How To Silence a Supermicro 4U Server (or Really Any Server)

[@Firesealb99]

Came for the cool fan mod, stayed for the IPMI tool modifying fan speed. Great video!

[@diazrocks]

and two years later this helps me! thank you, Mark! Btw, kneeling pads are quite expensive where i live. My alternative is archery target pad. They come in bigger size and in black. cheers!

[@tonynoel286]

Could you give us an update on how things have been working for you so far since implementing this?

[@diazrocks]

It's been okay. I would order extra just incase you cut wrong. @@tonynoel286

[@Cryptic-1-9-1-1]

Btw, the cfm isn't the most important stat. Yes in free air without restriction, they make a lot of cfm, but when you're trying to force air through heatsinks and around cards and memory sticks, you need high static pressure. That's basically the amount of force it can push the air. High cfm will churn the air between the fan bezel and what is obstructing it, but not be able to push through. To fully cool everything, you need to push the air out the back, rather than blow it around

[@RobertMizen]

That is a great idea. I am actually planning this too, using some Noctua fans inside a DIY server I am planning to build and video over the summer. The 1-2U Servers tend to be the noisy ones. Yours is bigger so those larger Noctua fans made a massive difference and the foam padding is DIY and creative as hell mate. As long as there is no fire risk issue, I don't see an issue. Love the content dude, new sub :)

[@billklement2492]

Nice idea using foam! I'll remember that! I fixed my dell server noise issue by putting them in another room behind a door. With 2U servers, I'm not sure what options I'd have. Thanks for the video!

[@mndlessdrwer]

This will work on servers that utilize standard fan connectors, but you'll find this kind of project doesn't work on many of the OEM chassis that have more proprietary connectors, such as Dell, HP, and Cisco servers, where the fans are on their own proprietary little modules with socketed connectors that don't adhere to the common fan connector standards. Still an interesting approach, and it clearly works for this application. Just something to note.

[@tamaskovats]

not only the connector's pin layouts are different, but industrial / enterprise fans have temp monitors built inside as well, which feature Noctua fans lack, so the servers will instantly throw error messages about fan malfunctions.

[@BerserkeR_031]

that's why nobody wants that crap at home and supermicro chassis are the dream for any homelab.

[@mndlessdrwer]

@@BerserkeR_031 Yes and no. OEM servers have other nice features, particularly Dell and Cisco servers. Dell are convenient because you don't need to find an account to borrow in order to download firmware and utilities, but Cisco are inherently more recoverable because they have multiple BIOS and CIMC storage locations and you can generally fail back to a previous version through CIMC in the case of the BIOS, and there's usually a switch on the motherboard to fail back the CIMC controller if booting to a CIMC updater doesn't resolve your problem. I've dealt with some Supermicro servers in the past and my evaluation of them is that they're fine. Basic, but fine. Their remote management is a bit lackluster and it can make updating firmware or analyzing hardware faults a bit annoying, but it's nothing deal-breaking. The real server brands to avoid if you aren't actually doing this professionally are HP, Lenovo, Oracle/Sun Microsystems, and anything IBM. It's a combination of proprietary stuff, locked down support accessibility, and the benefits aren't enough to outweigh the inconvenience. My honest opinion is that if you don't explicitly require the ridiculous core counts and PCIe lane counts of server processors, you should probably just buy a decently high-end consumer system and install a PiKVM for remote management and call it a day. I built my own workstation with pseudo-enterprise gear and if it weren't for the fact that it was the cheapest way for me to get a relatively modern 20-core/40 thread processor and a lot of RAM capacity, I wouldn't dare to bother with enterprise shit for a personal computer. Enterprise decom switches and storage arrays are fine to tinker with in a home lab, but unless you legitimately need a feature that only enterprise servers can offer, then I wouldn't bother. They're expensive, slow to boot, and just generally loud and annoying.

[@Zarcondeegrissom]

I had fussed with that eons ago (90's 2k's) mostly to isolate the fans from the metal case. I had varying success depending on fan and foam type. the idea is to isolate the fan motor/housing vibration from the metal panels of the case, as the case panels act like speaker cones and the fans act like the driver coils of a speaker. the foam is to isolate the fans from the case. I also did silly stuff like spraying the inside of the case panels with automotive rubberized undercoat spray-paint to 'dampen' the panels flexing, which was also meh depending on the computer. the spray rubberized undercoat can be messy, ugly as sin when masking off edge mount areas, and the effectiveness is meh. I've also fussed with the foam construction paper-like stuff (foamies) with the sticky-back to dampen panels, that stuff also works ok, yet can look ugly as well to some. I've also played with hot-gluing foamies into air-guide baffles, easy and fun, yet isn't very 'pro' looking.

[@endystrike000]

Thank you so much!!! Your solution with IPMI Tool worked just fine for me too! I'm using an X10SLL-F and my fans were running high, then low, etc... I fixed just changing the values as you suggested! Thanks a lot mate!!

[@bensatunia8842]

Using foam for a year, but protected and covered it with Gorilla-Flex ... Nice vid

[@clb92]

Great video! Less than a month ago, I finally got around to silencing my 4U Supermicro SC846. I had it with stock fans for more than a year, right next to my bed (no other space in my apartment). Although the fan wall and power distribution "area" looks surprisingly different in my 846 (I'm guessing yours are 847 chassis?), I also tore out the existing fan wall (with three 80mm stock fans) and fit in three Noctua NF-F12 120mm iPPC-3000 fans. The nice thing is that they fit snug with just friction. (I zip-tied them together and to the old fan wall mounting holes.) The only thing I'm missing in this area is some foam to close the gap above the fans. It's on my to-do list. I then also replaced the two stock 80mm exhaust fans (which yours don't have) with some 80mm Noctua NF-A8 PWM fans. I also replaced the PSU with an SQ-model, even though they're extremely over-priced where I live (Supermicro hardware in general, unless you get lucky with something second-hand). Lastly, I actually removed the plastic airflow duct and the stock CPU coolers, and installed two Noctua NH-U9DX i4 active CPU coolers (two fans each). The airflow duct was molded a lot differently than yours, and did not fit very well in the first place. I don't think it was made to fit the stock CPU coolers I had in my setup. I had the same fan oscillation issues, but it was of course a simple fix as you showed. Overall, my setup is very quiet now. It still has a slight hum to it, like an older desktop computer, but it's definitely apartment friendly now. It gets *slightly* hotter than before (normally hovering around 45-55°C now) but that's alright for these Xeons. At full CPU load, all 20 cores/40 threads across my two CPUs, it stays around 60°C, so the temperature is quite stable if nothing else... I'm sure fixing the fan wall gap will help the airflow a bit more, once I get around to it. I also only have one PSU in it, so I'm going to 3D print a plug for the empty PSU hole at some point. I just wish I'd done these modifications a lot earlier.

[@jebusfreek6667]

How are the temps in the HDD's? Are all the bays full? Plugging that gap will help increase the static pressure and draw more air across the HDD's for sure.

[@mattmoreira210]

2:35 The fan you're holding is an 80x80x38 fan, so its thickness is 38mm. Besides that, great content, as usual.

[@StephenFasciani]

congrats on acquiring super micro hardware Mark!

[@vlycop7404]

I really like you video. You seam like a very interesting dude to talk to :) Thank you for sharing that bit of knowledge. i have a 2U 12 drive chassis from a no-name brand, so sadly i can't fit anything else than 80mm. Having my lab 80cm away from my desk is very bothering, i need to find something

[@planetcrypto8662]

This is a great video. Got mine up and running without issue and it's much quieter. Thank you.

[@kreigrastalovich2577]

Good idea. I used long mechano strips instead. Took the motherboard etc out and put 808x cable sockets on the pci plates. To be honest I wanted to shorten the depth of the case but chickened out. Used Nanoxia 120mm 1300rpm deep silence fans. Have an LED temp monitor fitted to the rear IO plate area. Am about to fit a fan regulating pcb in there. Like others have mentioned, I'd feel a little sorry for the cpus.

[@espressomatic]

The big problem with these fans is that they're a fraction of the static pressure of the original Nidec models. Like less than 1/4 in fact. They may work in many situations where the hardware isn't stressed. If Supermicro could have used Noctua fans to the same cooling performance, they would have - they're (all) much cheaper than the Nidecs.

[@seethruhead7119]

About to buy a used supermicro and this video is great. Thank you.

[@deschoee]

Great video, and a good idea! I'll do the same thing to my cases. I don't have supermicros but some more "consumer" atx chassis I'm planning to mod like that. Thank you for sharing this!

[@Jorge2222]

Good solution for quieting it up. You needed to show how the foam fan chassis you made inserts and how you connected the fans, for more detail on the solution. As for the need for all 7 fans it all depends on your use and environment temps. Hopefully you have it so if the temps rise you shutdown.

[@TheJeffChase]

I saw SuperMicro makes a quieter version of their stock fans, the "FAN-0104L4" that you can drop right in, has anyone tried those?

[@CMDRtesh]

im wondering what the hdd temps are reading at though. That is a crucial item. I modded my 846 with 3 - 3000ippc 120mm for the mid bridge and 2 80pwm a noctuas for the rear. at this point HDD temps were around 35 to 36c, unfortunately when they are fully loaded or doing hard work the temps jump to 40-49c which is way to high. I added a front shroud on the outside with 3 140mm ippc3000 noctuas as well and that pushed the temps under full load to 35 to 36c. This is acceptable to me as i can use it as is. Edit: I also would like to mention that changing out the fans on the supermicro Psu is NOT recommended and can be dangerous so proceed with extreme caution.

[@Gastell0]

SC745/743/747 chassis fans have QT variety that are a lot quieter, but only that chassis since they are workstation interchangeable chassis

[@WeathermanMark1]

I have (3) SC847 - 4U servers and have tried many times using various fan configs and in my case, was never able to get the CPU temps from throwing alarms under high load - not to mention high drive temps. The issue seems to be the fans I have tried (Nashua, and 120mm 2000 rpm fans) just don't have enough static pressure to cool the passive CPU coolers and 36 drives. I am using all the factory fans - set at full speed - and use a PWM fan controller to keep them reasonably quiet. I like your setup and very tempted to give it another try with those iPPC fans and foam. Just curious of you have issues at 100% cpu load and fully populated drive config? I still get alerts at 100% cpu at times, so I might have to change the BIOS to "Cool and Quiet" vs full, so the server can bump up the fan speed on high loads - even with the PWM fan controller.

[@tw-cq6xr]

I strongly suspect these 120mm fans do not have sufficient static pressure for full drive bays and loads near 600-800W.

[@dncrjim]

Attempted a functionally identical install as this video with these fans. Unfortunately, both CPUs set off overheat alarms almost instantly under load (even with numerous attempts at baffling to direct more airflow through the heatsinks.)

[@joelang6126]

Genius idea mate! I'll be using this on one of my builds!

[@maxheadrom3088]

Awesome!!!! Have you tried - or know someone who tried - AIOs for servers? Thanks!

[@plasmar1]

in my case I'm using a 16 bay(cost me 50$!;compellent sc030) mostly off offline nas, not a supermicro mobo....... Opteron 3320(low tdp) on a gigabyte 970 based mobo; I installed 3x PWM temperature speed controllers from aliexpress(taped the tempo sensors on the front of the back plane;fans are being powered by the backplane)..... still not silent, your setup is nice:), but a lot quieter than it began....... if I ever see em at a good price I might try for the SQ psu's, would like to try to get a 36bay:P

[@josephp1592]

I stuck a asrock rack and ryzen build in, then connected the stock fans to pwm ports on mobo. Adjusted the fan curves and she stays pretty quiet in stock form

[@enkrypt3d]

great video! food for thought! Thanks!

[@kdibaba]

Brilliant noise solution.

[@Reason0684]

What is the height of the fan wall? I want to mock it up to see how much material would be left if I used 140mm fans compared to 120mm.

[@sophware]

Did you ever give that a try? I'm ordering fans shortly.

[@darrellpatenaude3825]

I am interested in if 140mm fans worked? I want to try this out

[@belovedbluestar]

Thank you this was a really good idea

[@botsmack]

Just for my curiosity, what part number is your new Supermicro chassis / motherboard config?

[@fluxtheory3136]

In hindsight, would you recommend forgoing the third fan? It seems completely blocked by your PDU. I honestly dont see how it could contribute towards providing any airflow.

[@WizardTim]

How do you go with dust? I have a 2U server with 4x ADDA 80mm fans with 45ppi dust filters and trying to blow air through them is difficult, without the filters I can get away with 1,000 RPM, with them I need 2,500 RPM but the filters make the server vastly easier to vacuum every month so I put up with the noise (~45 dBA @ desk). But I have tried to improve it seeing as it’s right under my desk and under 1 m from my bed (limited by space and SFP+ DAC cable lengths). I tried something a little similar to you by replacing the ADDA fans with 80mm low RPM Noctua Redux fans and noise dampening mounts but found I had to max them out to 1,700 RPM at which point the ADDA fans were quieter plus 1,700 RPM couldn’t keep the HDDs under 50 °C. In hindsight I don’t know why I thought Noctua fans would magically solve my problems, I don't recommend that approach. But at least my PSU fan only very rarely spins up, the full system is ~150 W and it’s a platinum rated PSU, but I still need a 40mm fan on the HBA (LSI 9207-8i).

[@TheUbuntuGuy]

I let the dust build up and then I use an Datavac (mains powered air duster) every few months to clean it out. I don't vacuum them since I find it less effective and you have to deal with ESD buildup. I have filters in my desktop and it still needs to be dusted almost as regularly, so I don't bother in the servers.

[@Mr.Leeroy]

@@TheUbuntuGuy You have to be lucky to kill PC hardware with ESD that way. Ground shielding and engineered protections are simply too effective.

[@FedericoAllegretti]

well .. you have to make the comparison with the top covers on on both cases :D

[@john-r-edge]

Did you test them wrt flammability? Some types of foam used in furniture was outlawed as it was flammable, and nasty too, highly toxic smoke.

[@dougm275]

I'd like to look into this as well. There are tons of different types for building.

[@espressomatic]

It'll burn under direct flame and melt with arcing and sparks. But it won't continue to burn on its own - as a fuel material, it doesn't produce enough heat to maintain the burn. It'll probably be the most flammable thing inside the case, but less so than wood or other materials people might use.

[@forgettable_eli]

I remember you were using a donated hba card, How’s the performance and stability of that card? Did it ever failed?

[@TheUbuntuGuy]

That one is no longer in service, but I keep as a backup. It still works fine.

[@forgettable_eli]

@@TheUbuntuGuy Good to know, and after watching several related videos from your channel, It seems a decade old, used server grade card lasts longer than a brand new, cheap pcie to sata adapter.

[@abdraoufx]

Genius!

[@Zarcondeegrissom]

I will second that 40mm fan fail, as I tried it on an odroid-xu4 and it just couldn't keep that cool. many had suggested swapping out the stock fan for a Noctua-40, and the odroid would throttle with a browser open on a blank web page with the Noctua fan, lol. they are quiet, they also lack CFM as a tradeoff for being quiet. I had better luck replacing the stock 40x40x9mm MX440/Radion9000/chipset like heatsink with a 40x40x38mm pin-fin thing from aavid thermalloy, with a regular black 40mm fan, the fan no longer is commanded to spin up under any load with that heatsink, lol. the 120mm IPPC fans are 'ok' however the Noctua 40mm fans are junk if you need actual CFM. I'll keep my thoughts of stator-vane deltas at sub-1k idle RPM vs Noctua IPPC at max RPM to myself as you do have a nice result with those servers, and it's tricky to get the deltas below 1200RPM (it takes fan PCB mods), I'll just say those stator vanes do make a difference when the fan is made to move CFM instead of "just being quiet", lol. Also, delta got a bad name, cuz of the old K7 overclocking days (and Linus Tech Tips), they do make other fans that spin at lower RPMs than just maximum insanity, lol.

[@Felix-ve9hs]

10:17 thanks for the info, I have a pws-561-1h PSU in my offline backup server and it is loud af

[@intel386DX]

Great idea 💡

[@PatrickDunca]

I assume that this doesn't work if you want to cool server GPUs as well. Not enough pressure right?

[@bigchew3149]

Cool Video..I Moded My SM CSM-846 to be Quit a While Back But I Did it a Little Different Than You..I Replaced My Fans with 3 B Quite 120mm in The Front 2 80mm in The Back & Just Added a Pair Of Noctua NH-U9DX I4 Coolers But I Also have a Pair Of Xeon E5-2696v 2's ,128gb of ecc Ram Multiple ssd's & I Wanted Every Thing To Be as High Performance But Also Cool as it Could Be Also ..O I Aded a 120mm over My 10Gb Nic & Sas Controller ..I Just Need a pair of SQ psu's but hate to pay that kind of price ..But Yes The Psu's Are the loudest fan in their now !

[@Koop1337]

What chassis model is this?

[@amessman]

36:36 I've used foamcore for projects like this, though it worked well I'm kinda growing out of it in favor of wood and plastic.

[@David-wh8zs]

Do you hear a very slight motor noise from your fans? I also have the IPPC-3000s in my servers and they start rapidly clicking around 600 rpm

[@TheUbuntuGuy]

No, I've never heard clicking from any fan at any RPM. Is a cable getting sucked into a fan?

[@David-wh8zs]

@@TheUbuntuGuy Thank you for your response. There is no cable stuck in them, this is the sound I am talking about: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z5WUfXiHg7CIp6s you can hear it every so slightly. I've got six of them running in that box and they all seem to have the same issue. I'd like to find out if I've gotten a bad batch or something

[@clb92]

@@David-wh8zs I've never heard that with mine either.

[@virtualtools_3021]

I got AVC fans that have a motor noise but it's a whirring / commutation noise

[@troyBORG]

Would this work for a Lenovo x3650 M3?

[@xanderdj87]

a quando l'episodio 3 ?

[@robertbarry79]

Can you share the link to the foam pads you used?

[@TheUbuntuGuy]

I bought this one www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B079NFFQSY

[@jllerk]

Great vid thanks a shitload man!!

[@rajilsaraswat9763]

Your disks seems to be staggered, since consecutive caddies are not lighting up. Is that on purpose for cooling?

[@TheUbuntuGuy]

Yes exactly. The 8TB Ironwolf drives are 7200RPM and get very hot (this was before the fan replacement btw). The Exos drives don't get nearly as hot but I kept the same bays as before.

[@JenniferKrisystin]

A+

[@SakuraChan00]

well if your center fan ever fails say bye bye to your CPUs

[@Mr.Leeroy]

Every CPU that is worth the electricity it requires has overtemp protection in silicon. Modern CPUs simply halt any code execution, which drops CPU current consumption next to nothing.

[@riksteen4933]

How did you configure that your serve is going on on a specific time

[@espressomatic]

BIOS schedule can make the server turn ON/off when you want it. Also WOL from another computer and a chron job.

[@neccros007]

Which Noctua fans? I want to find a good exhaust fan for a desktop and these seem like a good option

[@TheUbuntuGuy]

I used noctua.at/en/nf-f12-industrialppc-3000-pwm. I think they are overkill for a desktop and you will hear them. A better option for a desktop which gives more airflow for less noise is this noctua.at/en/products/fan/nf-s12a-pwm.

[@neccros007]

@@TheUbuntuGuy OK... I just want a better Non-RGB fan for the back of my PC case... Currently using a Corsair AF from a few years ago

[@BerserkeR_031]

@@TheUbuntuGuy I'm planning to build a fan wall from 1mm stainless steel, would you still pick the 140mm fans if you could even though they have lower static pressure? --- And do you think this mod will still work with the 24 bays at the front filled? Btw, I'm planning to use active CPU fan on my SP3 CPU.

[@shadowmist1246]

I would never put a DIY foam in a server without serious consideration of fire risks. No laser cutter or 3D printer? You don't need to own these as you can simply get it done by a contractor down the street or use a company like Protocase.

[@garbarmihail]

cool

[@skynetcybersystem3tech]

👍

[@michaelmadison883]

Long story short: use Noctua fans!

[@agoodm]

Is that KDE on your desktop?

[@TheUbuntuGuy]

I use Kubuntu on all my workstations

[@majstealth]

one could screw the fans together, you know, they have holes, to be screwed^^

[@GenericEric]

I can't hear your fans over my fans!

[@dougm275]

Great idea!

[@fmj_556]

Genius!