Abstract: A chassis for a network storage system contains a first thermal chamber that houses conventional electronic components and a second thermal chamber that houses non-volatile solid state memory such as flash memory. A cooling system keeps the electronics in first thermal chamber below their maximum junction temperature. Meanwhile, a temperature regulating system maintains the solid state memory in the second thermal chamber within a range of a preferred operating temperature selected to extend the lifetime and/or improve the reliability of the solid state memory. Thus, the chassis provides dual zone temperature control to improve performance of the network storage system.

Abstract: A system for mounting a flash blade in a storage system includes a motherboard with a series of card guide cutouts for aligning flash blades. A flash blade can be aligned perpendicular to the motherboard and aligned parallel to adjacent flash blades by inserting the flash blade into one of the card guide cutouts and connecting the flash blade to a connector at one end of the cutout. This beneficially aligns the flash blade while making efficient use of the available vertical space within a chassis. The flash blade can also extend through the cutout to the other side of the motherboard. The efficient use of vertical space enables an increase in the number of solid state memory can be added to the flash blade relative to conventional designs, thereby improving capacity.