Enclosure Help.. Question on SC846

[Fox]

Question on enclosures: How loud is the Supermicro SC846? Looking at the website, it seems many of the fans can be swapped out with quieter versions, with the exception of the power supply mini-fans, which I presume spin like crazy.

Background: I'm thinking of building a system, and I want something that can grow. I will probably start with 11 drives (Z3) and maybe grow bigger. I figure I would rather get more than I need instead of risk having to change to a bigger case later on. But I'm not sure on this approach.

I would like to put the server in the same room as my workstation, but I don't want to listen to a wind tunnel, although some fan noise is okay. Also, I have a spare bedroom and a garage, though, if I use those options, my dream of 10Gbe (attached directly to the workstation in order to skip the costly switch cost) would evaporate.

So, how quiet can one get an SC846? What if it's in the next room? Garage might be an option but temp extremes (both cold and hot) plus humidity from my usually wet car (I live in Seattle) might be a problem. And I don't have a basement.

Also, what alternatives are there to an SC846 (24 drive enclosure w/ hot swap)?

Thanks

PS. I don't currently have a FreeNAS system beyond a test VM I created.

 

[Rand]

That depends on the fans you get with it (pwm or not), the mainboards ability to control them , the load you put on the system (and the heat it generates by that)...
If the fans are pwm controlled and u're not running full power all the time then next room might work. If you have proper ventilation and not too much heat generation you might get away with putting it in a closet as well.

Out of the box, no fan control the system will probably be at starting jet level.

P.s. Why do you need 24 drives any way at home? Those alone will produce quite an amount of noise. Less larger drives=less noise, less heat (and possibly less performance but i dont think you *need* to max 10GBe? You need similar hw in your desktop then as well to use it)

 

[Fox]

Why do you need 24 drives any way at home? Those alone will produce quite an amount of noise. Less larger drives=less noise, less heat (and possibly less performance but i dont think you *need* to max 10GBe? You need similar hw in your desktop then as well to use it)

I will probably start out with less than 24 drives, as I mentioned above, maybe 11. I just want additional room in case I want to expand.

It really has nothing to do with need. I thought it would be fun.. Similar to why people beef up their cars or build a hot-rod, or like my friend who souped up his Mazda 3 to something like 600 horsepower.

The 10Gbe would be fun as well, I would love to cut out the Gigabit network bottleneck.

The only thing that grounds me is the money, but since the system will be of some use to me, I can partially justify it.

Thanks

 

[Lordadmiral Drake]

I got the SC836 (3U) with 5 8cm Sanyo Denki fans with 6500rpm max. I guess the fans are a bit larger and slower rotating in the SC846 but they will still be damn loud. You can swap them out for slower (=quieter) ones, depending on your hw setup. The PSU fans are presumably double 40mm models as they are in my case. You can't swap them out and they spin even with the system powered down unless you totally cut power. But their noise, while still annoying in quiet environments, is nothing compared to the case fans, even if those don't run full speed

 

[Fox]

Hmm.. I think I could quiet the case fans, but I am wondering if it will be enough.

Right now, I'm leaning toward a custom (DIY) rack that is sound proof.. Just need to figure out a way to get the air in and out silently. Looking around the net there are a few high high end racks that are "sound proof" (I use the term loosely), but they are expensive.

 

[Rand]

Well i'd be careful with that... while its relatively easy to slap some large fans front and back that doesnt guarantee the necessary airflow to the drives ...
I mean you can build it in a way that it will work, but I guess you'll need a *lot* of time and possibly several tries to get it just right;)
I mean *I* would, but if you're handy with the tools it might be a fun project by itself:)

But i would say Next Room quiet should be doable with an SC846 already *if* you get the mainboard to control the PWM fans.
So I'd go researching that before i get on with thinking about cases.

 

[Fox]

Good point. I assume a Supermicro Server Motherboard should be able to control the fans on a Supermicro server case, but I will definitely verify it before I put any money down.

As for building a rack enclosure, I would make sure that it had enough air flow by measuring temps in the open compared to a closed off rack, and I would probably use more than a few large fans that could be controlled based on interior heat. I would also need to muffle or channel the air flow coming in and out so as to reduce sound leakage. I would probably make the walls of the rack dual layer drywall with a sound damping layer in between (ala Green Glue(tm)). It would be a heavy rack.

 

[Rand]

Average interior temperature is not equal to maximum point temp on a drive or other component, so you'll need a lot of temp sensors with possibly contradicting indications.

 

[ser_rhaegar]

I have a sound proof blackbox rack in my office at work. Keeps everything quite cool even when my office is closed (though my office gets quite warm).

It is not silent. It is very quiet but I can always hear the fans and when my door is shut and the office warms up the fans get louder in order to keep the equipment cool.

This is with an HP DL380p server, cisco 3750x switch, emc vnxe3150 San, and 3 2U Dell servers.