Help Quieting My Supermicro Servers

[Iaroslav]

I tried all the settings through IPMI on SC847 - not much help. Noctua fans or controller (NA-FC1) are damn pricey and newer fan "caddies" just won't fit them. And you must be careful not to set the speed too low - HDDs may get hot very fast.
This cheapo PWM controller just did the job with default supermicro fans!

Pardon Our Interruption...

Wide enough manual regulation range and probably you may modify this or find a similar solution to auto-adjust RPM by a temperature sensor.
The only cons: you'll need a cable 4 Pin Molex to 6 Pin PCI-Express PCIE Video Card Power Converter Adapter Cable | eBay and half-cut plastic on each FAN connector to fit.

 

[mattventura]

Someone just told me the fanwall on the 4U is seperate from what ipmitool controls.
And they said I could likely just remove the entire fanwall, and put in noctuas?

Is it possible that some of the fans are plugged into one of the backplanes rather than the mobo? If you have enough fan headers, you can move them all to the MB.

You can also do what I do and just not run it with all 7 fans.

 

[Deligator]

I had a similar problem with a recently acquired SYS-5019S-TN4. It was running LOUD at idle. I could get the IPMI raw commands to get it to a healthy noise level .. but then it would stay there when under load .. and so I figured I would put together a little script. It is working for me and thought it was a good little give back to the world as I am only as good as the information I get .. and forums like this help a mediocre techie way outperform his gifts. This box was in a windows environment so I put it together as a PowerShell Script. feel free to use and share. I might go back and do a full PID loop for it but as of now I just go into Quiet Mode when the CPU is below the threshold (currently 50C) and goes into "standard" fan mode (ramps from 45% to 100% based on IPMI temps) above a threshold (currently 53C).. then when it drops back below the quiet temp it goes back to the quiet mode.

# Function to get CPU temperature using IPMI
 function GetCpuTemperatureFromIPMI {
     $ipmiOutput = & "ipmicfg-win.exe" -sdr
     $cpuTemp = $ipmiOutput | Where-Object { $_ -match '\(4\) CPU Temp\s+\|\s+(\d+(?:\.\d+)?)C/' } | ForEach-Object { $matches[1] }
     return [double]$cpuTemp

 }

 # Function to set fan mode to auto using IPMICFG-Win.exe
 function SetFanModeAuto() {
     Start-Process -FilePath "IPMICFG-Win.exe" -ArgumentList "-fan 0" -Wait
 }

 # Function to set fan mode to quiet using IPMICFG-Win.exe
 function SetFanModeQuiet() {
     Start-Process -FilePath "IPMICFG-Win.exe" -ArgumentList "-fan 1" -Wait
     Start-Process -FilePath "IPMICFG-Win.exe" -ArgumentList "-raw 0x30 0x70 0x66 0x01 0x00 0x06" -Wait
 }

 # Main script logic
 try {
     $currentFanMode = $null  # Variable to store the current fan mode
     while ($true) {
         $cpuTemperature = GetCpuTemperatureFromIPMI

         if ($currentFanMode -ne 1 -and $cpuTemperature -lt 50) {
             SetFanModeQuiet
             $currentFanMode = 1  # Set the current fan mode to quiet (1)
             Write-Host "CPU temperature is below 50°C. Fan mode set to quiet."
         } elseif ($currentFanMode -ne 0 -and $cpuTemperature -ge 53) {
             SetFanModeAuto
             $currentFanMode = 0  # Set the current fan mode to auto (0)
             Write-Host "CPU temperature is above 53°C. Fan mode set to auto."
         }

         # Wait for 20 seconds before the next check
         Start-Sleep -Seconds 20
     }
 } catch {
     Write-Host "Error occurred: $_"
 }

 

[TomN]

Sorry for bringing up an old thread but wondering what final solution you ended up using? I have this enclosure: SC847E1C-R1K23JBOD | 4U | Chassis | Products | Supermicro

And it's loud as heck! I checked and it has San Ace 80 fans. I went and checked the IPMI and it's also set to optimal. Trying to figure out what's best to try and get the noise down to half of what it is currently... it's super loud in my furnace room area, and I even tried noise dampening solutions on the walls in that room but you can still hear the fans.

I ended up buying a couple fans to try (Wathai and GDSTIME Model: GDP8038) but those noctua ones keep showing up in searches. It's been over 2 years since this was posted so also wondering if there's a new 'best practice' way to do this or if it's a combination of a script and/or buy new fans.
Thanks all!

 

[nexox]

I think the only newish thing is the Arctic S8038 7k fan, which probably fits the plastic holders (I already modded mine for 25mm fans so I don't know for sure) and will idle down to a lower speed than most server fans while keeping the capability to spin up to provide lots of airflow and/or high static pressure, unlike quieter fans. They're far from silent but work fine in my closet in an 826.

 

[twin_savage]

I ended up buying a couple fans to try (Wathai and GDSTIME Model: GDP8038) but those noctua ones keep showing up in searches. It's been over 2 years since this was posted so also wondering if there's a new 'best practice' way to do this or if it's a combination of a script and/or buy new fans.

I'm in a similar situation with my Chenbro RM437, which uses the same 80x38mm fan configuration.
I'm doing a semi-deep dive into making it quiet over on l1 forums, comparing the noise of the stock fans at a specific power level to what I think is the best noise normalized 80x38mm fan available, the Sanyo Denki 9RA.
Also I'm pretty sure I'll be able to replace the upper row of 80mm fans with 80x25mm fans which tend to be quieter than 80x38mm fans for a given air flow (but not pressure) using a 3d printed adapter that lets the fans fit into the same hot swap housing as the 38mm thick fans. The lower row of 80mm fans likely need to remain the thicker 38mm variety because of the amount of obstructions they need to pull air through.

I'd already exhausted the control route of making the fans quieter; they all run off of an Octo so I can control their exact speed for a given temperature, but even this didn't quiet down the stock Nidec fans enough while providing an adequate level of cooling.

The Noctua fans are far too anemic for cooling dense servers, they are often on the order of a magnitude less powerful than stock fans in servers... maybe in situations where you don't have to pull air through multiple backplanes they'd provide enough cooling, but even then I'd be skeptical. Noctua's non 120/140mm fan offerings are very weak and uncompetitive with other brands.

 

[TomN]

Thanks for replying, have you tried using a PWM controller with a knob and just manually reducing the RPM (or is that kind of what you did with the OCTO controller?)? Since in my scenario it's just a bunch of hard drives, I think I can get away with less RPM's, which hopefully translate to quieter fans. I'm thinking of getting this and trying it on the stock fans. Amazon.com: Cooling Fan Speed Knob Controller 12V 4 Pin PWM PC Chassis Fan Adapter Hub Power Supplied with SATA Interface for 4 Fans -1 PCS : Electronics

 

[twin_savage]

is that kind of what you did with the OCTO controller?

Yes, this is what the octo does, but through software instead of a knob. I could set the RPM low enough with the octo so noise wasn't a problem, but then the SAS expander heatsinks climbed well above 70C and I didn't feel comfortable with those temps. Also the drive temps at this low fan speed were a little uncomfortable at 50C so I focused on getting better fans.
I did a project in the past where I documented a 10dBa drop in sound at the same performance level by swapping the stock fan out of a Dynatron A24 to a 9RA fan so I know it's possible there are better noise normalized fans out there in these smaller sizes.

I'd be a little cautious with that adapter, it says it's only rated for 1.5A per fan. Check to make sure your stock fans are less than this, or if they are more to never turn the power up too high on the adapter.
Make sure to check your SAS expander chipset temps when you lower the fan speed and not just the drive temps.

 

[TomN]

Thanks for both the replies and some ideas! Can you let me know which 80x25 fans you plan to use and if there’s somewhere I could buy the caddies for them?

Also, any thoughts on how I could use the Octo controller in my chassis? It’s not like a normal motherboard so not sure how I’d be able to monitor it with software.

 

[nexox]

I was using Arctic P8 Max fans in 80x25, and they were doing fine (I have a 2U active CPU cooler and additional blower fan in the PCIe slot region,) but I felt like trying the S8038 just to see how they work and I decided they were quiet enough to keep using. They seem to move a lot more air at idle than my P8 max, judging by the extremely scientific method of "holding my hand behind the server while it's running", and only make a bit more noise.

 

[twin_savage]

Can you let me know which 80x25 fans you plan to use and if there’s somewhere I could buy the caddies for them?

For the 25mm thick fans I ended up buying 4 9RA0812P4G0011 fans; note that the fans are supplied with bare leads so you need to solder/crimp the connectors to the ends of them.

I just modeled up an adapter plate that can be 3d printed that snaps onto the back of a 80x25mm fan that lets them go right into existing caddies designed for 80x38mm fans:

The shape and sweep of the blades actually improves the airflow of the fan somewhat too. I can share the model here if your interested.

Also, any thoughts on how I could use the Octo controller in my chassis? It’s not like a normal motherboard so not sure how I’d be able to monitor it with software.

The way I integrated the octo into my chassis is just sticking it to an interior wall and then provide it power via molex and plugged all the fans into it, then it attached to the motherboard's internal usb 2.0 header to talk to the OS, it has a nice GUI if you use Windows and a command line interface if you use Linux.
I hesitate to endorse it because I think it is far too expensive for what it is, but it did solve the 100% fan ramp during boot issue that had plagued me (you can set it to a default or fall back fan speed when it isn't being fed temperature data by the OS).

 

[twin_savage]

I felt like trying the S8038 just to see how they work and I decided they were quiet enough to keep using. They seem to move a lot more air at idle than my P8 max, judging by the extremely scientific method of "holding my hand behind the server while it's running", and only make a bit more noise.

I almost pulled the trigger on the S8038 instead of the 9RA for my lower chamber which still needed the oomph of 38mm thick fans but decided since the top chamber was getting 25mm thick 9RA fans I might as well use them for the bottom. The little mini fan that cools the windings of the motor is neat.

 

[TomN]

Thank you both for all the help! I ended up ordering some P8 MAX's and will monitor the heat. @twin_savage if you could share the 3D model I'd appreciate it, I'll just have some online place print them for me. Thank you!

 

[TomN]

Thank you both for all the help! I ended up ordering some P8 MAX's and will monitor the heat. @twin_savage if you could share the 3D model I'd appreciate it, I'll just have some online place print them for me. Thank you!

Actually never mind on the 3d model, I MacGyver'd it

 

[twin_savage]

Actually never mind on the 3d model, I MacGyver'd it

ahh that might be for the best; the adapter I modeled up was made to specifically match up to the 9RA's "spokes" that attach the motor hub to the housing: