Building A Soundproof Server Cabinet 

The fact that the last post on this channel was a year ago then this one comes out and we happy.

As said already, they are noisy thanks to having cards in the rear. Pull the cards and see what happens. It will go quiet as a mouse. The other bit of advice to fix, don't run the server without drives or blanking plates.

Great video. I imagine this is what the ikea datacenter looks like. I bought an old HP server DL380 G7 and it was a jet turbine out of the box. After removing the huge main heatsink bricks, and all the little auxiliary ones and new thermal grease it ran pretty much silent. Honestly when they bin these that is all that needs done. The one I have is totally meant to run headless in massive server farms so any sort of UI makes the tiny GPU built for terminal get hot, and back into jet turbine mode it goes. The HP ones are super fussy with hard drives as well. Some hard drives mis-report the temperature to the bios and back into jet turbine mode we go. Unless you are thrashing it in a hot climate they should run pretty quiet. Still 12 xeon cores 2x6, 24gb of ECC ram, 2xredundant 750watt 80+ platinum power supplies and a raid 5 controller for £135 in the UK is a steal. Big companies upgrade them every 3 years so there are loads going for cheap. The one I have has a few PCI-E slots so apart for being hilariously large it might make a half decent gaming rig. You can hardly buy a 80+ platinum PSU for that money on a normal build.

I have a feeling you could have solved alot of your cabling problems with keystones instead of a punch down panel..

I have the G7 version and just go into the BIOS settings under thermal configurations select "optimal cooling" steps are below The fans are no noisier than my Cisco switch: From the System Utilities screen, select System Configuration > BIOS/Platform Configuration (RBSU) > Advanced Options > Fan and Thermal Options > Thermal Configuration and press Enter. Select a setting and press Enter. Optimal Cooling-Provides the most efficient solution by configuring fan speeds to the minimum required to provide adequate cooling. Increased Cooling-Operates fans at a higher speed. Maximum Cooling-Provides the maximum cooling available for the system. Press F10.

Great project! Thanks for sharing! About the air intakes being so close to the ground made them to behave as vacuum cleaners! But soon you found that out.

I need to build a rack, i have a 48thread DL580G7; it's quieter than other servers but i still want to make it quieter. This video inspires me to create something similar!

Years ago, I too had this exact same server and this exact noise issue. I was planning to build my own sound-proof server cabinet, but decided to decommission the HP and get myself a Dell R710. The noise difference between these two particular servers are worlds apart... Sadly though, I had to decommission my R710 too because of rising energy prices.

I'm working on something like this with a pre-built metal rack. I'm hoping to finish and make a video in a few more months. I installed a curtain rail and curtains that reduced my server noise while I'm recording about 8dB.

Nice build! Now that you have the server installed and situated, I can't wait to see the video where you send the power data and logs from your electricity monitoring project over to be stored on your server.

Having non HP hardware in your HP server, will cause the fans to spin at their max RPM. Also not having the blanks installed into empty disk bays, can cause the same problem.

Great projekt and well explained! But as an tech at a datacenter its realy hard to watch :D

12:31 - Screw In Thread/Wood Straight Nut would have been your friend here =) 16:21 - Seem like it would have been better to have a keystone RJ45 modules instead of plugs + couplers 18:47 - I would recommend getting one like this and one with C13 sockets since servers and network equipment have C14 inputs Patch panel is good if you have a lot of networking at once, seems you have it, additionally you probably want to put a keystone panel for other connections like USB, Firewire, Audio, Serial (via RJ45) etc from the back of various equipment in the rack

Really great job! Only things I’d have done differently is used fireproof gyproc instead of (most of) the MDF. Could also attach the vinyl using acoustic sealant and cover the outside of the rack with more vinyl. Seems like almost all of the noise here comes down to the fans though so unless you use quieter ones or run them slower then there’s probably not much improvement to be made here 👍🏻

basically with most hp server flavours from around 2010 I have found that memory that isnt hp registed, non hp supported disk (disk with no hp/hpe sticker on it), bad thermal pads on heatsink, using higher performance cpus (and have them in dual socket)all dramatically increase fan speed. the most notable is when you add more pcie card especially gpus and other card that require additional power as these do not out put heat readings the server sub system can understand and also draw a lot more power

Word of the week hexangular. Nice good job.

So I have the exact same server profile and am doing the exact same thing with my network right now. Glad to see I can piggy back off of your work and make it my own. Great work!

Nice diy rack. I bought a "Automatic Temperature Control CPU Fan Speed DC Controller 12V PWM PC Board", off eBay, for a noisy PC which worked quite well, for about £5. I know in the BIOS of later models of HP Proliant Servers, there is Advanced Options -> Thermal Configurations -> (with 3 choices) Optimal Cooling, Increase Cooling and Maximum Cooling. Select Optimal Cooling for the quietest mode.

What a cool channel and a very useful project I may take on myself someday! DIY is the future and a maker mindset will save the world, you're doing the lords work spreading the gift of knowledge.

You and I are looking for the same thing. Quiet small well optimised racks. I also needs it to be able to blend in at lounge environment. Unfortunately, as far as I can tell, no one manufacturer it.

You can buy aquacomputer aquero 6 fan controller and control all fans with smart curving. So you can get a lot of silent server.

Nice and intersting video, however, I had a similar issue with one of the HP ProLiant Server, and for some reason, this airplane fan issue was related with the RAM installed in the server, when the BIOS watch that the RAM installed is not propietary RAM sign by HP, enforce to put a fans to the Max Speed, in order to guaranty the performace and trying to avoid the possible overheating on the "Generic" RAM cards installed.

Thanks for posting! I'm trying to put an optical cavity in a server rack and its rather noisy due to acoustic / mechanical vibrations

Man I want to make something like this. I have a rack server that my friend gave me when his work was upgrading their servers, it looks like yours but it's not by HP. Yours is even louder than mine. Yours sounds like mine does when every large fan I have in it is running at 10,000 RPM. Mine sites on top of a dresser. When the fans kick in, they've blown empty circle k coffee cups off the dresser. This is just hobby stuff for me, I had to work at home answering phones during the pandemic and when the server would turn those fans on, people thought I was in a car with the windows rolled down on the highway lol.

Fantastic!

I really liked the ingenuity there. By the accent I would suggest that you are in London. I would suggest using foam instead of rubber cloth for sound deafening. Other than that, your rackmount case it is better than the regular metal cabinets purchased in a store. I say that because it does the same thing for a much lower cost not to say being a custom design. I wish you lived closer ro Chicago. We would have so many projects to work on. BTW I'm an EE as well. My job is designing circuits for a large electrical company. Great video!!

You might try some egg create foam cushion to put over your black matting material and that should take the DB's down even lower .. Its similar to what is used in recording studios . But the stuff used on bedding is way cheaper to buy... Loved the hole idea and the execution of the build !

nice job.

you read my mind! :p I will make the same but I will add some led strips. Nice idea for sound reducing foam! tx ...

Do you have the design for this someWhere? The blog doesnt cover this ..?

Nice build. I'm not super experienced with HP servers but shouldn't that have IPMI so that you can control fan speed (and noise)? I have a Dell running Proxmox and a script uses ipmitools to regularly ensure that the speed is 4k RPM which is nearly silent. Using a sensors application and scripting would let you make this dynamic as well.

I change out all the fans to noctua on servers. Just this cuts noise by half at least and moved more air. But get the correct fans

how about ILO? I think you can set a power policy via the iLO configuration.. because by setting the CPU power modes to lower settings, the fans may also spin down accordingly Not that I would recommend it, but it might do the trick

So how much noise is coming out of the holes for the fans? I was under impression all that noise would still seep through any hole that was made for wiring or fans...?

good video. but you should add a simple arduino and a temp sensor to it. so you can controll the airflow better. You can do that for your server too.

Awesome video! Great job on the build! Does the room get really hot where you have your server running? I had to move everything out of the room because of the heat. and then when i open the closet sometimes it gives me that same feeling as when you open the oven. lol

We have a bunch of servers and I mainly work with HP Servers (380, 160, 360, etc.) the servers should not be that loud... but I saw that you added a huge GPU. The servers management controller (iLO) ,that also manages the fan speeds, can’t really get the temps of the gpu. My DL380 g7 does the same when I put a beafy gpu in it. You should remove the gpu if you don’t use it for graphic intensive tasks. You can also set in the RBSU (also called BIOS) some power and thermal presets. If you need any tips HP Proliant related you can hit me up.

Oh man, as a server engineer, you missed a few steps before deciding to go the Noctua route and eventually the server rack route... I run plenty of these systems without an unbearable amount of noise coming out of them, you can do this by: 1. Verifying you have both PCIe Risers in and populated with HPE cards. 2. BIOS and iLO are up to date. 3. Correct Memory is installed. 4. Both Power Supplies are installed. 5. All of the fans are installed. 6. The room is below 28C 7. No components are overheating due to old thermal paste. There are a couple other things that I would do, but what strikes me first is your caddy population- it's only two drives and no blanking plates. Makes me wonder what else is left unmaintained on the machine... Anyway, I still like the idea of a sound-proof chassis for specific environments.

awesome video, what is your opinion about stone wool instead of MVL?, the reason I'm asking is that we do not have MVL in our country 😢😢

The cabinet is very cool but i wouldn't consider it bearable above 30ish db. The 4 monitor setup rocks!

You could just get a DELL PowerEdge, you can control fan speed with iDRAC racadm, with commands from linux installed in the server

Very nice, but how about temperature?

number one replace those fans dude...

it sounds like you are missing or have a faulty open chassis sensor. That server shouldnt be that loud unless its overheating or the chassis is open.

15db only. If you went to passive and huge fans that will go -35db. only con is that the lid of the top needs to stay open.

@ 0:16 sounds like the same music they used on eddsworld in WTFuture during the chase scene!

How did it last after 2yrs?

why not use Blower It offers better airflow than fans and also can run with Temperature Switch to start and stop as needed because temperature is variable

im a bit late but instead of using a bit of wood to hold the server up you could get some rack rails. for about £15.

Doing one this week but will be using aggregated PE foam instead, just questioning myself if I should place top and bottom intakes or front / back intakes... greetings from Belgium

Not sure about HP but normally server fan speed in firmware is controlled by IPMI/BMC not BIOS. I think hp is calling it iLO

How much did it all cost in total though?

52 Woodworker/Cabinet makers watched this vid in horror...

5:40 What's the name, screwing black mount?

I wonder if that server has IPMI ... fans could be controlled by it

I used to have the same noise problem until I switch SATA hard drive to SAS hard drive.😂 Seems normal SATA hard drive trend to notify the cooling system that they are overheat then the fan works at full power.

Ur good! :)

I saw that u are using Xeon E5620 CPU's I recommend Xeon E5650 they have 6/12 and cost about 20€ just saying if you need more cores.

I appreciate that Nikola Tesla picture on your wall :)

Nice project, i am looking to build something similar as small rack cabinets are priced ridiculously. You would benefit a ton from a 3D printer, just a thought : )

Only gripe here from me is you put the casters too far in, they should be more near the corners so the cabinet won't tip while moving, as having them in like that is cause for tipping, be careful :).

The HP G5 vs G6 is amazing difference in sound levels.

Thanks for the good laugh

Use the iLO to configure the fans, but only having one psu plugged in will run the fans at 100%

I think the best thing you could've done as someone who has 3 racks of gear in his bedroom, is honestly just forgo any sound deadening. Learn to endure the sounds.

Home lab... white board... Toaster..? What! Toaster!! Yes, for those long hours in the lab, a toaster is a must.

why bother with patch panel ? why not just run straight to switch ? it accomplish same thing only without the need to punch all cables

🖐⭐super.

just curious - how is this holding out a year later?

Cool and handy work .. with the exception of "rawt" !! it's actually route mate .. but that's me just taking the mick of the Yanks, who don't speak English in the first place :D :D

Where did you gett the metal rack strip things

countersinking framing lumber is overkill

Mass loaded vinyl is really expensive in my country is there any other option??

would have just built my own server that is quiet

change the server to dell r710 r720 no need to make the box

That hair tho

add an #Airvent directly behind the #cabinet through the wall to the outside with a type of #Flue, free access to fresh cool air the #Server can draw in.

Thats a one way street to Tinnitus lol

you'll have cooling troubles if you add anything more to that cabinet.

What a fucking nightmare.

this looks like a fire hazard good luck!

Get this use use rock wool safe and sound 😂

i like how this is not straight at all it would look just like that if i make this hahaha as my father always said: dogs don't sh*t in straight lines either

Hi! We send you and email, pls answer it! :)

Awesome video but your intro is too long

My Dell R510 is much quieter.

Will it work on my 750 Watt server fans? ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-AywQXZrATII.html

Still have noisy You have to use ipmitools

Some really poor measuring/cutting

Dude you made it out of wood!? Hope you padded it with asbestos or you took out fire insurance for your lab. Good luck!

Poweredge are better 😛😛