I.S.S. Invents Mounting Bracket Which Keeps High Performance Disk Drives Running Cool

Anyone involved in the Mass Storage segment of the computer industry is well aware of the advances made with magnetic disk storage. Not only have capacities increased but performance has significantly improved as well. The 5,400rpm drives of yesterday are now taking a back seat to both the 7,200rpm and 10,000rpm spindles. And yet, soon these drives will be old technology as the 12,000 and 15,000rpm products become available.

These improvements in disk technology do not come without caution. Today, the prevailing concern with 7,200rpm drives and above is how to provide adequate cooling. Faster spindle speeds bring higher operating temperatures as witnessed by the 10,000rpm drives running up to 30% hotter than their 7,200rpm predecessor. If these temperature increases are not properly controlled, not only will the reliability of the drive be at risk but performance will suffer too.

Up until now, convection (moving air via a fan) has been the most common method for cooling drives. Although acceptable on the slower 5,400rpm drives, this technique by itself is insufficient to cool the higher performance disks. Just adding more fans won't fix the problem.

In answer to this challenge, I.S.S. Corporation, a systems integrator and VAR based in Santa Ana, CA, has come up with a unique yet, simple invention, to significantly reduce disk drive operating temperatures. RACE, which stands for Rugged Advanced Cooling Enhancement, is a special bracket used to mount any 3.5" high-performance disk drive into an industry standard 5.25" half-height bay. Utilizing cast aluminum heat sinks and dual ball-bearing fans, the RACE-102 employs both conduction and convection techniques to extract heat and move it away from the disk drive.

In order to obtain objective and expert feedback on the effectiveness of the RACE invention, I.S.S. contacted disk drive manufacturer Seagate Technology. A 10,000rpm Cheetah disk drive was mounted with a RACE-102 bracket and sent to Seagate for testing. After running a battery of thermal tests in various enclosures the RACE-102 offered far greater cooling than an industry standard mounting bracket. The Cheetah drive ran 27% cooler in a Kingston half-height enclosure and 33% cooler in a typical mid-size tower server. Seagate summarized the findings as follows:

"This device [RACE-102] tested out very well and utilizes the principles of both conduction and convection to provide appropriate cooling to the disk drive. This test data shows how reducing the HDA temperature can be achieved and maintain acceptable margin levels."

Seagate Technology
October 6th, 1997

(A copy of the 4 page Seagate report is available upon request.)

I.S.S. is currently pursuing a relationship with a large OEM and manufacturer in order to mass produce its patented cooling technology. Future enhancements to the RACE product line are already in the works such as a 4 fan version (RACE-104) as well as an intelligent, self-calibrating alarm which will monitor vital statistics such as fan speed and temperature.