Mechanical architecture for data appliances

Storage Chassis Designed Around Drives, Airflow and Service Time

Custom metal platforms for NAS, backup, archive and storage servers where every bay, fan and cable path must earn its space.

Review Your Drive Layout

Density

Front, rear or top-loading

Media

HDD and SSD formats

Scale

Prototype to OEM volume

Control

FAI and traceability

Storage-specific engineering

High bay count changes the whole chassis

Drive pitch affects carrier access, backplane position, fan pressure, wiring and structural behavior. We treat the bay field and chassis frame as one mechanical system.

Consistent bay geometry

Controlled pitch and squareness support carrier insertion and backplane alignment.

Airflow through media

Open area, fan wall and obstruction zones planned around the full drive field.

Vibration awareness

Formed stiffness and drive support help manage a densely loaded structure.

Fast service access

Handles, carriers, covers and fan modules designed for maintenance workflow.

Mechanical configuration map

Define the storage platform from front to rear

Drive interfaceCarrier, latch, indicator and label geometry

Backplane zoneSupport, connector alignment and cable clearance

Cooling zoneFan trays, baffles and replacement access

Compute and power zoneBoards, PSUs, risers and rear I/O

Built for more than one storage use case

NAS appliances

Compact and rackmount systems for file, media and business storage.

Backup and archive

Drive-dense platforms prioritizing capacity, cooling and service.

Edge data systems

Short-depth or application-specific storage in constrained deployments.

Production transfer

Protect alignment as volume grows

At Hengtai Leading Technology, we carry the approved bay geometry and critical interfaces from prototype evidence into controlled production.

Prototype

Physical fit and assembly learning without hard tooling.

FAI

Critical drive, board and rack dimensions verified.

Repeat

Fixtures and checks stabilize production results.

Storage architecture comparison

Drive Density vs Cooling Trade-offs

Adding bays increases capacity, but also raises pressure loss, loaded weight and service complexity. The right storage chassis balances density with the operating environment and maintenance model.

Drive count	Typical layout	Cooling challenge	Structural priority	Best suited for
12 Bay	Front loading	Moderate, direct airflow	Compact stiffness	SMB NAS and edge storage
24 Bay	Dense front loading	Fan wall pressure balance	Bay pitch accuracy	Enterprise storage nodes
36 Bay	Front and rear zones	Rear-drive temperature control	Loaded chassis support	Backup and archive systems
60 Bay	Top-loading drawers	Deep media field resistance	Drawer and rail load path	Capacity-dense data centers

Turn your storage architecture into a manufacturable chassis

Share drive count, loading direction, rack size, backplane concept, thermal targets and order volume.

info@sheetmetalmfg.com

Building 3, No. 58 Xiangyuan Road, Changshu High-tech Industrial Development Zone, Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province, China