Abstract: A capacitor discharge retract system is provided for small disk drives wherein the small spindle size is incapable of generating enough electrical energy to enable conventional actuator retraction and the form factor is too small to accommodate capacitors of sufficient size to enable a conventional capacitive discharge system. A capacitive discharge retract technique is enabled using an elevated voltage, significantly above the disk drive supply voltage, to allow smaller capacitive storage elements to perform the function. The effectiveness of the system is further enhanced in those environments where a source of the required elevated voltage can be found already resident in the device circuitry where it was generated to support another function.

Abstract: An information processing system comprises a plurality of information processing devices; and a fault-tolerant power distribution system comprising a plurality N+1, wherein N is greater than 1, removable power supplies for providing power to the system, N power supplies being sufficient to provide power to the plurality of devices; and a plurality M removable power distribution units for connecting the power supplies to the devices, the connection of the power supplies with the power distribution units being configured such that on removal of either of the units, the remaining unit is still connected to N of the power supplies to thereby maintain power to the system.