Replacing 80mm server fans with quieter ones

[william444555]

I recently bought a server (Cisco UCS C210 M2 Server) to mess around with, something used and cheap to get a grasp for servers and what I can start doing with them. I got it super cheap and the parts sold individually would makeup for the overall cost.

 

It has been great so far, however the fans (Delta GFB0812DHU 8-Wire Fan) are extremely loud for my room and I want to replace them with quieter fans.

 

Before I get told off, I know the sever has been configured to have a certain airflow with a certain fan for everything to be optimal, and replacing fans could kill it. So on and so forth. 

I just want less noise, if that means less airflow, so be it.

 

Ideally I would replace them with some noctua fans, but is there any way of wiring them into an 8 pin redundant fan connector without causing any major issues? 

[Bombastinator]

21 minutes ago, william444555 said:

I recently bought a server (Cisco UCS C210 M2 Server) to mess around with, something used and cheap to get a grasp for servers and what I can start doing with them. I got it super cheap and the parts sold individually would makeup for the overall cost.

 

It has been great so far, however the fans (Delta GFB0812DHU 8-Wire Fan) are extremely loud for my room and I want to replace them with quieter fans.

 

Before I get told off, I know the sever has been configured to have a certain airflow with a certain fan for everything to be optimal, and replacing fans could kill it. So on and so forth. 

I just want less noise, if that means less airflow, so be it.

 

Ideally I would replace them with some noctua fans, but is there any way of wiring them into an 8 pin redundant fan connector without causing any major issues? 

Can you make the case larger somehow?  80mm is 2U iirc.  If you could increase the thickness to 4U larger fans could be used.   Putting x amount of air through a Y sized space  is just going to do that.  You need to change x or y.  Changing x would mean different coolers on various components.  Linus has done this with custom water in the past.  Changing y means a thicker case, but it’s less complex

[-iSynthesis]

There's some Noctua 80mm fans, they'll certainly have a ton less airflow as you said, but maybe it ends up working out when cranked... No clue honestly. 
You could try out how the temps are looking at low rpms to get an idea of how it'd work out beforehand...

[Radium_Angel]

31 minutes ago, william444555 said:

means less airflow, so be it.

Careful here, many servers run "intelligent" fans, calibrated for a specific airflow, and if it drops below that flow, or the RPMs change on the fans, the server will either fail to boot, or shut down (I know this ot be the case with Dell servers, and HP servers, can't vouch for yours, but it's worth looking into)

[Thanatopsis]

honestly other than going Noctua there is not much to be done.  as pointed out its as much a space the air has to flow through.  you can also check to make sure that there is an appropriate amount of vibration dampening for the fans but that's about it.

my experience is in a data center environment so we don't care about noise you just use earplugs or the like.  

[Electronics Wizardy]

Have you tried adding a reistor to the fans? Makes then spin a good amount sloer for running quieter.

[Windows7ge]

The connectors aren't standard so you'd be modding the fans to attach them to the board. Your cheapest/easiest option without major surgery would probably be modding the existing fans with resistors. The server is likely to scream at you that a fan has failed if you unplug them to shove a Noctua in there. Best to leave the stock ones and just make them quieter.

[william444555]

58 minutes ago, -iSynthesis said:

There's some Noctua 80mm fans, they'll certainly have a ton less airflow as you said, but maybe it ends up working out when cranked... No clue honestly.
You could try out how the temps are looking at low rpms to get an idea of how it'd work out beforehand...

They are about 3x less airflow. But also they are thinner, so I could stack them up for more static pressure

[Bombastinator]

1 hour ago, william444555 said:

They are about 3x less airflow. But also they are thinner, so I could stack them up for more static pressure

Doesn’t really work like that.

[william444555]

37 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

Doesn’t really work like that.

What does not work?

More fans stacked does mean more static pressure, not doubled, but increased, even if it is only slightly.

In turn increasing airflow, if there are obstructions in the way, yes not by much, but still a small amount

[Bombastinator]

20 minutes ago, william444555 said:

What does not work?

More fans stacked does mean more static pressure, not doubled, but increased, even if it is only slightly.

In turn increasing airflow, if there are obstructions in the way, yes not by much, but still a small amount

There are problems with interference patterns.  They resolve quickly but fans set next to each other have to be very carefully arranged to prevent it.  It’s part of turbine design and has cause major issues with at least one attempt at making a flying car and numerous attempts at multiple prop designs on aircraft.  It can be solved.  The bear prop plane is one example.  It’s not easy though.  Just slapping two fans next to each other is unlikely to work well.

 

UPDATE:  had a thought.  What if you replaced the current fans with something larger but mounted them in front of the case?  They make these impeller fans for drying floors that might have enough cfm.  They’re called carpet blowers.

Edited July 22, 2020 by Bombastinator

[william444555]

14 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

There are problems with interference patterns.  They resolve quickly but fans set next to each other have to be very carefully arranged to prevent it.  It’s part of turbine design and has cause major issues with at least one attempt at making a flying car and numerous attempts at multiple prop designs on aircraft.  It can be solved.  The bear prop plane is one example.  It’s not easy though.  Just slapping two fans next to each other is unlikely to work well.

 

UPDATE:  had a thought.  What if you replaced the current fans with something larger but mounted them in front of the case?  They make these impeller fans for drying floors that might have enough cfm.  They’re called carpet blowers.

Unfortunately the fans are the size of the case and I couldn't fit anything bigger into it. And the front of the case is full of drives.

Ideally I would also want the sever to sit ontop of a wardrobe being relatively quiet, so mods may not nessasarily work.

 

What I think I'm going to do is put some resistors inline with the fans, and maybe see about replacing fans when I have more knowledge of servers and intelligent redundant systems. Especially since this server has two power supplies

[Maticks]

reading up online setting the Power Policy to Low can lower the RPM of the fans after booting.

Someone said their fans were screaming till they reconnected the Console port on the front of the server on the ribbon cable.

 

Unknown PCI Express cards will send the CIMC to not know the thermal profile of the cards and set the fans to 100%.

apparently even non cisco branded SD Cards can cause 100% fan speed.

 

If all the power supplies aren't plugged in that can send the fans to 100% as well.

 

Dells have rewiring guides online to put quieter fans in the cases, i can't find anything for cisco servers, but its fine to run quieter fans.

Yes the servers are designed to run high airflow through them.. but provided you monitor the temps and work out what speed everything should run at you are fine.

These Servers are designed to run in 40C environments with 22000RPM fan's so they are build to meet many conditions you have a room temp house you just need to keep it running safely and cooled for your conditions.