First real post here, just wanted to help others who might be trying this build. I was going to follow Canta's design:
14U Ikea closed server rack ...
But my closet is far too small to hold 2 of these sektion cabinets stuck together. So i opted for a single cabinet. i only measured one of my two servers and then after purchasing realized i needed to extend the front by 3 inches... It really didn't turn out as bad as i thought it would -- after staining it almost looks like it belongs on the sektion cabinet:
After getting it extended i cut out some exhaust holes (4.5" for 120mm fans) and added 6 enermax fans (very quiet fans even at full speed)
I realized afterward there was not enough space to do anything but mount them to the back. If the noise is still too much my plan is to add a 20" duct and dump the exhaust/rear fans/heat under my house into my crawl space (which has an access hatch in the closet the servers/box will be in) ive attached a video that kinda shows how well its quieted down already, i havent even added the sound foam to the walls yet.
Here is a pic of the bottom/intake that is essentially a chamber under the bottom shelf, there are 6 80mm fans that are hooked up to an nzxt grid+ (i wish i bought the corsair fan controller, sigh) they can go from 500rpm to 4500rpm and create enough airflow to pressurize the box, for others doing this -- you definitely want positive pressure in the box so more intake than exhuast CFM wise:
I used some green glue sealant around corners/edges. It really helped a lot with the sealing of the box itself. With the intake fans on and the exhaust fans off there is enough pressure to spin all 6 exhaust fans.
wheels on bottom of box as well as an under door rubber clear strip to seal the bottom of the door when closed:
Things i learned:
You definitely want to get something that will fit all your gear with extra room for chambers around all fans.
- Create as good of a seal as you can, you want to bring cold air in and move it through your servers with good separation from other chambers in your cabinet. More positive pressure/intake CFM and less cfm for exhaust.
--Wheels are a must, this thing is much easier to work on with locking wheels, harbor freight has pretty inexpensive wheels you can purchase with wheel locks.
----mlv mats aren't as great as people seem to claim, the sound proofing foam and sealant did the most for the sound in the box.
-----The corsair fan controller is much nicer and less buggy, i had to modify the nzxt controller so the micro usb port would fit a usb to micro usb cable just so the fans would show up in the CAM software. The corsair controller looks like it can control the fans based on hdd temp, gpu, cpu, or whatever temp probe you want including the 3 it comes with. Definitely buy the corsair controller if you are on the fence or looking for something to buy.
------- I'll probably end up adding an open server rack if i can find a good deal on one that fits. Right now for my 2 servers and 1 switch this box with 2 shelves should fit them just fine and work well enough.
Even without a rear exhaust chamber separating the holes in the back from the open air the sound is reduced by more than half from my preliminary tests as shown in the video.
I'm pretty happy with it so far and i haven't really spent a whole lot of money on it either. The sektion cabinet is cheap the most expensive items have been the fans and sound proofing foam.
14U Ikea closed server rack ...
But my closet is far too small to hold 2 of these sektion cabinets stuck together. So i opted for a single cabinet. i only measured one of my two servers and then after purchasing realized i needed to extend the front by 3 inches... It really didn't turn out as bad as i thought it would -- after staining it almost looks like it belongs on the sektion cabinet:
After getting it extended i cut out some exhaust holes (4.5" for 120mm fans) and added 6 enermax fans (very quiet fans even at full speed)
I realized afterward there was not enough space to do anything but mount them to the back. If the noise is still too much my plan is to add a 20" duct and dump the exhaust/rear fans/heat under my house into my crawl space (which has an access hatch in the closet the servers/box will be in) ive attached a video that kinda shows how well its quieted down already, i havent even added the sound foam to the walls yet.
Here is a pic of the bottom/intake that is essentially a chamber under the bottom shelf, there are 6 80mm fans that are hooked up to an nzxt grid+ (i wish i bought the corsair fan controller, sigh) they can go from 500rpm to 4500rpm and create enough airflow to pressurize the box, for others doing this -- you definitely want positive pressure in the box so more intake than exhuast CFM wise:
I used some green glue sealant around corners/edges. It really helped a lot with the sealing of the box itself. With the intake fans on and the exhaust fans off there is enough pressure to spin all 6 exhaust fans.
wheels on bottom of box as well as an under door rubber clear strip to seal the bottom of the door when closed:
Things i learned:
You definitely want to get something that will fit all your gear with extra room for chambers around all fans.
- Create as good of a seal as you can, you want to bring cold air in and move it through your servers with good separation from other chambers in your cabinet. More positive pressure/intake CFM and less cfm for exhaust.
--Wheels are a must, this thing is much easier to work on with locking wheels, harbor freight has pretty inexpensive wheels you can purchase with wheel locks.
----mlv mats aren't as great as people seem to claim, the sound proofing foam and sealant did the most for the sound in the box.
-----The corsair fan controller is much nicer and less buggy, i had to modify the nzxt controller so the micro usb port would fit a usb to micro usb cable just so the fans would show up in the CAM software. The corsair controller looks like it can control the fans based on hdd temp, gpu, cpu, or whatever temp probe you want including the 3 it comes with. Definitely buy the corsair controller if you are on the fence or looking for something to buy.
------- I'll probably end up adding an open server rack if i can find a good deal on one that fits. Right now for my 2 servers and 1 switch this box with 2 shelves should fit them just fine and work well enough.
Even without a rear exhaust chamber separating the holes in the back from the open air the sound is reduced by more than half from my preliminary tests as shown in the video.
I'm pretty happy with it so far and i haven't really spent a whole lot of money on it either. The sektion cabinet is cheap the most expensive items have been the fans and sound proofing foam.
Attachments
Last edited:
