Quiet Lab Servers

LinuxRacr

Hello all,

Earlier this year I purchased a Dell PowerEdge 2950 to use a an ESXi server for labbing purposes. It is a good server, but it is damn loud (those fans)! Do you have any advice for quieter options for servers of this level? I'm looking to eventually get a second server, and I want it to be considerably quieter...

paul78

I had a similar issue when I decided to build a new lab. If you are willing to give up an extra U per server - you may want to consider putting together your own servers. I looked around at HP and Dell servers but I simply found them to be too expensive for what I needed and way too loud.

I ended up using 3U cases from here: Newegg.com - Athena Power RM-3U3046X65 Black Stainless Steel 3U Rackmount Server Case W/ V2.91 EPS-12V 650W 4 External 5.25" Drive Bays

The price was decent and I wanted a case with a decent size power-supply included so there was one less component to deal with. The PS is relatively quiet and reasonably efficient at 650watts. And at that price-point, I figured I can always replace the power-supply later if I needed.

I am using the stock case fans - but I disconnect one of them since I don't need it.

I went with AMD FX-8150 processors - AMD FD8150FRGUBOX FX-8150 Processor - Eight Core, 8MB L3 Cache, 8MB L2 Cache, 3.60GHz (4.20GHz Max Turbo), Socket AM3+, 125W, Fan, Unlocked, Retail at TigerDirect.com
And I'm currently using the stock fan which is also reasonably quiet. But I was thinking about replacing with a Noctua NH-L12. I have a Noctua NH-D14 now for my desktop and its very quiet.

One thing that is very helpful is that when I work - I hear a pair of Bose noise cancelling headsets - I use these - Bose | QuietComfort® 15 Acoustic Noise Cancelling® headphones | Noise Cancelling Headphones - I know the headphones seem expensive but the initial investment is worth it - Bose has a deal that if you ever need to replace the QuietComforts, you can just bring the old ones in and it's a $100 trade-in. I am on my second pair in about 9 years.

Right now with this setup, the noisiest thing in my lab are the Cisco switches and Avocent KVMs.

jibbajabba

HP Microserver, can't get cheaper and quieter than that

paul78

jibbajabba wrote: »

HP Microserver, can't get cheaper and quieter than that

Interesting device but I don't believe that those are rack-mountable and the specs are unlikely to be appropriate to serve as an VM host.

AlexNguyen

paul78 wrote: »

...the specs are unlikely to be appropriate to serve as an VM host.

You can install VMware ESXi 5.0 on it but the "fake RAID controller" is not supported.

C.f. VMware ESXi 5.0 tested on HP ProLiant MicroServer N36L « andysworld!
VMware Communities: HP ProLiant MicroServer SB700 RAID Not...

jibbajabba

paul78 wrote: »

Interesting device but I don't believe that those are rack-mountable and the specs are unlikely to be appropriate to serve as an VM host.

they certainly aren't rack mountable but perfectly able to run VMs - it's a lab after all. I run on 8GB of Ram and max bot, CPU and Ram out with three VMs, one CentOS5.8' Windows 7 and W8 - granted, you can't do anything crazy with those VMs but it certainly is good enough for a lab (if vSphere is what you labbing obviously, no good if you need high performance VMs).

DevilWAH

LinuxRacr wrote: »

Hello all,

Earlier this year I purchased a Dell PowerEdge 2950 to use a an ESXi server for labbing purposes. It is a good server, but it is damn loud (those fans)! Do you have any advice for quieter options for servers of this level? I'm looking to eventually get a second server, and I want it to be considerably quieter...

I had a dell server that was awful for noise, So i did what I did to my home PC's. Cut a hole in the side, and mounted a few 120mm fans in the side.

most servers have high speed fans as they need to draw air in at the front and out at the back (being rack mounted), if you can leave the sides open then there is nothing stopping you replacing the stock cooling solution. mine went from noisy as hell to almost silent for the cost of about £15, and even under full load it was running cooler than with stock cooling.

One thing is you might have to turn of the hardware monitoring for the fans as they might start showing up in error due to running at different speed.

If you are mounting in rack just put holes in the top and mount it at the top of the rack with clear air above it.

Everyone

You could always water cool: ERM-3K3UC Cooling System, Copper [no nozzles]

Expensive though.

The old 2U servers I have are stupid loud. My office is in my basement, and I can hear them on the 1st floor if I have them powered on.

demonfurbie

i looked at rack mount servers but i ended up making a intel standard tower for my lab and used the saved cash from buying a reg case to buy the wife something nice

you could always look at xiode for quiet fans

phoeneous

demonfurbie wrote: »

used the saved cash from buying a reg case to buy the wife something nice

Good move. Happy wife, happy life. Words to live by.

ptilsen

I always recommend Proliant or Poweredge for labs, but if you desire something quiet they just won't work. They don't make them quiet, at all, ever, period. Yes Microserver is quiet, but no, it is not the right choice for lab hardware. A pair of cheap desktop PCs with water coolers would make more sense than a Microserver. Unless you don't mind waiting on slow VMs while you lab or won't lab anything but basic stuff needing 2-3 VMs, you won't something with a fairly powerful CPU and RAM. Yes, they are good for vSphere but I'm assuming that's not what you're labbing.

I think a cheap desktop PC or two (again, depending on your needs) are what you want. They make cheap, silent self-contained water coolers these days. Pair that with a quiet PSU and you're all set.

pcgizzmo

I've always found that I don't need servers for my lab. Most Server OS's will run on a PC. 2008 and 2003 server will work on most PC's with a little driver tweaking sometimes w/no problems at all. Also, I run VMWare as much as I can for lab servers.

PC's are much quieter and use less power than servers. It's a lab so you really don't care much about redundancy and unless your going to run some type of specialized server type hardware PC's should work just fine.

There are plenty of NAS boxes that will run ISCSI also if you want to us it on your PC/Servers.

MentholMoose

Many Supermicro servers have a quiet mode for the fans. Also you can swap in some quieter, low-RPM fans. This won't work for 1U servers as they are just insanely loud, but for 2U and up and pedestal cases it is a good option.

AlexNguyen

Or you can rent servers on the cloud.

Akaricloud

I prefer just a good desktop in place of a server to lab with. My $500 Otiplex 790 runs esxi perfectly, is quiet, low energy and seems to handle anything I throw at it. I run 10+ VMs running without it any issues.

Sure you might arguably give up some reliability but in a lab environment is it really an issue? For the record I've had 0 problems with mine.

Krunchi

So you think of a server you really don't think about this company but Fujitsu has a new line out that are very quiet so silent that you can't tell it's on only by looking at the front panel to check the green light.

I picked up one about a month ago for under $300.00 stuck 16 gigs of ram in it and it works great for labbing plus it's ESXI ready.

TX100 S3

Everyone

Krunchi wrote: »

I picked up one about a month ago for under $300.00 stuck 16 gigs of ram in it and it works great for labbing plus it's ESXI ready.

TX100 S3

Where did you find one for under $300? I did a quick search and can't find the model you linked to for less than $600. The only model under $300 I could find is the single core AMD Sempron powered model.. bleh, not enough cores.

powerfool

Blistering Fast Windows Server - Parts List and Video!

This is for Hyper-V, but perhaps you could use it (maybe a couple of different parts would be in order). It is sub-$1000 and sports a Core i5 and 32GB of RAM... it is a mini-ITX system with low power (and thus cooling) requirements... meaning it should be quiet.

I am considering this myself. I had two Dell PowerEdge 1950 servers (dual-socket/dual-core), but they were loud, power hungry, and put out a lot of heat... so I never used them.

Krunchi

Everyone wrote: »

Where did you find one for under $300? I did a quick search and can't find the model you linked to for less than $600. The only model under $300 I could find is the single core AMD Sempron powered model.. bleh, not enough cores.

It was a Newegg shellshocker sale one of those sales that are only up for a couple of hours.

Everyone

Krunchi wrote: »

It was a Newegg shellshocker sale one of those sales that are only up for a couple of hours.

Ahh, I get those, but they usually come at a time when I don't have spare $$ to spend, lol.

astrogeek

If you only use it for labbing and don't need to to run all the time you could get a PDU to remotely power up and down the server (as well as any other equipment). I was able to get an 8 outlet APC AP7900 for $160 and this works out great for how I use it. My only problem is if I turn on all 4 of my switches and my Dell Poweredge 2850 at once it trips a fuse - but turning the server on first, waiting a few minutes, then turning on the switches doesn't cause any issues. I think a 2nd poweredge would surely trip the fuse though.

I'm not an electrician so I'm sure there is a way to resolve this problem of mine - but I just start things up carefully with my fingers crossed

LinuxRacr

Revisiting this thread as I am looking to spec a case for a new system build. My old Dell Optiplex 280 desktop tower is really showing its age lately, and it is time to upgrade. I don't want another desktop tower, but at least a case that I can mount in my rack cabinet, and run motherboards that support the i7. 3U is preferable, but 4U is not out of the question. Any further suggestions welcome.

NightShade1

jibbajabba wrote: »

HP Microserver, can't get cheaper and quieter than that

hahahah true that....

Im lucky that all my lab its on the office, we got many HP servers... i can virtualize all the machines i want... and i can access everything remotely....

paul78

LinuxRacr wrote: »

Revisiting this thread as I am looking to spec a case for a new system build.

I'm pretty satisfied with the 3u cases that I mentioned earlier in this thread. I actually ended up buying a few more of those cases.

LinuxRacr

Thanks, I'll definitely check that out. Now that you mention it, that AMD 8-core sounds nice as well. I'm not a gamer, I just want something that will kick much arse and is quiet.

LinuxRacr

So I am finally able to start my build. I've already ordered the following:

Newegg.com - AMD FX-8350 Vishera 4.0GHz (4.2GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 125W Eight-Core Desktop Processor FD8350FRHKBOX
Newegg.com - ASUS Crosshair V Formula-Z AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Gaming Motherboard with 3-Way SLI/CrossFireX Support and UEFI BIOS
Newegg.com - G.SKILL Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-1866C8D-16GTX

I'm just on the hunt for a good rack mount case, and power supply, and possible liquid-cooling solution. I plan on using a flash drive for my boot device, a blue ray burner, and maybe a couple of ssd's or SAS/SATA drives for my datastores. I would love to find a rackmount case that will work with my hardware. Any suggestions, as I am still searching??

nosoup4u

I went with this for my custom build before i borrowed some proliants from work, Newegg.com - ARK 4U-500-CA Black 4U Rackmount Case 3 External 5.25" Drive Bays

It's not all that quiet but defiantly has room for a water cooled option

LinuxRacr

If you don't mind, what was it that made your setup less than quiet with that case? The stock fans?

LinuxRacr

As for water cooling, it looks like with most rack mount cases the most I could hope to do is the following single-fan radiator solution:

Newegg.com - CORSAIR Hydro Series H80i Water Cooler

As opposed to a double-fan radiator solution:

Newegg.com - CORSAIR Hydro Series H100i Water Cooler

paul78

I have a couple of these cases - Newegg.com - Athena Power RM-3U3046X65 Black Stainless Steel 3U Rackmount Server Case W/ V2.91 EPS-12V 650W 4 External 5.25" Drive Bays

They are 3U so you are limited to choice of fans. I ended using the stock fans and the powersupply that it came with. It's pretty quiet.

If you are willing to go with a 4U or 5U case - you may be able to get this CPU into the case - Noctua NH-D14 CPU Cooler - 140x140x25mm, i5, i7, 775, AM2 at TigerDirect.com

The Noctua is very quiet and I use it for my workstation.

I also use a Kingwin powersupply for my workstation which is also very quiet - Kingwin ABT-1000MA1S Mach 1 Modular Power Supply - 1000-Watt, 150mm Fan, ATX, SLI-Ready, Six 12V Rails, 80Plus, Modular Cabling at TigerDirect.com

But I ended up with a slightly different approach to quiet servers which I discussed on this thread - http://www.techexams.net/forums/off-topic/81326-opinions-diy-sound-proofing.html

It's a bit more work but I built a custom sound enclosure.I'll have to post a picture when I finish.

it_consultant

These are the quietest servers I have ever used:

HP ProLiant ML350p Gen8 - HP ProLiant ML300 Servers

They have 4 fans that run at a low RPM, inside the case the electronics are covered in a plastic shield which means you only have to cool the cubic centimeters between the plastic shield and the components instead of the whole darn case. When I say quiet, I don't mean quiet compared to other servers, I mean quiet compared to all computers. My home build desktop is louder than this server.