JP2003316489A - Apparatus and method for hot swapping - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus and method for hot swapping, which inhibit a rush current from flowing into a load unit on the occurrence of failures in an operating load unit (HDD etc.), in an apparatus such as computers, and allow replacement thereof, and further achieve mounting of the load unit in closely-packed, low cost and highly reliable manner. <P>SOLUTION: The apparatus for hot swapping can be inserted/extracted into/ from a motherboard 7, and an output of a power supply is connected to main power supply pins V1-Vn of HDD H1-Hn having fiber channel interfaces. In pre-charge pins Vp1-Vpn of the HDDs, rush current supply lines Vs1-Vsn are connected for every HDD through a rush current limiting board 9a from a main power supply line 8. By limiting a rush current that is generated in swapping the HDD to supply to the HDD, capacitors and circuit voltages inside the HDD are fully started up before the main power supply pins come into contact, thereby suppressing voltage drops on the main power supply line when the main power supply pins are brought into contact. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a load unit, an HD having a fiber channel interface.
In a device in which a plurality of D (Hard Disk Drive) and the like are mounted in a device and a HDD in which a failure occurs while the device is operating can be replaced, the HDD that is replaced due to the failure
A hot-swap device and method for suppressing the inrush current generated by the HDD to be inserted by replacement without affecting the operation of other normally operating HDDs and enabling stable replacement of the HDD of the device. Related to effective technology.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art According to a study conducted by the present inventor, the following techniques are conceivable for a hot-swap device and method.

For example, a device such as a computer is small,
There is a disk subsystem device in which an inexpensive HDD is connected in a RAID configuration to improve the performance and reliability of the device. In this disk subsystem device, H
The miniaturization of DD has progressed, the number of HDDs mounted has increased, and the mounting density of components such as HDDs has also increased. Among such HDD drive devices, a plurality of HDDs using a fiber channel interface are mounted in the device, and the HDDs are
By controlling the AID configuration, one HD can be operated during the operation of the device.
There is a device having a structure that does not deteriorate the function and performance of the device even when D becomes a failure.

In this apparatus, the HDD that has failed is required to be replaced with a normally operating HDD while the apparatus is in operation. Generally, an HDD having a fiber channel interface has a fiber channel interface. Main power supply pin for the specified main power supply line and HD
It has a precharge pin for the purpose of charging the internal circuit and a load such as a capacitor before the main power supply pin contacts. However, inside the HDD, the power supply line input from the main power supply line and the power supply line input from the precharge pin are wired-OR on the substrate without passing any circuit.
The circuit configuration is not such that a rush current into the HDD that occurs when the power of the DD is turned on is suppressed inside the HDD.

Further, in such a device, a plurality of HDDs are used.
Is mounted on the motherboard, and power is supplied from the same power source, and the signal line of the fiber channel interface for performing the read / write operation of the HDD is also wired to each HDD via this motherboard. I am trying.

In this device, in order to replace a failed HDD, the same power supply is shared and the HD is operating normally.
When a new HDD is connected to the power supply voltage (power supply line) of D, a rush current to the new HDD occurs, the transient current cannot be supplied from the power supply, and the shared power supply voltage drops. For this reason, the power supply voltage of the normally operating HDD other than the replaced HDD falls below the operable voltage, and the normally operating HDD stops operating, and the operation of the device cannot be maintained normally. .

As described above, a plurality of HDDs are connected on the motherboard so as to share the same power source, and H
In order to be able to replace a failed HDD while guaranteeing its operation while another HDD is operating, it is necessary to suppress the inrush current generated by the HDD newly inserted into the motherboard for the purpose of replacement. However, the HDD itself does not have this function and circuit, and therefore a circuit and method for suppressing the inrush current generated by each HDD in the components other than the HDD are required.

In the conventional disk subsystem device, H
There is a configuration in which an expansion board is connected to a DD connector, a connector for connecting to a motherboard is provided on the opposite side of the expansion board, and an HDD and a motherboard are connected via the expansion board. This expansion board connects all signal lines that the HDD should send and receive, and uses FETs for the power supply line that supplies the power supply voltage to the HDD in order to limit the inrush current generated by each HDD. It has the inrush current limiting circuit.

An inrush current limiting circuit using this FET is
When the power supply line on the motherboard and the power supply pin of the HDD are mounted in series and the expansion board connected to the HDD is connected to the motherboard and the power supply voltage to the HDD is input on the expansion board, the time constant is defined by the resistance and capacitor. The gate voltage of the FET is raised (lowered) with the time taken. By controlling the gate voltage, the on-resistance of the FET is controlled, the output voltage of the FET is gradually raised, and the internal capacitor of the HDD is charged while the current supplied to the HDD is limited and the internal voltage of the HDD is controlled. Start up slowly, HDD
Limit the inrush current into the. As a result, the current flowing from the power supply line (or power supply) on the motherboard to the inserted HDD is limited, the voltage drop on the motherboard is suppressed, and the power to other HDDs mounted on the motherboard and sharing the same power supply is mounted. The voltage can be set within the operation allowable voltage range of the HDD, and the performance and function of the device are guaranteed.

Further, there is a type in which the rush current suppressing circuit portion on the extension substrate is not a FET or the like but a resistor. In this case, set the pin length of the connector on the motherboard side of the extension board to 3
Using a connector with different types, these three types of pins are the longest pin as ground, the second longest pin as a power source for charging,
The shortest pins are assigned to mains power and other signals.

With this configuration, when the HDD is inserted into the motherboard (the motherboard side connector of the expansion board is connected to the motherboard), the ground pin is first connected,
The charging power source comes into contact with the delay. In the expansion board, this charging power is supplied from the motherboard to the HDD via a resistor mounted on the expansion board, and the load such as a capacitor inside the HDD is charged while limiting the current. Finally, when the shortest pin contacts, the power supply and signal to the HDD will be connected. At this time, the current limited by the resistance is supplied from the charging power supply to the HDD internal capacitor etc. , Therefore, the internal circuit is fully charged, and the power supply voltage on the motherboard and the power supply voltage inside the HDD are almost the same,
As a result, the HD generated when the HDD is connected to the power supply
No inrush current to D occurs and no voltage drop occurs on the power supply line on the motherboard.

In such a system, an expansion board is required for each HDD mounted on the motherboard. In order to solve this problem, there is a disk subsystem device having a rush suppression circuit mounted on a motherboard.

As a connector of an HDD having a fiber channel interface, a connector whose pin length is shortened in the order of ground, charging power source and power source and signal is used according to its standard. For this reason, the above-mentioned inrush suppression resistors are individually mounted on the motherboard for each HDD one by one or a plurality of them, and the HDD charging power source is connected from the power supply line on the motherboard through the inrush suppression resistors. Wire to power the pins. Further, a power supply line shared with other HDDs mounted on the motherboard is wired to the power supply of the HDD. With this configuration, when the HDD is inserted into the motherboard, the ground pin of the HDD first comes into contact with it, and then the charging power source whose current is limited by the resistance of the motherboard comes into contact with the HDD to charge the capacitor and the like inside the HDD. Finally, the power supply of the HDD and the signal come into contact with each other to enable the operation of the HDD.

Alternatively, an HD for mounting the above HDD
Rather than limiting and controlling the inrush current flowing into D, and suppressing the effect on the shared power supply line, the amount of charge corresponding to the inrush current generated by each HDD is placed at the position closest to the connector of the motherboard on which the HDD is mounted. Mount the capacitor between the power line and the HDD connector. This capacitor is mounted on the motherboard for each HDD to be mounted.
By supplying the inrush current generated when the DD is inserted from this capacitor and making it a smoothed current from the power supply line, the voltage drop of the power supply line shared by all HDDs mounted on the motherboard is prevented. , Guarantee normal operation.

As in the above example, in the conventional disk subsystem device, such circuits and parts are added to the power supply line on the motherboard, or the power supply line between the motherboard and the HDD is added to each mounted HDD. By adding
There is a device and method in which a plurality of HDDs are connected to the same power source and HDDs that have failed can be replaced even during operation.

Further, as a technique similar to the technique of adding a circuit and a component on the motherboard as described above, in a configuration in which a plurality of units are present in an operating system, a part of the units is operated during the operation of the system. Regarding the hot-plugging and unplugging technology that can be replaced, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-111
The techniques described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 83-83576 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-314576 can be cited. In these publications, a technique for providing an inrush current prevention circuit such as an FET on a mother board and raising the inrush current of each inserted circuit board stepwise or exponentially and stabilizing it until the main power supply pin contacts Is disclosed.

[0017]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION By the way, as a result of a study conducted by the present inventor with respect to the hot-swap device and method as described above, the following has been clarified.

For example, regarding the hot-swap device and method, in the above example, (1) an expansion board is added between the motherboard and the HDD, and parts such as a current limiting circuit for suppressing the inrush current are mounted on the expansion board. And (2) a case where a rush current limiting resistor is provided on the motherboard between the power supply line and the connector of the HDD to limit the rush current to the HDD.
(3) A capacitor may be mounted for each HDD on the motherboard to smooth the inrush current.

(1) When an expansion board is mounted between the motherboard and the HDD, all signals input to and output from the HDD go through this expansion board. The fiber channel interface is a high-speed transmission line through which data transmission / reception signals are transmitted / received at a data transfer rate of 1 Gpbs, and its wiring and parts are defined by an impedance of 75Ω or 50Ω and its standard. If an expansion board intended for the above-mentioned inrush limiting circuit is mounted on the transmission path of transmission / reception signals of a fiber channel interface that has this standard, there will be one connector connection point compared to the case where the HDD is directly mounted on the motherboard. The number of wirings on the expansion board will increase, and the number of parts and wirings will increase for the wiring path of the fiber channel interface signal for transmitting / receiving the read / write data to / from the HDD.

Impedance mismatch occurs at the connector contact part, inside the connector, at the contact part between the connector and the expansion board, and at the wiring part of the expansion board, and the fiber channel interface signal is reflected at each mismatched part. , The noise voltage is superimposed on the normal signal amplitude.
Furthermore, the signal path of the fiber channel interface is attenuated with respect to the output signal amplitude because the resistance component of the connector and the extension board is inserted.

Further, it is necessary to mount the expansion board and the connector section between the mother board and each HDD, and when replacement is possible during operation of the HDD device, the expansion board is stored in a housing integrated with the HDD. It will be. For this purpose, the HDD
The external dimensions of each housing including the HDD are larger than the external dimensions of the HDD itself by the added expansion board, and the HDD cannot be mounted on the disk subsystem device at a high density.

Further, since the inrush current suppressing circuit portion mounted on this expansion board is mounted in series on the power supply line, the current consumed by the HDD flows and the FET or the resistor generates heat. As mentioned above, the expansion board must have a structure integrated with the HDD.
An increase in the ambient temperature of the DD itself may shorten the life of the HDD.

As described above, when the structure having the expansion substrate for the inrush current limiting circuit integrated with the HDD is adopted, the fiber channel interface signal is deteriorated and attenuated, the mounting density is not increased, and the HDD main body. There is a problem such as temperature rise of the above, and in order to improve this, there is a case of (2) shown below.

(2) When the inrush current limiting circuit or resistor for each HDD is mounted on the motherboard, the motherboard is made so that a plurality of HDDs are connected by connectors, and the inrush current limiting circuit and the resistor on the motherboard are In case of failure, this inrush current limiting circuit or resistor needs to be replaced. However, in this case, multiple HDDs
The motherboard cannot be replaced without stopping the operation of (all the HDDs mounted on one motherboard).

Further, this inrush current limiting circuit or resistor is mounted on the motherboard between the HDDs for each HDD, but the height of the HDD connector for the fiber channel interface is only about 10 mm, It is necessary to mount all the components in the gap of only about 10 mm. Therefore, in order to avoid the temperature rise of the HDD body, it is not possible to mount a component that generates a large amount of heat.

Further, in the techniques described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-11183 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-314576, there are many inrush current preventing circuit components as described above.
In addition, because it is mounted on the motherboard, when inrush current prevention circuits corresponding to each are mounted on multiple simultaneously operating motherboards, in case of this circuit failure, inrush current prevention circuit part should be normal except for stopping the device. Cannot be exchanged. Further, the mounting volume also increases as the size of each component increases, which may increase the volume of the device itself.

(3) When a capacitor having a charge amount corresponding to the inrush current generated by the HDD is mounted on the motherboard, the capacitor is mounted at the position closest to the connector to which the HDD is connected, and the other HDD is mounted. It is required to minimize the impedance with the connector.
However, as described above, since the height allowed for the capacitor is about 10 mm, it is not possible to mount a large capacity capacitor, and it is necessary to mount a plurality of small capacity capacitors. For this reason, it is not possible to mount a plurality of capacitors right next to the connector, and it is possible to reliably mount other HDDs.
It is not possible to eliminate the effect on the power supply voltage.

If a capacitor is mounted, HD
D does not limit the inrush current that is mounted on the motherboard, and the impedance formed by the motherboard and the connector part of the HDD is the only circuit constant that limits the inrush current to the HDD, but the impedance of the connector part is extremely high. Since the size is small, the inrush current cannot be suppressed within the allowable current of the connector, which leads to shortening the life of the connector.

As described above, the conventional (1),
The methods (2) and (3) cannot suppress the deterioration and attenuation of the signal of the fiber channel interface.
The reliability of the device cannot be improved. Further, due to the components to be mounted, high-density mounting of HDD cannot be performed, which causes problems such as downsizing of the device, cost reduction, and inability to secure high reliability.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to enable replacement in a device such as a computer by suppressing the inrush current flowing into the load unit such as the HDD when a failure occurs in the load unit such as the operating HDD. Another object of the present invention is to provide a hot-swap device and method capable of realizing mounting of a load unit such as HDD with high density, low cost, and high reliability.

[0031]

The present invention is applied to a hot-swap device having a plurality of load units, a mother board, and a substrate in order to achieve the above object. Each load unit includes a capacitance component, a main power supply pin having a first length, and a second length that is longer than the first length, and is connected before connecting the main power supply pin to the capacitance component. And a pin for precharging for precharging. On the motherboard, each load unit can be inserted and removed, and the main power is supplied to each load unit.
The board is provided with as many circuits as the load units, which limit the inrush current by precharging the capacitance component of each load unit via the motherboard when hot-inserting each load unit on the motherboard.

The hot-swap method in this hot-swap device is such that each load unit can be plugged into and unplugged from the motherboard, and when each load unit is hot-plugged into the motherboard, the pre-charge is performed before connecting the pins for the main power supply. Is connected to precharge the capacitance component, and the inrush current is limited when the pin for the main power supply is connected. Further, by configuring a plurality of power supplies for supplying main power to the motherboard in a parallel form and a plurality of boards in a parallel form, the power supplies and the substrates can be made redundant / redundant and can be replaced. .

Specifically, according to the present invention, in the HDD (load unit) conforming to the fiber channel interface, the connector pins are shortened in the order of the ground pin, the precharge pin, the main power supply pin or the signal pin, and when the connector is inserted. When the HDD is inserted, the contacts are made in the above order. For the pins to be connected in this order, a board is provided in which a current limiting circuit composed of a capacitor, resistor and diode mounted in parallel on the external board is connected in parallel with the main power supply line. Is connected to the precharge pin of each HDD, and the power line is set to H
Before contacting the main power supply pin of the DD, the current (voltage) is supplied through the pre-charge pin while limiting the current inside the HDD to reduce the inrush current at the time of contacting the main power supply pin, thereby reducing the other HD.
The voltage drop of the power supply line shared with D is suppressed.

In other words, the output of the AC-DC power supply is connected to the main power supply pin of the HDD having the fiber channel interface, and the precharge pin of the HDD is rushed from the main power supply line through the resistor, the capacitor and the diode. By connecting a current supply line to each HDD, and limiting the charge that has been charged in this capacitor to the inrush current to the HDD that occurs when the HDD is replaced, and supplying it to the HDD,
By sufficiently raising the capacitor and circuit voltage inside the HDD before the main power supply pin contacts, the voltage drop on the main power supply line can be suppressed when the main power supply pin contacts. It should be noted that the load unit can be applied to other units provided with a capacitive component other than the HDD.

[0035]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. In all the drawings for explaining the embodiments, members having the same function are designated by the same reference numerals, and the repeated description thereof will be omitted.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 shows an apparatus in which a plurality of HDDs having a fiber channel interface according to the present invention are mounted, and HDDs that have failed during operation can be replaced. It is a block diagram which shows the case of the hot-swap apparatus which was made replaceable.

As shown in FIG. 1, the apparatus according to the first embodiment is supplied with power from an AC input 1 and has an AC-DC power supply 5 having a constant voltage circuit 3 using this as an input power supply, and an A-DC power supply 5.
Motherboard 7 electrically connected to C-DC power supply 5
And a plurality of HDDs H1, H2, ..., Hn electrically connected to the mother board 7, and an inrush current limiting board 9a electrically connected to the mother board 7.

The AC-DC power source 5 is configured to supply the main power source to the mother board 7, and is provided with the constant voltage circuit 3, the voltage smoothing capacitor C1 and the like. Constant voltage circuit 3
, The input side is connected to AC input 1 and power is input,
Voltage smoothing capacitor C1 on the output side, the other being grounded
One of them is connected to the motherboard 7.

The mother board 7 is an inrush current limiting board 9
a, a plurality of HDDs H1, H2, ..., Hn can be inserted / removed and configured to supply main power to the HDDs H1, H2, ..., Hn, and the main power supply line 8 and the HDD inrush current supply lines Vs1, Vs2. , Vsn, etc. are provided.

The inrush current limiting board 9a is provided for each HDD H1,
When hot-plugging H2, ..., Hn to the motherboard 7,
, Hn are pre-charged via the mother board 7 to limit the inrush current by providing a circuit for limiting the inrush current. The inrush current limiting resistor R1 is provided.
a, inrush current guarantee capacitor C3a, HDD inrush current limiting resistor R2a, plural inrush current backflow prevention diodes D3
, Dna, power supply pin V0a, and the like are provided. The power supply pin V0a is connected to the inrush current limiting resistor R1a.
Connected to one side. The other of the inrush current limiting resistors R1a has an inrush current guarantee capacitor C in which the other is at the ground potential.
3a and one of the HDD inrush current limiting resistors R2a. The other of the HDD inrush current limiting resistors R2a is connected to the anode side of the inrush current backflow prevention diodes D3a, D4a, ..., Dna connected in parallel, and these diodes D3a, D3 are connected.
, Dna on the cathode side are HDD inrush current supply lines Vs1, Vs2, ..., Vsn on the mother board 7, respectively.
, Hn, respectively.

A plurality of HDDs H1, H2, ..., Hn are load units, HDD internal load capacitors C4, C5, ..., Cn, which are capacitive components, and HDD main power supply pins V1, V2 having a first length. , ..., Vn, consisting of a second length that is longer than the first length, the main power supply pins V1, V
2, ..., Vn are connected before connection to capacitors C4, C
HDD precharge pins Vp1, Vp2, ..., Vpn for precharging 5, ..., Cn are provided.
HDD main power supply pins V1, V2, ..., Vn and HDD precharge pins Vp1, Vp2 ,.
HDD internal load capacitor C4, the other of which is at ground potential
It is connected to one of C5, ..., Cn, respectively.

In the case of the device according to the first embodiment, the motherboard 7 has a plurality of HDDs H1, H2, ..., Hn having internal load capacitors C4, C5 ,.
Constant voltage circuit 3 with the input power source and voltage smoothing capacitor C
1 is mounted, and the main power supply line 8 connects the main power supply pins V1 and V2 of the plurality of HDDs H1, H2, ..., Hn.
, ..., Vn is supplied to each HDD H1, H2, ..., Hn. Further, the inrush current limiting resistor R1a using the main power supply line 8 as a power source, the inrush current guarantee capacitor C3a, the HDD inrush current limiting resistor R2a, and each HDD
, Dn corresponding to H1, H2, ..., Hn are connected to the motherboard 7. The inrush current limiting substrate 9a, which has the components D3a, D4a ,.

In this configuration, when the HDD H1 fails, for example, a new HDD is connected to the position of the HDD H1 for the purpose of exchanging the HDD H1 for another normally operating HDD while the HDD H2, ..., Hn are operating. However, H of the Fiber Channel interface specifications
In the DDH1, the main power supply pin V1 is set shorter than the precharge pin Vp1. Therefore, when the HDDH1 is connected to the motherboard 7, the precharge pin Vp1 comes into contact with the motherboard 7 first. Therefore, H
Internal load capacitor C4 mounted inside DDH1
Via HDD inrush current supply line Vs1 and inrush current backflow prevention diode D3a to the inrush current guarantee capacitor C3.
The electric charge (current) charged in a is limited by the HDD inrush current limiting resistor R2a and supplied.

By the supply of this current, the internal load capacitor C4 of the HDDH1 is charged, and the internal load capacitor C4 of the HDDH1 is reduced to the voltage corresponding to the voltage of the main power supply line 8 minus the voltage drop (Vf) generated in the inrush current backflow prevention diode D3a. The load capacitor C4 is charged. In addition, the HDD H2 in operation
, Hn via HDD inrush current supply lines Vs2, ..., Vsn to internal load capacitors C5 ,.
Although connected to the circuit inside D, the inrush current backflow prevention diodes D4a, ..., Dna prevent the backflow of current to the HDD inrush current limiting resistor R2a.
The power supply voltage inside Hn is guaranteed.

After that, the main power supply pin V1 comes into contact with the main power supply line 8, and the main load capacitor C4 generated in the rush current backflow prevention diode D3a is charged to a voltage corresponding to the diode drop that cannot be fully charged. A current is supplied from the power supply line 8. By selecting a diode with a small diode drop such as a Schottky diode as the inrush current backflow prevention diode D3a, it is possible to charge the voltage inside the HDDH1 when the main power supply pin V1 comes into contact with the HDD to be higher than the normal operation of the HDD. , The HDDH that normally operates the voltage on the main power supply line 8 generated when the main power supply pin V1 is contacted
2, ..., Hn can be maintained above the operating voltage.

Even if any of the HDDs H2, ..., Hn fails, each of the HDDs H2, ..., Hn has a main power supply pin V2 ,. Is set short, so H
Similar to the case where the DDH 1 is replaced, it is possible to replace it with another normally operating HDD while another HDD is operating.

Further, when the inrush current limiting board 9a is inserted into the main power supply line 8 of the mother board 7 while the HDDs H1, H2, ..., Hn are operating, the inrush that occurs when the power supply pin V0a contacts the main power supply line 8 The inrush current to the current guarantee capacitor C3a is suppressed by the inrush current limiting resistor R1a, and the voltage drop of the main power supply line 8 is suppressed. As a result, the device, HDDH
, H2, ..., Hn are operating, HDDs H1, H2,
, Hn and the inrush current limiting board 9a can be exchanged.

After the HDDs H1, H2, ..., Hn are completely connected to the mother board 7, the HDDs H1, H2, ...
2, ..., Hn is fed only from the main power line 8,
DD inrush current backflow prevention diodes D3a, D4a, ...
No power is supplied from Dna or the like. For this reason, HD
D Inrush current backflow prevention diodes D3a, D4a, ..., D
na and the inrush current limiting resistor R2a may be power elements sufficient to pass the transient current when the HDD is inserted,
Low power devices can be used.

Further, the HDD inrush current backflow prevention diodes D3a, D4a, mounted on the inrush current limiting board 9a,
..., Dna are detected from the HDDs H1, H2, ..., Hn even if the inrush current limiting resistor R2a and the inrush current guarantee capacitor C3a mounted on this board are short-circuited with the ground on this board. It also prevents the reverse flow of current and keeps the fault range within the inrush current limiting substrate 9a.

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 2 shows an apparatus in which a plurality of HDDs having a fiber channel interface according to the present invention are mounted, and HDDs which have failed during operation can be replaced. It is a block diagram which shows the case of the hot-swap device which was made replaceable.

In the case of the device of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 2, in addition to the configuration of FIG. 1, a current backflow prevention diode D1 is connected to the output of the AC-DC power supply 5, and the main power supply line 8 is connected. An AC having a constant voltage circuit 4 using the AC input 2 as an input power source, a voltage smoothing capacitor C2, and a current backflow prevention diode D2.
-The DC power source 6 is connected in parallel.

In this configuration, the HDDs H1, H2, ..., H
n during operation, for example, HDDH1 (HDDH2, ...,
Hn), a rush current generated toward the inside of the HDDH1 when the normally operating HDD is inserted into the HDDH1 is mounted on the rush current limiting board 9a as in the example of FIG. The charge charged by the inrush current guarantee capacitor C3a is limited by the inrush current limiting resistor R2a and supplied. Further, the electric power supplied to the HDDs H2, ..., Hn is supplied to the main power supply line 8 by the inrush current limiting resistor R1a.
, Hn from the HDDH2, ..., Hn to the HDDH1, the inrush current backflow prevention diodes D4a ,.
It can be replaced without affecting the operating voltage inside the HDDs H2, ...

Further, AC-DC connected in parallel form
The power supplies 5 and 6 can be exchanged.

(Embodiment 3) FIG. 3 shows an apparatus according to the present invention in which a plurality of HDDs each having a fiber channel interface are mounted, and HDDs in which a failure has occurred during operation can be replaced. FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing a case of a hot-swap device in which a power supply, an inrush current limiting board, and an HDD can be replaced.

In the case of the device of the third embodiment shown in FIG. 3, in addition to the configuration of FIG. 2, two inrush current limiting boards 9a and 9b are connected in parallel to the main power supply line 8. Then, the inrush current supply lines Vs1, Vs2, ..., Vsn to the HDDs H1, H2 ,.
It is configured so as to supply double from 9b.

The inrush current limiting board 9b has the same inrush current limiting resistance R1b, inrush current guarantee capacitor C3b, and HDD inrush current limiting resistance R2 as the inrush current limiting board 9a.
b, a plurality of inrush current backflow prevention diodes D3b, D4
, Dnb, main power supply pin V0b, etc. are provided.

In this case, even if the inrush current limiting board 9a or the inrush current limiting board 9b becomes an obstacle, the HDD
It becomes possible to exchange H1, H2, ..., Hn.

Further, AC-DC connected in parallel form
In addition to replacing the power supplies 5 and 6, it is possible to replace the inrush current limiting boards 9a and 9b connected in parallel.

(Embodiment 4) FIG. 4 shows the most component structure of an apparatus according to the present invention in which a plurality of HDDs having a fiber channel interface are mounted, and HDDs which have failed during operation can be replaced. It is a block diagram which shows the case of the hot-swap apparatus which reduced the number.

In the case of the device of the fourth embodiment shown in FIG. 4, in contrast to the configuration of FIG. 1, the inrush current limiting substrate 9a does not have the inrush current limiting resistor R1a and the inrush current guarantee capacitor C3a. Has become.

This configuration is applied to the HDD inrush current limiting resistor R2.
a is the internal load capacitors C4, C5, ..., Cn of HDDH1, H2, ..., Hn and HDDH1, H2 ,.
This is effective when the voltage smoothing capacitor C1 mounted inside the AC-DC power supply 5 has a sufficiently low impedance and resistance value with respect to the internal circuit of Hn.

In this case, for example, the inrush current generated when the HDDH1 is inserted is supplied through the inrush current limiting resistor R2a, but this current is supplied to the main power supply pins V2 ,.
, Hn is not supplied from the capacitors C5, ..., Cn inside the HDDs H2 ,.
This is because the voltage is supplied from the voltage smoothing capacitor C1 mounted inside the C power supply 5.

Therefore, the HDDs H1, H2, ..., Hn can be exchanged even if the inrush current limiting substrate 9a does not have the inrush current limiting resistor R1a and the inrush current guarantee capacitor C3a.

[0064]

According to the present invention, the load unit,
It is possible to safely replace a failed HDD with a normally operating HDD in a device in which multiple HDDs with a fiber channel interface are connected and the failed HDD can be replaced while the HDD is operating. Not only the fiber channel that HDD sends and receives,
The HDD can be connected on the motherboard without increasing the attenuation, deterioration and noise of the interface signal.

Further, according to the present invention, it is not necessary to attach an external component to the HDD and provide a complicated current limiting circuit on the component, and the HDD can be mounted on the apparatus with the external dimensions of the HDD main body. Become.

Further, according to the present invention, a capacitor having a small capacity sufficient to supply a limited current to one HDD without mounting a large-capacity capacitor for guaranteeing an inrush current amount for each HDD. Since it suffices to implement, the circuit configuration for inrush control can be downsized.

Further, according to the present invention, the power supply to the HDD should have sufficient output capacity to charge the consumption current of the HDD to which the load current is originally connected and a small capacity rush current guarantee capacitor. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide a circuit for controlling a transient load, and the power supply unit should output the total electric power consumed by the HDD originally mounted on the motherboard.
It becomes possible to make it an appropriate size.

Further, according to the present invention, the inrush current limiting circuit is not required for each HDD to be mounted, and the main current limiting circuit component is only one. Therefore, the heat generated when the HDD is inserted is only one place, and it is possible to minimize the influence of the temperature rise on the HDD.

Further, according to the present invention, the power source for supplying the main power source to the motherboard and the plurality of boards provided with the current limiting circuits are respectively arranged in parallel so that each of the power supplies and the boards has a redundant / redundant configuration. It becomes possible to exchange with it.

As described above, according to the present invention, the HDD of the device can be safely replaced, the internal mounting of the HDD can be increased, and the external dimensions of the device can be reduced. Further, as described above, it is possible to reduce the cost of the device without requiring a dedicated component for each HDD, and thus it is possible to realize the performance, reliability, and cost reduction of the device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a case of a hot-swap device in which only an HDD can be replaced according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing a case of a hot-swap device in which an HDD and a power source are replaceable according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing a case of a hot-swap device in which a power source other than a mother board, an inrush current limiting substrate, and an HDD can be replaced with each other in Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

[Fig. 4] Fig. 4 is a configuration diagram showing a case of a hot-swap device with the smallest number of component configurations according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 2 ... AC input, 3, 4 ... Constant voltage circuit, 5, 6 ... AC
-DC power supply, 7 ... Motherboard, 8 ... Main power supply line, 9a,
9b ... Inrush current limiting board, C1, C2 ... Voltage smoothing capacitor, C3a, C3b ... Inrush current guarantee capacitor, C
4, C5, ..., Cn ... HDD internal load capacitor, D
1, D2 ... Current backflow prevention diodes, D3a, D4a,
..., Dna, D3b, D4b, ..., Dnb ... Inrush current backflow prevention diode, H1, H2, ..., Hn ... HDD, R
1a, R1b ... Inrush current limiting resistance, R2a, R2b ... H
DD inrush current limiting resistance, V1, V2, ..., Vn ... HDD
Main power supply pins, Vp1, Vp2, ..., Vpn ... HDD precharge pins, V0a, V0b ... Power supply pins, Vs1, V
s2, ..., Vsn ... HDD inrush current supply line.

Continued front page    (72) Inventor Hiromi Matsushige             Stock No.2 322 Nakazato, Odawara City, Kanagawa Prefecture             Hitachi, Ltd. RAID System Division (72) Inventor Masato Ogawa             Hitachi, 781, Sakai, Nakai-cho, Ashigaragami-gun, Kanagawa Prefecture             Computer Equipment Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Tomokazu Yokoyama             292 Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa             Ceremony company Hitachi Image Information System F term (reference) 5B065 BA01 CA11 ZA03 ZA11 ZA13                       ZA14

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A capacitive component, a main power supply pin having a first length, and a second length longer than the first length, the connection being made before connection of the main power supply pin. A plurality of load units provided with a precharging pin for precharging the capacitance component; a motherboard into which the plurality of load units can be inserted and removed, and a main power supply to each of the plurality of load units; When each of the plurality of load units is hot-plugged into the motherboard, a circuit for precharging the capacitance component of each of the plurality of load units via the motherboard to limit an inrush current is provided in the number of the load units. A hot-plugging / unplugging device, characterized in that 2. The hot-swap device according to claim 1, further comprising a power supply for supplying a main power supply to the motherboard, wherein the power supplies are plural in parallel. 3. The hot-swap device according to claim 1, wherein the substrate is composed of a plurality of substrates arranged in parallel. 4. A plurality of load units provided with a capacitance component, a main power supply pin having a first length, and a precharge pin having a second length longer than the first length, A mother board for supplying main power to each of the plurality of load units; and a board provided with circuits for limiting an inrush current when hot-inserting each of the plurality of load units into the mother board in the number of the load units. And wherein each of the plurality of load units can be inserted into and removed from the motherboard, and when each of the plurality of load units is hot-plugged into the motherboard, the precharge is performed before connecting the pins for the main power supply. A hot-swap method for connecting a power supply pin to precharge the capacitance component and limiting an inrush current when the main power supply pin is connected. 5. The hot-swap method according to claim 4, wherein the plurality of boards are arranged in parallel, each of the plurality of boards can be inserted into and removed from the motherboard, and each of the plurality of boards is hot-swapped. A hot-line insertion / extraction method characterized by: