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Inside Details

As you might expect from a company with HP's design prowess, the MSS is as elegantly designed inside as out. The front view with drive trays removed in Figure 3 provides a view of the drive backplane on top and the power supply / CPU assembly on the bottom behind a removable grille.

Figure 3: MSS front view - drives removed

The MSS has a total of three fans. Two 3-inchers are mounted on the rear panel behind the drive backplane and a 1.5" in the power supply. Figure 4 is a close-up showing a detail of the backplane and 3" fans. The two blue pieces are the latches that secure the backplane when it is plugged into the main board.

Figure 4: Close-up of backplane and fans

The drive trays themselves are pretty slick, featuring a tool and fastener-less design outlined in Figure 5. The trays even have a built-in movable air dam to optimize airflow with empty trays. Only the bottom-most "system drive" can be locked in place with a quarter-turn latch.

Figure 5: Drive tray details