number of layers of the printed circuit board (PCB) used by the direct hard disk backplane are also increasing, and the larger the area of ​​the direct hard disk backplane, the higher the cost. This causes the cost of the direct hard disk backplane to surge with the increase in hard disk rate and the increase in the number of hard disks. The long high-speed signal link between the CPU of the server motherboard and the hard disk not only brings about the problem of increased cost of the direct hard disk backplane, but also easily leads to the high-speed signal links of different hard disks being not completely consistent, which increases the difficulty of impedance design.

[0041] In summary, the traditional direct-connected hard disk backplane composed of a whole board has many disadvantages such as high cost, poor heat dissipation, difficult design, and low reuse rate.

[0042] In order to optimize the structural design of the direct-connected hard disk backplane, the design scheme of the direct-connected hard disk system provided in the embodiment of the present invention no longer adopts the design scheme of the traditional direct-connected hard disk backplane, but designs a detachably connected hard disk daughter board and backplane board. The high-speed signal of the central processor of the server motherboard is directly interconnected with the hard disk connector through the hard disk daughter board and then transmitted to the hard disk. The hard disk status signal (low-speed signal) and power signal on the traditional direct-connected hard disk backplane are interconnected with the hard disk daughter board through the backplane board provided in the embodiment of the present invention, thereby realizing the decoupling design of the three signals. Specifically, the hard disk sub-board includes a hard disk connector and a first hard disk status signal connector. The hard disk sub-board is detachably connected to the backplane board through the first hard disk status signal connector. The upstream data interface of the hard disk connector is directly connected to the downstream connector of the server motherboard through a high-speed signal line. The downstream data interface of the hard disk connector is connected to the hard disk. The hard disk status signal and power signal of the hard disk connector are connected to the backplane controller of the backplane board through the first hard disk status signal connector. Compared with the traditional direct-connected hard disk backplane, with the iterative update of the server storage architecture, the backplane board can be used as a universal structure across generations, and only the corresponding hard disk sub-board needs to be added according to the number and type of hard disks. A highly reusable hard disk direct connection solution is realized, and the on-board routing between the hard disk and the server motherboard that originally passed through the hard disk backplane is reduced, and the high-speed signal line is shortened, which is conducive to reducing the difficulty of impedance design and heat dissipation design, especially for high-density hard disk backplane scenarios, it has good ventilation performance and is conducive to reducing the noise and power consumption of the entire machine.

[0043] Based on the above architecture, the direct-connect hard disk system provided by the embodiment of the present invention is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0044] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the structure of a direct-connect hard disk system provided in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0045] like Figure 2 As shown, the direct-connected hard disk system provided by the embodiment of the present invention includes a hard disk daughter board and a backplane board. The hard disk daughter board includes a hard disk connector and a first hard disk status signal connector, and the hard disk daughter board is detachably connected to the backplane board through the first hard disk status signal connector. The upstream data interface of the hard disk connector is directly connected to the downstream connector of the server motherboard through a high-speed signal line, and the downstream data interface of the hard disk connector is used to connect the hard disk. The hard disk status signal and power signal of the hard disk connector are connected to the backplane controller of the backplane board through the first hard disk status signal connector.

[0046] In a specific implementation, the direct-connected hard disk system provided by the embodiment of the present invention is composed of a plurality of reusable hard disk daughter boards and a backplane board. After the direct-connected hard disk system provided by the embodiment of the present invention is installed in a server, the server mainboard is interconnected with the hard disk daughter board, and the hard disk daughter board is also interconnected with the hard disk and the backplane board respectively.

[0047] In some optional implementations of the embodiments of the present invention, the hard disk daughter board may be composed of a hard disk connector, a first hard disk status signal connector, and a printed circuit board for mounting the hard disk connector and the first hard disk status signal connector.

[0048] In some other optional implementations of the embodiments of the present invention, since the required connections of the hard disk connector and the first hard disk status signal connector on the hard disk daughter board provided in the embodiments of the present invention can be achieved by cables without the need for on-board wiring, the hard disk connector and the first hard disk status signal connector can also be detachably installed on the backplane board by other installation methods.

[0049] In the direct-connected hard disk system provided in the embodiment of the present invention, for the convenience of installation, the hard disk daughter board can be designed to be connected to the hard disk in a one-to-one correspondence. That is, a hard disk connector is arranged on a hard disk daughter board, and the hard disk connector is used to connect a hard disk. Then a first hard disk status signal connector is also arranged on the hard disk daughter board, which is used to transmit the hard disk status signal and power signal related to the hard disk.

[0050] If Figure 2 As shown, the direct-connected hard disk system includes n hard disk daughter boards, namely hard disk daughter board 0 to hard disk daughter board n, one side of which corresponds to the downstream connector 0 to downstream connector n on the server mainboard, and the other side corresponds to the second hard disk status signal connector 0 to the second hard disk status signal connector n on the backplane board.

[0051] In the embodiment of the present invention, the hard disk connector is used to transmit signals between the central processing unit on the server motherboard and the hard disk. The signals between the hard disk and the server motherboard are usually high-speed signals, and different high-speed signal lines are required depending on the type of hard disk.

[0052] For the upstream data interface side of the hard disk connector, in some optional implementations of the embodiments of the present invention, the high-speed signal line may include a high-speed clock signal line and a high-speed data signal line. For example, for a non-volatile memory host controller interface (Non Volatile Memory Host Controller Interface Specification, NVMHCIS or NVM Express, hereinafter referred to as NVMe) interface hard disk, the high-speed signal line used is usually a high-speed serial computer expansion bus (peripheral component interconnect express, PCI-Express, PCI-Express or PCIe). At this time, the high-speed signal line used between the hard disk connector and the server motherboard may include a high-speed serial computer expansion bus data signal and a high-speed serial computer expansion bus clock signal, such as Figure 2 As shown by the blue cable in the figure. Among them, the high-speed serial computer expansion bus signal includes the high-speed serial computer expansion bus read signal and the high-speed serial computer expansion bus write signal. For hard disk daughter board 0, the high-speed serial computer expansion bus signal can be recorded as PCIE_S0_TX / RX, and the high-speed serial computer expansion bus clock signal can be recorded as PCIE_S0_CLK... For hard disk daughter board n, the high-speed serial computer expansion bus signal can be recorded as PCIE_Sn_TX / RX (where TX means sending and RX means receiving), and the high-speed serial computer expansion bus clock signal can be recorded as PCIE_Sn_CLK.

[0053] For the upstream data interface side of the hard disk connector, in some other optional implementations of the embodiments of the present invention, the high-speed signal line can be only a high-speed data signal line. For example, for a hard disk with a Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) / Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) interface, the high-speed signal line required is only a high-speed data signal line, and no clock signal line is required.

[0054] In terms of connection method, Figure 2 As shown, the upstream data interface of the hard disk connector can be connected to the downstream connector of the server motherboard through a high-speed signal cable, thereby further improving the flexibility of the direct-connected hard disk system installation and the stability of the high-speed signal link.

[0055] For the downstream data interface side of the hard disk connector, the downstream data interface of the hard disk connector is designed according to the type of hard disk to be connected. The interface of the hard disk is usually a gold finger structure, in which the pins are plugged into the position on the hard disk slot, and can be connected to the components on the server side (such as the data pins connected to the central processor) via the circuit on the hard disk backplane. In the embodiment of the present invention, the hard disk connector can include a hard disk slot for connecting the hard disk.

[0056] According to the type of communication interface, the hard disk type can be divided into SAS interface or SATA interface hard disk, NVMe interface hard disk. According to the type of storage medium, the hard disk type can be divided into mechanical hard disk (Hard Disk Drive, HDD) and solid state disk (SSD). Among them, mechanical hard disks are mainly SAS interface or SATA interface. Solid state disks include SAS interface, SATA interface and NVMe interface hard disks. The downstream data interface of the hard disk connector can be designed according to the type of hard disk to be connected. When the hard disk type needs to be changed, only the type of hard disk connector of the hard disk daughter board needs to be changed. For example, when designing a hard disk daughter board for NVMe hard disk, a hard disk connector with a GENZ 1C / 2C / 4C hard disk interface can be selected. Among them, GENZ is a high-density, high-performance hard disk connector that supports multiple channel configurations, including 1C, 2C, 4C and 4C+, where 1C represents a channel configuration with 56 positions (pins) and supports a signal rate of up to 56GPAM4. It is suitable for a variety of applications, such as servers / storage devices, high-performance computing, switches and routers.

[0057] For ease of description, in the embodiment of the present invention, the connectors used to transmit low-speed signals interacting with the hard disk are referred to as a first hard disk status signal connector and a second hard disk status signal connector.

[0058] In some optional implementations of the embodiments of the present invention, the first hard disk status signal connector may be connected to the second hard disk status signal connector of the backplane card by using a cable.

[0059] In some other optional implementations of the embodiments of the present invention, the first hard disk status signal connector can also be plug-in connected to the second hard disk status signal connector of the backplane board. That is, one of the first hard disk status signal connector and the second hard disk status signal connector can be a male connector, and the other can be a female connector. For example, the first hard disk status signal connector can be a gold finger, and the second hard disk status signal connector can be designed as a gold finger slot accordingly.

[0060] To ensure the stability of hard disk operation, the first hard disk status signal connector and the second hard disk status signal connector are connected by plug-in connection, thereby fixing the hard disk daughter board on the backplane board, and then fixing the hard disk in the direct-connected hard disk system.

[0061] In order to fix the hard disk daughter board to the backplane board, the direct-connected hard disk system provided by the embodiment of the present invention may also include a limiting device fixed to the backplane board for fixing the hard disk daughter board, the hard disk daughter board is provided with a buckle and a buckle release structure, and the limiting device is provided with a limiting structure corresponding to the buckle and the buckle release structure. When the hard disk daughter board is installed on the backplane board, after the first hard disk status signal connector and the second hard disk status signal connector are plugged in, the buckle of the hard disk daughter board and the limiting structure of the limiting device are locked, thereby firmly fixing the hard disk daughter board on the backplane board. When the hard disk daughter board needs to be removed, the locking state between the buckle of the hard disk daughter board and the limiting structure of the limiting device is released through the buckle release structure, thereby conveniently removing the hard disk daughter board from the backplane board.

[0062] To facilitate heat dissipation, in an embodiment of the present invention, the high-speed signal link of the hard disk connector and the hard disk status signal line between the hard disk connector and the first hard disk status signal connector can be installed at 90°.

[0063] In an embodiment of the present invention, the first hard disk status signal connector and the second hard disk status signal connector are used to transmit low-speed signals and power signals between the hard disk and the backplane controller. The low-speed signal mainly refers to the hard disk status signal between the hard disk and the backplane controller, such as the sideband signal.

[0064] In high-speed interconnect technologies such as PCIe, sideband signals usually refer to signals that are not transmitted as specified by standard protocols but have specific meanings to connected devices. These signals may include, but are not limited to, power management signals, configuration signals, status indication signals, etc., which are transmitted through dedicated pins. In an embodiment of the present invention, the hard disk status signal line of the hard disk connector may include a hard disk status indication signal line and a hard disk status control signal line.

[0065] The hard disk status indication signal line is used to transmit the status signal output for the hard disk, such as a hard disk presence signal. To distinguish hard disk daughter board 0 to hard disk daughter board n, the hard disk presence signal corresponding to each hard disk daughter board can be recorded as S0_PRSNT_N to Sn_PRSNT_N.

[0066] The hard disk status control signal line is used to transmit the control signal of the hard disk. For example, the hard disk status control signal line can be a hard disk status indicator light control signal line corresponding to the hard disk status indicator light provided on the hard disk daughter board. In order to distinguish hard disk daughter board 0 to hard disk daughter board n, the hard disk status indicator light control signal corresponding to each hard disk daughter board can be recorded as S0_LED to Sn_LED.

[0067] In addition, to facilitate the server's out-of-band management system to monitor the hard disk status, the hard disk status control pins can also include two-wire serial bus (Inter-Integrated Circuit, I2C) pins. To distinguish hard disk daughter board 0 ~ hard disk daughter board n, the two-wire serial bus pins of the hard disk connector on each hard disk daughter board can be recorded as S0_I2C ~ Sn_I2C.

[0068] In addition, in order to realize the management of each hard disk by the backplane controller, the hard disk status control pin can also include a reset pin, which is used for the backplane controller to reset the corresponding hard disk after receiving the control signal. In order to distinguish hard disk daughter board 0~hard disk daughter board n, the reset pin of the hard disk connector on each hard disk daughter board can be recorded as S0_RST_N~Sn_RST_N.

[0069] The power pins of the hard disk connector provide the power voltage required for transmitting the hard disk, which can include +12V voltage (P12V) and +3.3V standby power (+3.3V Standby, P3V3_STBY), such as Figure 2 As shown in red cable.

[0070] In addition, the hard disk status signal may also include a device hot-swap management signal and a high-speed signal bus reset signal, so that the central processor of the server motherboard can control the hard disk status through the backplane controller. Figure 2 As shown, the first hard disk status signal connector may also include a reset pin and a device hot-swap management pin, and the reset pin and the device hot-swap management pin of the first hard disk status signal connector may be connected to the downstream connector of the server motherboard. Figure 2 As shown in the figure, the hard disk status signal between the first hard disk status signal connector and the welding wire connector, the reset pin and the device hot plug management pin of the first hard disk status signal connector can be connected to the downstream connector of the server mainboard through the welding wire connector of the hard disk daughter board and the cable.

[0071] The high-speed signal reset signal and the device hot-swap management signal corresponding to the reset pin of the first hard disk status signal connector and the device hot-swap management pin through the downstream connector of the server motherboard can be signals output by a complex programmable logic device (CPLD) of the server motherboard, and the host computer of the complex programmable logic device can be a central processing unit or a baseboard management controller (BMC) of an out-of-band management system.

[0072] In an embodiment of the present invention, the backplane board is a universal backplane design, on which hard disk connectors and hard disk high-speed signal lines are no longer required. In some optional implementations of the embodiment of the present invention, the backplane board may include a second hard disk status signal connector, a backplane controller, and a power connector; wherein the second hard disk status signal connector is used to connect the first hard disk status signal connector to the backplane controller; the backplane controller is used to perform tasks such as universal backplane management (UBM), power management, and hard disk hot-swap support; and the power connector is used to connect the power supply of the server motherboard and convert the power supply into the power supply output required by the backplane board.

[0073] In some other optional implementations of the embodiments of the present invention, the backplane board may include a second hard disk status signal connector, a backplane controller, a two-wire serial bus connector, an asset information storage chip (Field Replaceable Unit, FRU), a temperature sensor (Thermal Sensor) and a power connector; wherein the second hard disk status signal connector is used to connect the first hard disk status signal connector to the backplane controller; the two-wire serial bus connector is used to connect the server mainboard to the backplane controller, and the asset information storage chip and the temperature sensor are connected to the two-wire serial bus connector; the power connector is used to connect the power supply of the server mainboard and convert the power supply into the power supply output required by the backplane board.

[0074] As introduced above, the signal between the first hard disk status signal connector and the hard disk connector mainly includes a sideband signal (referred to as a hard disk status signal in the embodiment of the present invention) and a power signal, wherein the sideband signal may include a hard disk in-place signal, a hard disk status indicator light control signal, a two-wire serial bus signal, and a reset signal. In addition, the first hard disk status signal connector may also include a high-speed signal reset signal and a device hot-swap management signal of a complex programmable logic device connected to the server mainboard via a solder wire connector, a cable, and a downstream connector of the server mainboard. Correspondingly, the signal between the second hard disk status signal connector and the first hard disk status signal connector may include a hard disk in-place signal, a hard disk status indicator light control signal, a two-wire serial bus signal, a reset signal, a high-speed signal reset signal, a device hot-swap management signal, and a power signal. The hard disk status signal between the second hard disk status signal connector and the first hard disk status signal connector may be as follows Figure 2 The power signal between the second hard disk status signal connector and the first hard disk status signal connector can include +12V voltage (P12V) and +3.3V standby power (+3.3V Standby, P3V3_STBY), as shown in FIG. Figure 2 The red cable between the second hard drive status signal connector and the first hard drive status signal connector is shown in FIG.

[0075] Furthermore, in the direct-connected hard disk system provided in an embodiment of the present invention, the backplane board may also include a two-wire serial bus channel switching chip (I2C Switch), the first end of the two-wire serial bus channel switching chip is connected to the second end of the two-wire serial bus connector, the first end of the two-wire serial bus connector is connected to the out-of-band monitoring system of the server mainboard, and the second end of the two-wire serial bus channel switching chip is connected to the first hard disk status signal connectors of multiple corresponding hard disk daughter boards via multiple second hard disk status signal connectors.

[0076] like Figure 2 As shown, the channel switching control signal controls the two-wire serial bus channel switching chip to switch the two-wire serial bus of the out-of-band management system of the server motherboard to connect to different hard disk daughter boards, so as to read the status of the hard disks connected to each hard disk daughter board and realize out-of-band monitoring of the hard disks. The channel switching control signal (S0_I2C~Sn_I2C) can be sent by the backplane controller or the out-of-band management system of the server motherboard.

[0077] In addition, the asset information storage chip and temperature sensor on the backplane board can also be mounted on the server motherboard's out-of-band management system through the backplane board's two-wire serial bus connector to the backplane board's two-wire serial bus, so as to realize the server motherboard's out-of-band management system's asset information management of the backplane board and operating temperature monitoring and other functions.

[0078] In some optional implementations of the embodiments of the present invention, the out-of-band management system of the server motherboard may include a baseboard management controller, such as Figure 2 As shown, the baseboard management controller of the server mainboard can be connected to the two-wire serial bus connector of the server mainboard through the system management bus (SMBus), and is connected to the two-wire serial bus channel of the backplane board through the two-wire serial bus connector of the server mainboard, cables, and the two-wire serial bus connector of the backplane board, so as to monitor the operating status of the backplane board and monitor the operating status of each hard disk sub-board and even each hard disk through the backplane board.

[0079] In some other optional implementations of the embodiments of the present invention, in order to alleviate the pin pressure of the baseboard management controller, the first end of the two-wire serial bus connector of the backplane board can also be connected to the baseboard management controller of the server motherboard through the complex programmable logic device of the server motherboard.

[0080] In addition, the server motherboard provides power to the power connector of the backplane card, and the power connector provides power of various voltage standards to chips such as the backplane controller of the backplane card, and provides power to the hard disk connector on each hard disk daughter board through the second hard disk status signal connector and the first hard disk status signal connector.

[0081] The direct-connected hard disk system provided by the embodiment of the present invention is designed with a detachably connected hard disk daughter board and a backplane board card. The hard disk daughter board includes a hard disk connector and a first hard disk status signal connector. The hard disk daughter board is detachably connected to the backplane board card through the first hard disk status signal connector. The upstream data interface of the hard disk connector is directly connected to the downstream connector of the server mainboard through a high-speed signal line. The downstream data interface of the hard disk connector is connected to the hard disk. The hard disk status signal and the power signal of the hard disk connector are connected to the backplane controller of the backplane board card through the first hard disk status signal connector. Compared with the traditional direct-connected hard disk backplane, with the iterative update of the server storage architecture, the backplane board card can be used as a universal structure for cross-generation use, and only the corresponding hard disk daughter board needs to be added according to the number and type of hard disks. A highly reusable hard disk direct connection solution is realized, and the on-board routing between the hard disk and the server mainboard that originally passes through the hard disk backplane is reduced, and the high-speed signal line is shortened, which is conducive to reducing the difficulty of impedance design and heat dissipation design. In particular, it has good ventilation performance for high-density hard disk backplane scenarios, which is conducive to reducing the noise and power consumption of the whole machine.

[0082] And compared with the embodiment of the present invention Figure 2 as well as Figure 1 The traditional direct-connected hard disk backplane introduced above clearly shows that the direct connection between the CPU of the server motherboard and the hard disk reduces the on-board routing between the hard disk and the server motherboard through the backplane, thereby shortening the high-speed signal link, which is conducive to reducing the difficulty of impedance design. Since the backplane board only needs to lay out low-speed signals and power signals, there is no need to lay out high-speed signals, and the design cost is greatly reduced, and the high-speed signal between the CPU of the server motherboard and the hard disk can be transmitted through cables, which is conducive to achieving the consistency of the high-speed signal link of each hard disk, thereby reducing the difficulty of impedance design.

[0083] Based on the above embodiment, the embodiment of the present invention continues to describe the installation structure of the direct-connect hard disk system.

[0084] By adopting the direct-connected hard disk system design provided by the above-mentioned embodiment of the present invention, the direct-connected hard disk system is no longer arranged as a whole board like the traditional direct-connected hard disk backplane, but can flexibly combine the connection method and installation method between the hard disk daughter board and the backplane board, so as to provide greater flexibility for the layout in the server chassis.

[0085] In some optional implementations of the embodiments of the present invention, the hard disk daughter board can be installed horizontally on the backplane board, and the assembled direct-connected hard disk system occupies a larger plane space.

[0086] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of the assembly structure of a direct-connect hard disk system provided by an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 4A schematic diagram of the installation structure of a direct-connected hard disk system and a hard disk provided in an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 5 A side view of a mounting slot provided by an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 6 A schematic structural diagram of a mounting slot provided by an embodiment of the present invention from another perspective; Figure 7 A schematic diagram of the installation structure of a hard disk daughter board and an installation slot provided by an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 8 A schematic diagram of a three-dimensional structure of a hard disk daughter board when it is separated from the installation slot provided by an embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 9 for Figure 8 The enlarged structural diagram of part A in the hard disk daughter board is shown.

[0087] In some other optional implementations of the embodiments of the present invention, in order to make full use of the three-dimensional space, such as Figure 3 As shown, in the direct-connected hard disk system provided in the embodiment of the present invention, the hard disk daughter board 21 can be vertically mounted on the backplane board 1. On this basis, the downlink data interface of the hard disk connector on the hard disk daughter board 21, that is, the hard disk slot 211, can be set at a position other than the end of the hard disk daughter board 21 connected to the backplane board 1, for example, the hard disk slot 211 can be located at the top of the hard disk daughter board 21, or at one side of the hard disk daughter board 21. Figure 4 A situation is provided in which a hard disk slot 211 is arranged on one side of a hard disk daughter board 21, that is, a plurality of hard disk daughter boards 21 can be vertically installed in parallel on a backplane board 1, and the hard disks can be plugged into the hard disk slots 211 of the hard disk daughter board 21 one by one. The installation structure of the direct-connected hard disk system and the hard disk 3 formed can make full use of the three-dimensional space in the chassis. The left and right directions of the hard disk daughter board 21 can be parallel to the airflow direction in the heat dissipation channel to reduce the influence of the hard disk slot 211 and the cable 23 end on the airflow and ensure the heat dissipation effect. At the same time, the hard disk slot 211 can be suspended on the side of the backplane board 1, so as to avoid interference between the hard disk 3 and the backplane board 1 when installing the hard disk 3. At this time, the bottom height of the hard disk 3 can be lower than the height of the position of the backplane board 1, and the utilization of the chassis space is more flexible, that is, the installation position of the hard disk 3 can be unaffected by the position of the backplane board 1.

[0088] If Figure 3 , Figure 4 As shown, the uplink data interface of the hard disk connector on the hard disk daughter board 21 can be set on the opposite side of the hard disk slot 211 on the hard disk daughter board 21, and the uplink data interface of the hard disk connector is connected to the downlink connector 401 of the server mainboard 4 using a cable 23.

[0089] To facilitate installation and removal between the hard disk daughter board 21 and the backplane board 1, the direct-connected hard disk system provided by the embodiment of the present invention may further include an installation slot 22. Figure 3As shown, the mounting slot 22 can be vertically mounted on the backplane board 1 and provide a slot for mounting the hard disk daughter board 21 .

[0090] The hard disk sub-board 21 and the installation slot 22 can be connected by plugging, or by other structural parts. By setting the installation slot 22 to install the hard disk sub-board 21 on the backplane board 1, on the basis of being able to stably install the hard disk sub-board 21 on the backplane board 1, the flexibility brought by the cable 23 used to connect the hard disk sub-board 21 to the server mainboard 4 can be fully utilized. In this way, a hard disk slot 211 is set at one end of the hard disk sub-board 21 to connect the hard disk 3, and the other end is connected to the server mainboard 4 through the cable 23, which is convenient for the disassembly and assembly of the hard disk 3 and the connection of the cable 23. Combined with the installation structure of the hard disk sub-board 21 and the installation slot 22, the connection stability between the hard disk and the components on the hard disk sub-board 21 can be guaranteed. At the same time, the detachable connection between the hard disk sub-board 21 and the installation slot 22 is convenient for users to select the required hard disk sub-board 21 according to their needs to adapt to different types of hard disks 3.

[0091] In some optional implementations of the embodiments of the present invention, Figure 5 , Figure 6 As shown, the bottom of the mounting slot 22 may be provided with a pin 222, and the backplane board 1 may be provided with a positioning hole, so that the pin 222 of the mounting slot 22 corresponds to the position of the positioning hole one by one, so that the mounting slot 22 can be installed on the backplane board 1 after the pin 222 is fixedly connected to the positioning hole. The cross section of the mounting slot 22 can be rectangular, and by arranging the pins 222 at the four corners of the bottom of the mounting slot 22, the stability of the connection between the mounting slot 22 and the backplane board 1 can be ensured.

[0092] If the first hard disk status signal connector of the hard disk daughter board 21 is a gold finger 213, then Figure 6 As shown, a gold finger slot 223 corresponding to the gold finger 213 may be provided at the bottom of the installation slot 22. Figure 7 As shown, a signal connection end 221 connected to a signal terminal 224 of a gold finger slot 223 may be provided at the bottom of the installation slot 22, and the signal connection end 221 is used to connect to the second hard disk status signal connector of the backplane board 1, thereby realizing the signal connection between the first hard disk status signal connector and the second hard disk status signal connector through the first hard disk status signal connector (gold finger 213) of the hard disk daughter board 21, the signal terminal 224 of the gold finger slot 223 of the installation slot 22, the signal connection end 221 of the installation slot 22, and the second hard disk status signal connector of the backplane board 1, thereby realizing the signal connection between the hard disk 3 and the wiring on the backplane board 1.

[0093] Of course, the structure of the mounting slot 22 and the connection relationship between the first hard disk status signal connector and the second hard disk status signal connector realized by the mounting slot 22 may also be realized by other methods. For example, the mounting slot 22 may be directly welded to the backplane board 1, or the mounting slot 22 may be fixed to the backplane board 1 by other structural parts.

[0094] like Figure 8 As shown, in order to facilitate the assembly between the hard disk sub-board 21 and the installation slot 22, a plug-in component 214 for installation in the installation slot 22 can be provided on the side of the hard disk sub-board 21 facing away from the hard disk slot 211, and the first hard disk status signal connector (gold finger 213) of the hard disk sub-board 21 is located at the bottom of the plug-in component 214. Correspondingly, a plug-in cavity 225 for inserting the plug-in component 214 is provided at the top of the installation slot 22, and the gold finger slot 223 in the installation slot 22 is located in the plug-in cavity 225, so that when the plug-in component 214 of the hard disk sub-board 21 is inserted into the plug-in cavity 225 of the installation slot 22, the plug-in component 214 will drive the gold finger 213 to move to cooperate with the gold finger slot 223 in the plug-in cavity 225, thereby realizing the connection between the gold finger 213 and the signal terminal 224 on the gold finger slot 223.

[0095] In some optional implementations of the embodiments of the present invention, the bottom height of the plug-in component 214 is higher than the bottom height of the side of the hard disk sub-board 21 close to the hard disk slot 211, that is, a height difference is formed between the bottom of the plug-in component 214 and the bottom of the side of the hard disk sub-board 21 close to the hard disk slot 211, thereby providing an escape space for the installation slot 22. This arrangement is to reduce the overall height of the direct-connected hard disk system after installation, thereby reducing the space required for the direct-connected hard disk system. Further, after the installation slot 22, the plug-in component 214 of the hard disk sub-board 21 are assembled and the backplane board 1 is assembled, the bottom height of the side of the hard disk sub-board 21 close to the hard disk slot 211 is lower than the surface of the backplane board 1. Specifically, the hard disk sub-board 21 can be an inverted L-shaped structure, and an escape space is formed between the two sides of the hard disk sub-board 21. One side of the installation slot 22 is located in the escape space, making the structural layout more compact and further saving space.

[0096] In some optional implementations of the embodiments of the present invention, guide steps can be provided on both sides of the plug-in component 214, and guide grooves 226 are opened on the two side walls of the installation groove 22, and the guide steps are adapted to the shapes of the guide grooves 226 so that the guide steps can slide along the guide grooves 226; specifically, through the coordinated sliding of the guide steps and the guide grooves 226, when the plug-in component 214 is inserted into the plug-in cavity 225 of the installation groove 22, the guide grooves 226 can provide a track for the guide steps, thereby ensuring the position accuracy of the plug-in component 214 and improving the installation efficiency and accuracy.

[0097] In some optional implementations of the embodiments of the present invention, the two sides of the plug-in component 214 are respectively provided with a first guide step and a second guide step, the first guide step and the second guide step are respectively located on the left and right sides of the plug-in component 214, and the left and right directions of the plug-in component 214 are consistent with the left and right directions of the hard disk sub-board 21; the two side walls of the mounting groove 22 are respectively provided with a first guide slot 226 and a second guide slot 226, the first guide slot 226 and the second guide slot 226 are arranged on the left and right sides of the mounting groove 22, and the left and right directions of the mounting groove 22 are also consistent with the left and right directions of the hard disk sub-board 21. The left and right directions of the sub-board 21 are consistent; and, the slot widths of the first guide slot 226 and the second guide slot 226 are different, the first guide step is matched with the first guide slot 226, and the second guide step is matched with the second guide slot 226, that is, the first guide step and the second guide step have different thicknesses in the front and rear directions of the plug-in component 214, and the front and rear directions of the plug-in component 214 refer to the direction perpendicular to the airflow direction and parallel to the backplane board 1; the above-mentioned arrangement can play a fool-proof role for the installation position of the plug-in component 214 or the installation slot 22.

[0098] In some optional implementations of the embodiments of the present invention, avoidance grooves 216 may be provided on both sides of the plug-in component 214, and the guide steps protrude from the plug-in component 214 into the avoidance grooves 216. That is to say, the left and right sides of the plug-in component 214 are not only provided with guide steps, but also the left and right sides of the plug-in component 214 are spaced apart from the side structure of the hard disk sub-board 21 close to the hard disk slot 211. This arrangement is to separate the plug-in component 214 into a plug-in component, which is convenient for assembly with the installation groove 22. Furthermore, the height of the guide steps along the installation direction of the hard disk sub-board 21 is less than the height of the avoidance groove 216 along the installation direction of the hard disk sub-board 21. That is to say, in the plug-in component 21 When moving toward the installation slot 22, the avoidance slot 216 first matches with the guide slot 226, and then as the plug-in component 214 continues to be pushed, the guide step enters the guide slot 226 and slides along the guide slot 226; with the above arrangement, after the plug-in component 214 and the installation slot 22 are matched, the bottom position of the installation slot 22 located at the guide slot 226 can enter the avoidance slot 216, further improving the position limitation of the installation slot 22 and the hard disk sub-board 21 in the left and right directions; more specifically, the slot width of the guide slot 226 is smaller than the width of the two side walls of the installation slot 22, and the two sides of the guide slot 226 form limiting edges 2174, which cooperate with the side of the plug-in component 214 for position limitation.

[0099] In some optional implementations of the embodiments of the present invention, an introduction arc portion may be provided at one end of the guide step close to the installation groove 22, and arc chamfers 2261 are provided on both sides of one end of the guide groove 226 close to the guide step; the arc chamfers 2261 are used to guide the introduction arc portion when the guide step moves toward the guide groove 226, thereby ensuring that the plug-in component 214 can be smoothly installed in the installation groove 22, thereby improving assembly efficiency.

[0100] In some optional implementations of the embodiments of the present invention, Figure 8 As shown, a line end stop surface 2141 may be provided at the bottom of the plug-in component 214, and the gold finger 213 protrudes from the line end stop surface 2141, that is, the boss where the gold finger 213 is located is located on the line end stop surface 2141, and a board end stop surface 227 is provided inside the mounting groove 22, and the gold finger slot 223 is opened on the board end stop surface 227; when the line end stop surface 2141 and the board end stop surface 227 are in contact with each other, the signal terminal 224 is connected to the gold finger 213, and the setting of the line end stop surface 2141 and the board end stop surface 227 can limit the movement limit position of the plug-in component 214 and the mounting groove 22, so as to avoid the plug-in component 214 being inserted into the mounting groove 22 with an excessive size, which may cause damage to the gold finger 213 or the signal terminal 224.

[0101] As described in the above-mentioned embodiment of the present invention, the direct-connected hard disk system provided by the embodiment of the present invention may also include a limiting device fixedly mounted on the backplane board 1 for fixing the hard disk sub-board 21, the hard disk sub-board 21 is provided with a buckle and a buckle release structure, and the limiting device is provided with a limiting structure corresponding to the buckle and the buckle release structure. Then, in some implementations of the embodiment of the present invention, the buckle may be an elastic component 217 provided on one of the hard disk sub-board 21 and the installation slot 22, the limiting structure may be a lock 228 provided on the other, and the elastic component 217 is provided with a locking portion 2171 that cooperates with the lock 228; specifically, by utilizing the setting of the elastic component 217, when the hard disk sub-board 21 and the installation slot 22 are assembled, the elastic component 217 undergoes elastic deformation until the locking portion 2171 on the elastic component 217 cooperates with the lock 228, and the assembly is performed by means of the elastic component 217 and the lock 228, which has high disassembly efficiency and convenient installation; further, as Figure 8 , Fig. 9 As shown, the lock buckle 228 can be set on the installation groove 22, the lock buckle 228 can be a lock hole, and the locking portion 2171 can be a locking boss, and the size of the lock hole is adapted to the size of the locking boss.

[0102] The buckle releasing structure recorded in the above-mentioned embodiment, that is, the structure for driving the buckle to move to unlock the buckle and the limiting structure, can specifically be an unlocking component for driving the elastic component 217 to move to unlock the lock buckle 228 and the locking portion 2171. The unlocking component can be arranged on the hard disk sub-board 21 and connected to the elastic component 217; by arranging an unlocking component connected to the elastic component 217, the locking portion 2171 on the elastic component 217 is separated from the lock buckle 228 by utilizing the driving effect of the unlocking component on the elastic component 217, thereby completing the unlocking; the unlocking component is arranged to be suitable for the case where the installation space is small and manual unlocking is impossible; in order to facilitate unlocking, the elastic component 217 and the unlocking component are both arranged on the hard disk sub-board 21. Of course, when space permits, the elastic component 217 can also be manually driven to unlock.

[0103] In some optional implementations of the embodiments of the present invention, the elastic component 217 can be a spring sheet, one end of the elastic component 217 is located on the hard disk sub-board 21, and the other end is connected to the unlocking component; specifically, the elastic component 217 is installed on the front side or the rear side of the hard disk sub-board 21, the bottom of the elastic component 217 is provided on the hard disk sub-board 21, and a deformation space is left between the top and the hard disk sub-board 21; when the hard disk sub-board 21 moves toward the installation slot 22, the elastic component 217 will move toward the direction close to the hard disk sub-board 21 and enter In the plug-in cavity 225 of the hard disk sub-board 21, as the elastic component 217 is elastically deformed under the action of the front wall or the rear wall of the hard disk sub-board 21, when the locking portion 2171 moves to the position of the lock buckle 228, the locking portion 2171 is engaged with the lock buckle 228. At this time, the elastic component 217, under the action of its own elastic force, firmly restricts the lock buckle 228 on the locking portion 2171. At this time, the hard disk sub-board 21 is just assembled with the installation slot 22, that is, the gold finger 213 is just matched and connected with the signal terminal 224.

[0104] In some optional implementations of the embodiments of the present invention, the unlocking component can be a drawstring (not shown in the figure), and a drawstring channel 218 can also be provided on the hard disk sub-board 21. The drawstring passes through the drawstring channel 218 and bypasses the drawstring connecting hole, and then passes back into the drawstring channel 218; the drawstring channel 218 is located at the top of the hard disk sub-board 21 and is arranged close to the elastic component 217; specifically, the drawstring passes through the drawstring channel 218, one end of the drawstring is the pulling end, and the other end is the connecting end, and the pulling end of the drawstring is located at the upper part of the hard disk sub-board 21, which is convenient for manually pulling the drawstring, and the connecting end of the drawstring is connected to the elastic component 217, and the connecting part of the drawstring can be connected to the top of the elastic component 217. By pulling the drawstring, the elastic component 217 will be driven to move in the direction close to the hard disk sub-board 21, thereby driving the lock buckle 228 to separate from the locking part 2171, completing the unlocking process of the elastic component 217.

[0105] In some optional implementations of the embodiments of the present invention, Fig. 9 As shown, a drawstring connection hole may be provided at the top of the elastic component 217, the drawstring is inserted into the drawstring connection hole, and the drawstring may extend to the side of the hard disk sub-board 21 away from the mounting slot 22, so as to facilitate manual pulling of the drawstring; the drawstring should have a certain hardness, which is not only convenient for observation from the drawstring channel 218, but also can prevent the drawstring from sticking to the hard disk sub-board 21, so as to facilitate manual operation of the drawstring.

[0106] In some optional implementations of the embodiments of the present invention, locking buckles 228 may be provided on both the front and rear sides of the installation slot 22, that is, the installation slot 22 may be a symmetrical structure for easy processing, and the installation direction between the installation slot 22 and the backplane board 1 may not be restricted, thereby improving assembly efficiency.

[0107] In some optional implementations of the embodiments of the present invention, a plurality of connecting legs 2172 may be provided on one side of the elastic component 217 close to the mounting slot 22. For example, the number of connections may be two. By connecting the connecting legs 2172 to the mounting slot 22, the deformation of the spring piece is easier and the assembly is convenient. The connecting legs 2172 are arc-shaped and are located on the hard disk sub-board 21. The arc-shaped connecting legs 2172 can form a deformation space between the elastic component 217 and the hard disk sub-board 21. The middle part of the side of the elastic component 217 away from the mounting slot 22 is connected to the unlocking component, that is, a drawstring connecting edge 2173 is provided in the middle position of the top of the elastic component 217, and a drawstring connecting hole is provided on the drawstring connecting edge 2173. The drawstring connecting hole is provided in the middle position of the top of the elastic component 217, which can ensure the stability of the elastic component 217 when unlocking. Specifically, the lock The number of the stoppers 2171 and the number of the lock buckles 228 can be multiple, for example, two, to improve the reliability of the locking effect; limiting edges 2174 are provided on both sides of the top of the elastic component 217; a limiting stopper 2175 cooperating with the limiting edge 2174 is also provided on the hard disk sub-board 21. Specifically, the limiting stopper 2175 is located on the outside of the limiting edge 2174. The setting of the limiting stopper 2175 and the limiting edge 2174 can make the deformation space between the elastic component 217 and the mounting slot 22 not too large, which will not affect the assembly of the hard disk sub-board 21, and at the same time ensure the firm locking between the hard disk sub-board 21 and the mounting slot 22; further, an introduction slope is provided on one side of the locking portion 2171 close to the mounting slot 22, and a locking plane is provided on the other side. The lock buckle 228 is engaged with the locking plane, and the introduction slope can guide the elastic component 217 to undergo elastic deformation. Furthermore, in order to facilitate the unlocking component to drive the elastic component 217, the pull strap connecting edge 2173 is bent toward the side away from the hard disk sub-board 21, thereby increasing the distance between the pull strap connecting edge 2173 and the hard disk sub-board 21. When the pull strap is pulled, the pull strap will drive the pull strap connecting edge 2173 to move, and then drive the elastic component 217 to move, thereby completing the unlocking of the elastic component 217 and the lock buckle 228.

[0108] In some optional implementations of the embodiments of the present invention, a board end guide edge 229 may also be provided at the top of the mounting slot 22, and the board end guide edge 229 extends outward in an arc shape from the opening of the plug-in cavity 225 of the mounting slot 22. When the plug-in component 214 of the hard disk sub-board 21 moves toward the plug-in cavity 225, the board end guide edge 229 can play a guiding role to ensure that the plug-in component 214 is smoothly inserted into the plug-in cavity 225.

[0109] In some optional implementations of the embodiments of the present invention, the hard disk sub-board 21 may also be provided with an avoidance chamfer. On the one hand, the avoidance chamfer can avoid the installation slot 22, and on the other hand, it can also avoid interference with the backplane board 1, thereby satisfying that the bottom of one side of the hard disk sub-board 21 with the hard disk slot 211 can be lower than the surface of the backplane board 1, thereby reducing the height of the hard disk sub-board 21 in the direction perpendicular to the backplane board 1, thereby saving space.

[0110] Specifically, in a specific embodiment, when it is necessary to install the direct-connected hard disk system provided by the embodiment of the present invention, the backplane board 1 can be first installed and connected with the server mainboard 4, and then the installation slot 22 can be installed; or, the installation slot 22 can be first installed on the backplane board 1, and then the backplane board 1 can be installed and connected with the server mainboard 4; when connecting the installation slot 22 and the backplane board 1, first insert the pin 222 of the installation slot 22 into the positioning hole, and then weld the positioning hole and the pin 222 to fix; select the corresponding hard disk sub-board 21 according to the type of hard disk 3 to be assembled, insert the plug-in component 214 of the hard disk sub-board 21 into the plug-in cavity 225 of the installation slot 22, until the locking portion 2171 of the elastic component 217 cooperates with the lock buckle 228 on the installation slot 22; then install the hard disk 3 in the hard disk slot 211 of the hard disk sub-board 21. When the hard disk sub-board 21 needs to be removed, the pull strap can be pulled manually to drive the elastic component 217 to move, and the locking portion 2171 is separated from the lock buckle 228. At this time, the hard disk sub-board 21 can be pulled out of the installation slot 22 to complete the removal process.

[0111] Fig.10 A schematic diagram of a connection method of a direct-connect hard disk system provided in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0112] In the above embodiment of the present invention, the hard disk sub-board 21 can be vertically installed on the backplane board 1 through the installation slot 22, and the first hard disk status signal connector can be designed to be in the form of a gold finger 213, and connected to the second hard disk status signal connector on the backplane board 1 through the signal terminal 224 of the gold finger slot 223 in the installation slot 22.

[0113] On this basis, if Fig.10As shown, using the direct-connected hard disk system provided by the embodiment of the present invention, when installing the direct-connected hard disk system, the installation slot 22 is vertically installed on the backplane board 1, and the hard disk daughter board 21 is plugged into the gold finger slot 223 of the installation slot 22 of the backplane board 1 through the first hard disk status signal connector in the form of gold fingers 213, so as to be connected with the second hard disk status signal connector on the backplane board 1 through the signal terminal 224 in the gold finger slot 223, and the hard disk is plugged into the hard disk slot 211 on the hard disk connector of the hard disk daughter board 21, and the other end of the hard disk connector is connected to the server mainboard 4 through the cable 23. Then, through the hard disk connector and the first hard disk status signal connector on the hard disk daughter board 21, high-speed signals, sideband signals and power can be transmitted to the hard disk 3.

[0114] The high-speed signal link between the hard disk 3 and the server mainboard 4 is formed by the hard disk connector and the cable 23. The high-speed signal may include a high-speed serial computer expansion bus data signal, and the high-speed serial computer expansion bus signal includes a high-speed serial computer expansion bus read signal and a high-speed serial computer expansion bus write signal; the high-speed clock signal may be a high-speed serial computer expansion bus clock signal.

[0115] The sideband signal and power supply are transmitted to the hard disk through the hard disk connector and the first hard disk status signal connector. The sideband signal may include a hard disk status indication signal and a hard disk status control signal. The hard disk status indication signal may be a hard disk in-place signal. The hard disk status control signal may be a hard disk status indicator light control signal corresponding to the hard disk status indicator light provided on the hard disk daughter board 21. The hard disk status control signal may also include a reset signal. The sideband signal may also include a device hot-swap management signal and a high-speed signal bus reset signal. The power supply may include a +12V voltage (P12V) and a +3.3V standby power supply (+3.3VStandby, P3V3_STBY).

[0116] Among them, the power provided by the backplane board 1 to the hard disk comes from the power supply of the server mainboard 4. The power supply of the server mainboard 4 provides power to the backplane board 1, and is converted into the power supply voltage required by the hard disk 3 by the power connector on the backplane board 1. It is then provided to the hard disk 3 through the second hard disk status signal connector of the backplane board 1 and the first hard disk status signal connector of the hard disk daughter board 21.

[0117] In addition, the server mainboard 4 also interacts with the backplane controller on the backplane board 1 through the solder wire connector on the hard disk daughter board 21, the first hard disk status signal connector, and the second hard disk status signal connector of the backplane board 1, thereby monitoring the status of the hard disk 3.

[0118] Fig.11 A schematic diagram of another connection method of a direct-connect hard disk system provided in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0119] like Fig.11 As shown, using the direct-connected hard disk system provided by the embodiment of the present invention, after the hard disk is plugged into the hard disk slot 211 on the hard disk connector of the hard disk daughter board 21, the cable 23 at the other end of the hard disk connector of the hard disk daughter board 21 is connected to the downstream connector 401 of the server main board 4, that is, Fig.10 The cable connector 402 is plugged into the downstream connector 401 of the server mainboard 4, so that the hard disk 3 and the central processor on the server mainboard 4 can transmit high-speed signals through the cable 23 and the hard disk connector.

[0120] By using the direct-connected hard disk system provided by the embodiment of the present invention, the installation mode of the direct-connected hard disk system can be flexibly set according to the space in the server chassis.

[0121] Fig.12 A side view of a chassis when a backplane board 1 provided in an embodiment of the present invention is installed horizontally.

[0122] In some optional implementations of the embodiments of the present invention, Fig.12 As shown, the backplane board 1 can be installed horizontally on the server mainboard 4, and the hard disk daughter board 21 can be installed vertically on the backplane board 1.

[0123] like Fig.12 As shown, the red cable is the cable between the hard disk daughter board 21 and the downstream connector 401 of the server main board 4, refer to Figure 3 The cable 23 shown can package the upstream data interface of the hard disk connector on the hard disk daughter board 21 and the cable led out of the welding wire connector into a cable bundle so as to be connected to the downstream connector 401 of the server main board 4. The packaged cable bundle facilitates the connection between the hard disk daughter board 21 and the server main board 4.

[0124] Fig.12 The blue cable in the figure represents the cable between the power supply of the server mainboard 4 and the power connector of the backplane board 1. Fig.12 The black cable in FIG. 1 represents the cable between the two-wire serial bus connector on the server mainboard 4 and the two-wire serial bus connector on the backplane board 1 .

[0125] Fig.13 A front view of a chassis when a backplane board 1 provided in an embodiment of the present invention is installed horizontally.

[0126] Applications such as Fig.12 The solution shown in FIG. 1 is to vertically mount the hard disk daughter board 21 on the backplane board 1 and to horizontally mount the backplane board 1 on the server chassis on the server motherboard 4. Fig.13 As shown, from the front window of the chassis, it can be seen that the hard disks 3 are installed vertically in a row.

[0127] Fig.14 A side view of a chassis when a backplane board 1 provided in an embodiment of the present invention is installed vertically.

[0128] In some other optional implementations of the embodiments of the present invention, Fig.14 As shown, the backplane board 1 can also be installed vertically to the server mainboard 4 , and the hard disk daughter board 21 is horizontal to the server mainboard 4 and vertically installed to the backplane board 1 .

[0129] like Fig.14 As shown, the red cable is the cable between the hard disk daughter board 21 and the downstream connector 401 of the server main board 4, refer to Figure 3 The cable 23 shown can package the upstream data interface of the hard disk connector on the hard disk daughter board 21 and the cable led out of the welding wire connector into a cable bundle so as to be connected to the downstream connector 401 of the server main board 4. The packaged cable bundle facilitates the connection between the hard disk daughter board 21 and the server main board 4.

[0130] Fig.14 The blue cable in the figure represents the cable between the power supply of the server mainboard 4 and the power connector of the backplane board 1. Fig.14 The black cable in FIG. 1 represents the cable between the two-wire serial bus connector on the server mainboard 4 and the two-wire serial bus connector on the backplane board 1 .

[0131] Fig.15 A front view of a chassis when a backplane board 1 provided in an embodiment of the present invention is installed vertically.

[0132] Applications such as Fig.14 The solution shown in FIG. 1 is to install the hard disk daughter board 21 vertically on the backplane board 1, and to install the backplane board 1 vertically on the server mainboard 4 on the server chassis. Fig.15 As shown, from the front window of the chassis, you can see that the hard drives are installed horizontally in multiple rows.

[0133] The installation position of the direct-connected hard disk system provided in the embodiment of the present invention, as well as the installation positions of the hard disk daughter board 21, the backplane board 1 and the hard disk on the direct-connected hard disk system provided in the embodiment of the present invention can be flexibly arranged according to the shape and free space of the server chassis.

[0134] To ensure the stability of installation, in some optional implementations of the embodiments of the present invention, the hard disk sub-boards 21 can be evenly installed on the backplane board 1. As introduced in the above embodiments of the present invention, for the convenience of design and management, the hard disk sub-boards 21 are designed to be connected to the hard disks 3 in a one-to-one correspondence. Then, the number of hard disk sub-boards 21 installed on the backplane board 1 is the same as the number of hard disks 3 connected to the central processing unit of the server motherboard 4. According to the installation method of the hard disk sub-board 21 on the backplane board 1, if the hard disk sub-board 21 is installed horizontally along the long side of the backplane board 1, multiple rows of hard disk sub-boards 21 can be installed on the backplane board 1, thereby increasing the number of hard disk sub-boards 21 to install more hard disks 3.

[0135] On the basis of the above-mentioned embodiment, the embodiment of the present invention continues to describe the control method based on the improved direct-connected hard disk system structure.

[0136] The direct-connected hard disk system provided by the embodiment of the present invention is applied, and according to the records of the above-mentioned embodiment of the present invention, the direct-connected hard disk system is installed in the server chassis, and the hard disk is inserted into the hard disk connector of the hard disk daughter board of the direct-connected hard disk system. After the server is turned on, the direct-connected hard disk system is powered on, the connected hard disk is initialized, and the physical layer and link layer (link) actions are completed by completing the training action of the high-speed signal line through the high-speed signal link. After the central processing unit on the server motherboard recognizes the hard disk, the address space and drive letter are allocated to the hard disk, so as to execute read and write instructions and other tasks under the operating system (OS).

[0137] If the high-speed signal line between the hard disk connector and the server motherboard is a high-speed serial computer expansion bus, a high-speed signal link between the hard disk and the server motherboard is established by initializing the transaction layer, data link layer and physical layer.

[0138] The transaction layer is responsible for creating or parsing transaction layer packets (TLP), handling flow control, quality of service (QoS), transaction sorting, etc. It supports four types of transactions: memory read and write, I / O read and write, and configuration read and write. The transaction layer is also responsible for the management of virtual channels and traffic categories to support real-time, isochronous, and priority data transmission.

[0139] The data link layer is responsible for link management, including error detection, link status monitoring, flow control, and power management. The data link layer adds a sequence number and link layer CRC (LCRC) to the TLP generated by the transaction layer to facilitate error detection and correction. In addition, the data link layer is also responsible for the ACK / NAK protocol to ensure the successful transmission of data packets.

[0140] The physical layer is used to handle the actual physical transmission of data, including data encoding and decoding, signal transmission and reception, and link training and status management. The physical layer uses differential signal transmission and adopts a specific encoding scheme (such as 8b / 10b encoding or 128b / 130b encoding) to ensure data integrity and link stability.

[0141] The PCIe bus uses an end-to-end connection method. Both the transmitter and receiver contain transmit logic (TX) and receive logic (RX). In a data path (Lane) of the physical link of the PCIe bus, there are two sets of differential signals, a total of 4 signal lines. The TX component of the transmitter and the RX component of the receiver are connected using a set of differential signals. This link is also called the transmitter's transmit link, and is also the receiver's receive link; while the RX component of the transmitter and the TX component of the receiver are connected using another set of differential signals. This link is also called the transmitter's receive link, and is also the receiver's transmit link. A PCIe link can be composed of multiple Lanes.

[0142] The clock signal line in the PCIe bus is used to ensure that data is transmitted correctly in the PCIe link.

[0143] If the high-speed signal line between the hard disk connector and the server motherboard is a SAS / SATA signal line, the SAS protocol is used, and its layered structure includes: Physical Layer: defines the physical characteristics of SAS cables, connectors, and interfaces, including electrical characteristics and test conditions for SAS transceivers in the SAS PHY layer.

[0144] PHY Layer: Responsible for transmitting the bit stream of the upper layer protocol, including encoding schemes, power supply / reset sequences, etc. This layer processes the original electrical signals.

[0145] Link Layer: Controls the connection management of the PHY layer, including error detection and correction, link initialization, rate matching, etc. The link layer is divided into SSP (Serial SCSI Protocol) link layer, STP (Serial ATA Tunneled Protocol) link layer and SMP (SCSI Management Protocol) link layer according to the different protocols processed.

[0146] Port Layer: As the interface between the link layer and the transport layer, it handles requests, interrupts, and connection establishment. The port layer is responsible for managing the communication between the SAS port and the PHY.

[0147] Transport Layer: Responsible for the encapsulation and decomposition of SAS frames. The transport layer receives and parses SAS frames from the port layer, and then sends the data to the application layer, while also processing the data coming down from the application layer.

[0148] Application Layer: describes how to use SAS in different types of applications, generates requests and sends them to the transport layer, and receives responses from the transport layer. The application layer includes the SCSI application layer, the ATA application layer, and the management application layer.

[0149] The SAS protocol adopts a serial communication mode, and designs a set of efficient data transmission and clock synchronization mechanisms, and data transmission and clock synchronization are realized by the data line itself. SAS uses a high-speed serial connection, and each port contains one or more pairs of differential signal lines for sending and receiving, and these signal lines are responsible for transmitting data and clock information. Therefore, for the hard disk daughter card designed for SAS / SATA hard disk, only a high-speed data signal line can be set between its hard disk connector and the server mainboard, and no high-speed clock signal line is set. Applying the direct-connected hard disk system provided by the embodiment of the present invention, the out-of-band monitoring of the hard disk operation status can be realized through the out-of-band management system of the server. The baseboard management controller in the out-of-band management system can be connected to the two-wire serial bus connector of the server mainboard through the system management bus, and connected to the two-wire serial bus channel of the backplane board through the two-wire serial bus connector of the server mainboard, the cable and the two-wire serial bus connector of the backplane board, to realize the operation status monitoring of the backplane board and realize the operation status monitoring of each hard disk daughterboard and even each hard disk through the backplane board.

[0150] The baseboard management controller in the out-of-band management system can also monitor the operating status of each hard disk sub-board and even each hard disk through the complex programmable logic device on the server mainboard, the two-wire serial bus connector on the server mainboard, the two-wire serial bus and the two-wire serial bus connector of the backplane board.

[0151] When there are multiple hard disks to be monitored, the two-wire serial bus connected to the baseboard management controller is switched to different devices connected to the two-wire serial bus through the two-wire serial bus channel switching chip on the backplane board, so that the baseboard management controller can access the hard disk status, backplane board status, etc. For example, the baseboard management controller can access whether the hard disk on the direct-connected hard disk system is in place through the out-of-band management interface (such as the system management bus).

[0152] Under the control of the baseboard management controller, the backplane card can receive commands from the central processor side of the server mainboard to control the on and off, lighting mode, etc. of the hard disk status indicator light.

[0153] Based on the above embodiment, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a hard disk daughter board, which may include: Hard disk connector, the upstream data interface of the hard disk connector is directly connected to the downstream connector of the server motherboard through a high-speed signal line, and the downstream data interface of the hard disk connector is used to connect the hard disk; A first hard disk status signal connector is connected to the backplane controller of the backplane board and is used to transmit hard disk status signals and power signals; The hard disk connector and the first hard disk status signal connector are designed to be separated, and the hard disk status signal of the hard disk connector is connected to the first hard disk status signal connector.

[0154] In some optional implementations of the embodiments of the present invention, the hard disk daughter board may be composed of a hard disk connector, a first hard disk status signal connector, and a printed circuit board for mounting the hard disk connector and the first hard disk status signal connector.

[0155] In some other optional implementations of the embodiments of the present invention, since the required connections of the hard disk connector and the first hard disk status signal connector on the hard disk daughter board provided in the embodiments of the present invention can be achieved by cables without the need for on-board wiring, the hard disk connector and the first hard disk status signal connector can also be detachably installed on the backplane board by other installation methods.

[0156] The hard disk daughter board can be connected to the hard disk in a one-to-one correspondence. That is, a hard disk daughter board is provided with a hard disk connector, and the hard disk connector is used to connect a hard disk. Then a first hard disk status signal connector is also arranged on the hard disk daughter board, which is used to transmit the hard disk status signal and power signal related to the hard disk.

[0157] In the embodiment of the present invention, the hard disk connector is used to transmit signals between the central processing unit on the server motherboard and the hard disk. The signals between the hard disk and the server motherboard are usually high-speed signals, and different high-speed signal lines are required depending on the type of hard disk.

[0158] For the upstream data interface side of the hard disk connector, in some optional implementations of the embodiments of the present invention, the high-speed signal line may include a high-speed clock signal line and a high-speed data signal line. For example, for an NVMe hard disk, the high-speed signal line used between the hard disk connector and the server motherboard may include a high-speed serial computer expansion bus data signal and a high-speed serial computer expansion bus clock signal.

[0159] In some other optional implementations of the present invention, the high-speed signal line may be only a high-speed data signal line. For example, for a SAS / SATA hard disk, the high-speed signal line required is only a high-speed data signal line, and no clock signal line is required.

[0160] In terms of connection method, the upstream data interface of the hard disk connector can be connected to the downstream connector of the server motherboard through a high-speed signal cable, thereby further improving the flexibility of direct-connected hard disk system installation and the stability of the high-speed signal link.

[0161] For the downstream data interface side of the hard disk connector, the downstream data interface of the hard disk connector is designed according to the type of hard disk to be connected. The interface of the hard disk is usually a gold finger structure, in which the pins are plugged into the position on the hard disk slot, and can be connected to the components on the server side (such as the data pins connected to the central processor) via the circuit on the hard disk backplane. In the embodiment of the present invention, the hard disk connector can include a hard disk slot for connecting the hard disk.

[0162] In the embodiment of the present invention, the first hard disk status signal connector of the hard disk daughter board is connected to the second hard disk status signal connector of the backplane board for transmitting the hard disk status signal and the power signal.

[0163] In some optional implementations of the embodiments of the present invention, the first hard disk status signal connector may be connected to the second hard disk status signal connector of the backplane card by using a cable.

[0164] In some other optional implementations of the embodiments of the present invention, the first hard disk status signal connector can also be plug-in connected to the second hard disk status signal connector of the backplane board. That is, one of the first hard disk status signal connector and the second hard disk status signal connector can be a male connector, and the other can be a female connector. For example, the first hard disk status signal connector can be a gold finger, and the second hard disk status signal connector can be designed as a gold finger slot accordingly.

[0165] To ensure the stability of hard disk operation, the first hard disk status signal connector and the second hard disk status signal connector are connected by plug-in connection, thereby fixing the hard disk daughter board on the backplane board, and then fixing the hard disk in the direct-connected hard disk system.

[0166] To facilitate heat dissipation, in an embodiment of the present invention, the high-speed signal link of the hard disk connector and the hard disk status signal line between the hard disk connector and the first hard disk status signal connector can be installed at 90°.

[0167] Since the hard disk daughter board provided in the embodiment of the present invention corresponds to the direct-connected hard disk system provided in the above embodiment of the present invention, for further embodiments of the hard disk daughter board part, please refer to the description of the embodiments of the direct-connected hard disk system part.

[0168] The above describes in detail various embodiments corresponding to the direct-connected hard disk system provided by the present invention. On this basis, the present invention also discloses a server corresponding to the above direct-connected hard disk system.

[0169] The server provided by the embodiment of the present invention may include a server mainboard, a direct-connected hard disk system and a hard disk; the direct-connected hard disk system includes a hard disk daughter board and a backplane board; the hard disk daughter board includes a hard disk connector and a first hard disk status signal connector, and the hard disk daughter board is detachably connected to the backplane board through the first hard disk status signal connector; the upstream data interface of the hard disk connector is directly connected to the downstream connector of the server mainboard through a high-speed signal line, and the downstream data interface of the hard disk connector is used to connect the hard disk, and the hard disk status signal and power signal of the hard disk connector are connected to the backplane controller of the backplane board through the first hard disk status signal connector.

[0170] In actual applications, multiple hard disk daughter boards can be installed on the backplane board as needed. The hard disk daughter boards can be installed in a row on the backplane board, or multiple rows of hard disk daughter boards can be flexibly arranged on the backplane board.

[0171] When installing a direct-connected hard disk system using the server provided by the embodiment of the present invention, the hard disk daughter board is plugged into the second hard disk status signal connector in the form of a gold finger slot on the backplane board through the first hard disk status signal connector in the form of a gold finger slot, and the hard disk is plugged into the hard disk slot on the hard disk connector of the hard disk daughter board, and the other end of the hard disk connector is connected to the server mainboard through a cable. Then, through the hard disk connector on the hard disk daughter board and the first hard disk status signal connector, high-speed signals, sideband signals and power can be transmitted to the hard disk.

[0172] The high-speed signal link between the hard disk and the server mainboard is formed by the hard disk connector and the cable. The high-speed signal may include a high-speed serial computer expansion bus data signal, and the high-speed serial computer expansion bus signal includes a high-speed serial computer expansion bus read signal and a high-speed serial computer expansion bus write signal; the high-speed clock signal may be a high-speed serial computer expansion bus clock signal.

[0173] The sideband signal and power supply are transmitted to the hard disk through the hard disk connector and the first hard disk status signal connector. The sideband signal may include a hard disk status indication signal and a hard disk status control signal. The hard disk status indication signal may be a hard disk in-place signal. The hard disk status control signal may be a hard disk status indicator light control signal corresponding to the hard disk status indicator light provided on the hard disk daughter board. The hard disk status control signal may also include a reset signal. The sideband signal may also include a device hot-swap management signal and a high-speed signal bus reset signal. The power supply may include a +12V voltage (P12V) and a +3.3V standby power supply (+3.3VStandby, P3V3_STBY).

[0174] Among them, the power provided by the backplane board for the hard disk comes from the power supply of the server mainboard. The power supply of the server mainboard provides power to the backplane board, and is converted into the power supply voltage required by the hard disk by the power connector on the backplane board. It is then provided to the hard disk through the second hard disk status signal connector of the backplane board and the first hard disk status signal connector of the hard disk daughter board.

[0175] In addition, the server motherboard also interacts with the backplane controller on the backplane board through the welding wire connector on the hard disk daughter board, the first hard disk status signal connector and the second hard disk status signal connector of the backplane board, thereby monitoring the status of the hard disk.

[0176] By utilizing the server provided by the embodiment of the present invention, the hard disk can be plugged into the slot on the hard disk connector of the hard disk daughter board, and then the cable at the other end of the hard disk connector of the hard disk daughter board is connected to the downstream connector of the server main board, that is, the cable plug is plugged into the downstream connector of the server main board, so that the hard disk and the central processing unit on the server main board can transmit high-speed signals through the cable and the hard disk connector.

[0177] By using the server provided by the embodiment of the present invention, the installation method of the server mainboard, the direct-connected hard disk system and the hard disk can be flexibly set according to the space in the server chassis.

[0178] In some optional implementations of the embodiments of the present invention, the backplane board may be installed horizontally on the server mainboard, and the hard disk daughter board may be installed vertically on the backplane board.

[0179] The red cable is the cable between the hard disk daughter board and the downstream connector of the server mainboard. The upstream data interface of the hard disk connector on the hard disk daughter board and the cable led out of the welding wire connector can be packaged into a cable bundle and connected to the downstream connector of the server mainboard. The packaged cable bundle is convenient for connecting the hard disk daughter board to the server mainboard.

[0180] In some other optional implementations of the embodiments of the present invention, the backplane board may be installed vertically to the server mainboard, and the hard disk daughter board may be installed horizontally to the server mainboard and vertically to the backplane board.

[0181] The upstream data interface of the hard disk connector on the hard disk daughter board and the cable led out of the welding wire connector can be packaged into a cable bundle and connected to the downstream connector of the server motherboard. The packaged cable bundle facilitates the connection of the hard disk daughter board to the server motherboard.

[0182] To ensure the stability of installation, in some optional implementations of the embodiments of the present invention, the hard disk sub-boards can be evenly installed on the backplane board. As introduced in the above embodiments of the present invention, for the convenience of design and management, the hard disk sub-boards are designed to be connected to the hard disks one by one. Then, the number of hard disk sub-boards to be connected to the central processing unit of the server motherboard is determined by the number of hard disks installed on the backplane board. According to the installation method of the hard disk sub-board on the backplane board, if the hard disk sub-board is installed horizontally along the long side of the backplane board, multiple rows of hard disk sub-boards can be installed on the backplane board, thereby increasing the number of hard disk sub-boards to install a larger number of hard disks.

[0183] Since the server provided in the embodiment of the present invention corresponds to the direct-connected hard disk system provided in the above-mentioned embodiment of the present invention, for further embodiments of the server part, please refer to the description of the embodiments of the direct-connected hard disk system part.

[0184] The server provided by the embodiment of the present invention designs a detachably connected hard disk daughter board and a backplane board card on the hard disk direct connection scheme, a hard disk connector and a first hard disk status signal connector are arranged on the hard disk daughter board, and a backplane controller is arranged on the backplane board card; the hard disk daughter board is detachably connected to the server main board through the hard disk connector. The uplink data interface of the hard disk connector is connected to the downlink connector of the server main board, the downlink data interface of the hard disk connector is connected to the hard disk, and the hard disk status pin of the hard disk connector is connected to the backplane controller of the backplane board card through the first hard disk status signal connector. Therefore, with the iterative update of the server storage architecture, the backplane board card can be used as a universal structure for cross-generation use, and only the corresponding hard disk daughter board needs to be added according to the number and type of hard disks, thereby realizing a hard disk direct connection scheme with strong reusability, low development difficulty, and can reduce the design types of the backplane, and has good ventilation and heat dissipation performance for high-density hard disk backplane scenes, which is beneficial to reducing the noise and power consumption of the whole machine; and because the backplane board card does not need to increase the design cost as the signal rate of the supported hard disk increases, and the on-board routing between the hard disk and the server main board through the backplane is cancelled, the high-speed signal link is shortened, which is beneficial to reducing the difficulty of impedance design.

[0185] The above is a detailed introduction to a direct-connected hard disk system, a hard disk daughterboard and a server provided by the present invention. The various embodiments in the specification are described in a progressive manner, and each embodiment focuses on the differences from other embodiments. The same and similar parts between the various embodiments can be referenced to each other. For the server disclosed in the embodiment, since it corresponds to the direct-connected hard disk system disclosed in the embodiment, the description is relatively simple, and the relevant parts can be referred to the description of the direct-connected hard disk system. It should be pointed out that for ordinary technicians in this technical field, without departing from the principle of the present invention, the present invention can also be improved and modified in a number of ways, and these improvements and modifications also fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0186] It should also be noted that, in this specification, relational terms such as first and second, etc. are only used to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Moreover, the terms "comprise", "include" or any other variants thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or device including a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements not explicitly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. In the absence of further restrictions, an element defined by the statement "comprises a ..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article or device including the element.

Claims

1. A direct-connect hard disk system, characterized in that: Including hard disk daughter board and backplane board; The hard disk sub-board comprises a hard disk connector and a first hard disk status signal connector, and the hard disk sub-board is detachably connected to the backplane board through the first hard disk status signal connector; The upstream data interface of the hard disk connector is directly connected to the downstream connector of the server mainboard through a high-speed signal line. The downstream data interface of the hard disk connector is used to connect the hard disk. The hard disk status signal and power signal of the hard disk connector are connected to the backplane controller of the backplane board through the first hard disk status signal connector.

2. The direct-connect hard disk system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The upstream data interface of the hard disk connector is connected to the downstream connector of the server mainboard through a high-speed signal cable.

3. The direct-connect hard disk system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first hard disk status signal connector and the second hard disk status signal connector of the backplane board are plug-in connected.

4. The direct-connect hard disk system according to claim 1, characterized in that: It also includes a limiting device fixed to the backplane board for fixing the hard disk sub-board, the hard disk sub-board is provided with a buckle and a buckle releasing structure, and the limiting device is provided with a limiting structure corresponding to the buckle and the buckle releasing structure.

5. The direct-connect hard disk system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The high-speed signal link of the hard disk connector and the hard disk status signal line between the hard disk connector and the first hard disk status signal connector are installed at 90 degrees.

6. The direct-connect hard disk system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The high-speed signal lines include a high-speed clock signal line and a high-speed data signal line.

7. The direct-connect hard disk system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The high-speed signal line is a high-speed data signal line.

8. The direct-connect hard disk system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The reset pin and the device hot-swap management pin of the first hard disk status signal connector are connected to the downstream connector of the server mainboard through the welding wire connector and the cable of the hard disk daughter board.

9. The direct-connect hard disk system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The backplane board includes a second hard disk status signal connector, the backplane controller, a two-wire serial bus connector, an asset information storage chip, a temperature sensor and a power connector; Wherein, the second hard disk status signal connector is used to connect the first hard disk status signal connector to the backplane controller; The two-wire serial bus connector is used to connect the server mainboard with the backplane controller, and the asset information storage chip and the temperature sensor are connected to the two-wire serial bus connector; The power connector is used to connect the power supply of the server mainboard and convert the power supply into the power supply output required by the backplane card.

10. The direct-connect hard disk system according to claim 9, characterized in that: The backplane board also includes a two-wire serial bus channel switching chip, a first end of the two-wire serial bus channel switching chip is connected to the second end of the two-wire serial bus connector, the first end of the two-wire serial bus connector is connected to the out-of-band monitoring system of the server motherboard, and the second end of the two-wire serial bus channel switching chip is connected to the first hard disk status signal connectors of multiple corresponding hard disk daughter boards via multiple second hard disk status signal connectors.

11. The direct-connect hard disk system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The hard disk sub-boards are connected to the hard disks in a one-to-one correspondence.

12. The direct-connect hard disk system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The plurality of hard disk sub-boards are arranged horizontally and evenly mounted on the backplane board.

13. A hard disk daughter board, characterized in that: include: A hard disk connector, wherein the upstream data interface of the hard disk connector is directly connected to the downstream connector of the server mainboard through a high-speed signal line, and the downstream data interface of the hard disk connector is used to connect the hard disk; A first hard disk status signal connector is connected to the backplane controller of the backplane board and is used to transmit hard disk status signals and power signals; The hard disk connector and the first hard disk status signal connector are designed to be separated, and the hard disk status signal of the hard disk connector is connected to the first hard disk status signal connector.

14. The hard disk daughter board according to claim 13, characterized in that: The upstream data interface of the hard disk connector is connected to the downstream connector of the server mainboard through a high-speed signal cable.

15. The hard disk daughter board according to claim 13, characterized in that: The first hard disk status signal connector and the second hard disk status signal connector of the backplane board are plug-in connected.

16. The hard disk daughter board according to claim 13, characterized in that: The high-speed signal link of the hard disk connector and the hard disk status signal line between the hard disk connector and the first hard disk status signal connector are installed at 90 degrees.

17. The hard disk daughter board according to claim 13, characterized in that: The hard disk sub-boards are connected to the hard disks in a one-to-one correspondence.

18. A server, characterized in that: Includes server motherboard, direct-connect hard disk system and hard disk; The direct-connect hard disk system includes a hard disk daughter board and a backplane board; The hard disk sub-board comprises a hard disk connector and a first hard disk status signal connector, and the hard disk sub-board is detachably connected to the backplane board through the first hard disk status signal connector; The upstream data interface of the hard disk connector is directly connected to the downstream connector of the server mainboard through a high-speed signal line. The downstream data interface of the hard disk connector is used to connect the hard disk. The hard disk status signal and power signal of the hard disk connector are connected to the backplane controller of the backplane card through the first hard disk status signal connector.

19. The server according to claim 18, characterized in that The backplane board is installed horizontally on the server mainboard, and the hard disk sub-board is installed vertically on the backplane board.

20. The server according to claim 18, characterized in that The backplane board is installed vertically to the server mainboard, and the hard disk sub-board is horizontal to the server mainboard and vertically to the backplane board.

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