1U Server too LOUD!

[Mr Bob]

I just purchased a 1U server that I plan to place on the desk in my office. Problem I have, is that the fans are so loud, I can't turn the server on in the office!

There are two fans for cooling the hard drives, and then 1 fan for the CPU. All 3 are too loud and need to be replaced in order for us to use the server.

Motherboard is a Supermicro H8SMI, with an AMD Opteron 1356. Server case is one of those 1U cases that normally go in a rack, however, we don't have a rack in the office, nor do we have room for one.

Replacing the case is not quite an option, so we're left with replacing the fans.

Where's a good spot to purchase server fans, including one for replacing the heatsink/fan on the CPU?

 

[aigomorla]

u cant not replace the fans.

They mostly pwm controlled via BMC controller on the board.
They ramp up as the cpu's get hot, and the board reports high temp values.
If there screaming, it means either u have a faulty BMC, or your board is reporting high temps values which in turn is telling the 40mm fans to run high.
If they're connected directly to the 12V supply, i still dont recommend u replacing them, because at load they will need to be ramp'd.

replacing them to the same size but quieter ones will only lead to a road of fail in the future as things get too hot.

This will also EAT away at the life of your IC's as they will be running too hot all the time.

At this time your only option would be to unlid the top of the case, and lay down a series of 120mm fans straight down the center and on top of the CPU sink while leaving the case open.
Then you could probably ditch the 40mm fans, however ur case will have to be run lidless.
However u can not again, replace the 40mm fans to quieter 40mm fans without dire consequences.

You should of planned for this when getting a 1U.
They are not quiet unless they are designed for ATOM's with lots of vents.

 

[Mr Bob]

Thanks for helping explain this.. haven't dealt much with customizing server hardware so please bear with me.

Someone gave me the server, so there wasn't the ability to build it to exact specs.

All 3 fans are directly connected to the MB right now.

What about replacing the CPU fan with a water cooled one?

Most servers go in a datacenter, so they need the high powered noisy fans to compensate for all the extra heat coming off the other servers. The difference in this scenario, is that the server is just sitting in a regular office.

Why wouldn't a regular CPU cooler work that supports an Opteron 1356?

 

[master_shake_]

why not use a molex to fan header and drop the voltage to 7 volts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyrvdDkS_SA

i did that in a supermicro 1u

 

[aigomorla]

Thanks for helping explain this.. haven't dealt much with customizing server hardware so please bear with me.

Someone gave me the server, so there wasn't the ability to build it to exact specs.

All 3 fans are directly connected to the MB right now.

What about replacing the CPU fan with a water cooled one?

Most servers go in a datacenter, so they need the high powered noisy fans to compensate for all the extra heat coming off the other servers. The difference in this scenario, is that the server is just sitting in a regular office.

Why wouldn't a regular CPU cooler work that supports an Opteron 1356?

Then its the BMC controller which is telling the fans to run high.

You can replace the cpu cooler to a watercooling kit, however it still wont change the other 40mm which are used to cool the motherboard's IC.
You would essentially need to watercool the northbridge processor + vrms + ECC ram which would probably cost a lot more then u moving the PC to a different case.

Also server rooms are mostly air conditioned 24/7.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Server_room

You cant remove the stock fans because of the ECC Ram + VRMs + Northbridge controller.
ECC Ram runs VERY HOT!!

Its not just the CPU you need to keep cool on a server, its essentially everything inside the box. This is why the fans are screaming.
They are ducting air though the Thin 1U, so the entire case gets enough static air to push the hot air out inside that case.

why not use a molex to fan header and drop the voltage to 7 volts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyrvdDkS_SA

i did that in a supermicro 1u

I dont recommend this as sometimes doing that can hurt the PSU.
The PSU was not intended to run at 7V.
Your basically taking the 12V+ with the 5V ground to get 7V.
Crossing it like that can damage some PSU's.

Also on some boards bypassing the BMC directly like, is not recommended on a 1U.
If your going to bypass the BMC, then you may as well just migrate it in a new case, and just use 120mm fans and call it a day.

 

[Red Squirrel]

servers are suppose to be loud, especially 1Us! That's why they should be in a proper server room.

 

[Mr Bob]

Here's a direct link to the MB's specs: http://www.supermicro.com/Aplus/motherboard/Opteron1000/MCP55/H8SMi-2.cfm

You would essentially need to watercool the northbridge processor + vrms + ECC ram which would probably cost a lot more then u moving the PC to a different case.
- Why does the case come into play here? I thought you said the BMC controller controls the fans?

Since fans are so cheap, I'd rather take the chance and test it out. Worst case scenario, I break a server that would just wind up in the trash anyway. I'll run some temp sensors to make sure the temps don't skyrocket once the fans are adjusted.

It seems like I would need fans connected via molex for power, rather than directly to the MB, since the BMC controller would control the speed if it was connected directly to the MB? Is that right?

I paid next to nothing for the server, which would have went straight to the trash, so if there's a 10% chance it would work by me spending a few bucks, I'd rather do that than trash the entire server.

 

[aigomorla]

2 questions.

1. is that the exact board with a fan on the NB chip?
2. is your system running ECC ram?

 

[Red Squirrel]

The biggest thing with a rackmount (especially a 1U) is keeping the chassis cover on, you may possibly get away with moding it but when testing make sure the cover is on.

 

[Owls]

Why not add resistors to the fan to reduce the power?

 

[Mr Bob]

2 questions.

1. is that the exact board with a fan on the NB chip?
2. is your system running ECC ram?

Yes and yes. We need to decide soon if it's worth it to keep this and adjust the fans, or if it makes more sense to buy another server.

Still not sure where I would get these fans replaced, if it even worked out.

 

[aigomorla]

Yes and yes. We need to decide soon if it's worth it to keep this and adjust the fans, or if it makes more sense to buy another server.

Still not sure where I would get these fans replaced, if it even worked out.

the problem is the ECC ram.
They need active cooling as it can run hot.

The NB/Controller is fine, it has an active fan.
The Cpu heat sink can probably make due with a smaller fan as well.

But u would need to find a way to actively cool your ECC Ram in that tight box.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Water cooling?

It's an ATX motherboard. If you actually need a box for something, just throw it in a $20 tower case and stop fiddling around.

 

[Carson Dyle]

According to Supermicro, the board has an ATX form factor. Why can't you just replace the case?

Whatever prompted you to buy a 1U server for a situation where it would reside on someone's desk (or in the same room as a human being, for that matter)?

 

[Topweasel]

Companies offer tower based servers for this very reason. The whole rackmount design and cooling system is basically setup to take the cool air only from the front and push it across all devices across the the 3 feet to the back of the server. 1u compound this because HS and fan size are extremely limited meaning the fans has to work all that much more and faster increasing noise levels.

Also why would anyone want such and awkward, over-sized, heavy, annoying to move computer at their desk? Even if noise wasn't an issue.

 

[serpretetsky]

Whatever prompted you to buy a 1U server for a situation where it would reside on someone's desk (or in the same room as a human being, for that matter)?

Op said:

Someone gave me the server, so there wasn't the ability to build it to exact specs.

so I imagine he didn't buy it.

 

[SunnyD]

the problem is the ECC ram.
They need active cooling as it can run hot.

The NB/Controller is fine, it has an active fan.
The Cpu heat sink can probably make due with a smaller fan as well.

But u would need to find a way to actively cool your ECC Ram in that tight box.

Aigo... stop. Just stop.

ECC Ram *does not* need active cooling. Period. RDIMMs (if you're using them) do run somewhat warmer than UDIMMs due to the added buffer chip, but they absolutely unequivocally do not need active cooling. ECC UDIMMs will run marginally warmer than non-ECC, likely non-noticeably so.

What does need additional cooling, especially in buffered memory setups, will be the memory controller. That sucker gets hot.

To the OP, yes, you can change the fans. You'll be able to find fans with better static pressure and lower noise, but the problem is you're working with a 1U chassis. You need to push a lot of air from one end of the chassis to the other, usually through a few ducted areas, in a small footprint. The way physics works, that means small fans, small fan blades, high RPMs.

The way server motherboards are designed, the BMC controller is programmed to keep temps in a certain range and adjust the fans accordingly. You might have a little flexibility with that in the BMC, but it's doubtful. (In fact, looking at the manual for that board, it IS possible to change the settings between server and workstation, but there is no flexibility otherwise).

Your only other option is to manually limit the voltage on the fans. Despite what was said earlier, this won't have any effect on the power supply, so you can safely ignore that warning. But what this WILL do is cause issues with the BMC, as it will read that the fans are running slow and attempt to compensate for that by trying to ramp them up further which will at least set off system health warnings, at worst cause errors with the BMC and potentially shut the system down. The workaround would be to "trick" the PWM, and that's likely well beyond the scope of what you want to do.

Long story short - your best option is to get a cheap ATX case and pull that board out of the 1U chassis and into the ATX case, and set the BIOS fan options to workstation mode. It will save you a lot of headaches.