I'm considering a fan controller for my new build and am interested to see what you guys have to say about them. I've never used them myself, but they seem like a good idea. I'm going to have 6 120mm fans in the front of my case (cooling 20 hard drives) and I was thinking a fan controller would be good so that I can keep them silent during normal use, or crank them up during a parity check if needed (during hot summer months).

 

Here is one I was looking at:

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/12285/bus-243/Lamptron_FC_Touch_-_30W_-_6_Channel_Aluminum_Rheobus_w_Touch_Screen_-_Black_FCT_HOT_ITEM.html?tl=g34c137s292&id=BazQ3FW7&mv_pc=1559#blank

 

It looks like a solid controller. I really like that it has the temperature probes. This means I could mount those probes relative to the hard drives they're cooling, and I can set a threshold so that if it's reached, the fan's go from silent to 100% without me having to make any adjustments. The touch interface looks a little wonky (as most do to me anyways), but I imagine once I set it I can forget it and never have to touch it again.

 

What do you guys think? Is the one I linked to a good one? Yay or Nay on the entire idea of a fan controller? I could always just get fixed speed fans and connect those directly to my PSU. But a fan controller that fits in my case and gives me variable speeds for things like parity checks is a nice plus.

Just to add... another option that I believe exists, would be to get a PWM fan controller that connects to the motherboard. This way the motherboard can control the fan speed, and the fan controller would essentially act like a single PWM to 6 port PWM multiplier.

That looks like a good fan controller. All of the negatives mentioned in the reviews should have no impact on you, unless LED lights, missing tape, and using screws to mount it are too troublesome

I like the idea of regulated fan speeds from both the noise and power.

 

I would not use a fan controller because it does not report fan failure. Instead I use the PWM fan headers of the motherboard and power the fans directly from the PSU. This limits you to the number of fan headers on your motherboard. You can use a PWM fanout, but then the fan failure is missing from one or more fans. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812119248

 

Dead fans happen too much for me, and if not addresses, dead drives follow.

That's a good point about the fan failing.

 

My MOBO (X9SCM-iif) supports 5 fans onboard. That covers my CPU, and the 4 fans in the rear of my case. I still have the 6 fans in the front of the case to worry about. Perhaps there's fan controllers that can notify on a failed fan? I assume they would be able to do that if they're not getting a response back from the PWM fan.

That is a SLICK controller => but it's priced to match its features 

 

Unless your system is in a location where the ambient temperature varies a fair amount, you don't really need an automatic mode controller.  I think those are far more useful in gaming systems or heavy duty graphics rendering systems, where the heat generation in the case varies a lot more than what you're likely to see with an UnRAID server.

 

But if you WANT a nice, automated controller, that would be hard to beat !!

 

Yea... that's a good point that it's overkill for an unRAID setup. Cool... but overkill.

 

I liked C3's mention of failed fans though. It would be nice to have some sort fo card or something I can connect my 6 case fans to to both power them, and to notify my if one fails. With the D8000 case you suggested though Gary, I'm not too worried about hard drives over heating if a fan fails. But it would be nice to be notified about it somehow so I don't happen to notice 2-3 years after it happens when I physically check .

That's why for 5in3, I recommend the SuperMicro CSE-M35T, it has fan failure alarm. With the 4224 I can get tach readings from all the fans on the x9scm fan headers.

It's not clear whether the Lamptron has a failed fan alarm or not;  but it does have a temperature alarm you can set for any desired temp ==> which would effectively serve the same purpose [if the fans fail and the temps don't rise, who cares??  ... but normally if the fans fail, the temperature will rise, so if you set a modest alarm temp you'll know pretty quickly]

 

 

Nope, a temperature alarm is far different than a fan failure alarm. When a temperature alarm goes off, something is hot, conditions are undesirable (or headed that way). A fan failure does not mean something is hot. With proper fans, the temperature should not be impacted by fan failure. Fans die, that should not put hardware at risk. Just like hard drives die, that should not put data at risk.

Nope, a temperature alarm is far different than a fan failure alarm. When a temperature alarm goes off, something is hot, conditions are undesirable (or headed that way). A fan failure does not mean something is hot. With proper fans, the temperature should not be impacted by fan failure. Fans die, that should not put hardware at risk. Just like hard drives die, that should not put data at risk.

 

Obviously they're different alarms ... but a temperature alarm doesn't have to be set at dangerous levels.    You could set the alarm temp at perhaps 40 or 42 -- well below any dangerous temperature levels for hard drives.

 

Avoid any reliability issues and just replace fans as they fail without heat cycling the gear. Why not just use a fan alarm and have no abnormal drive temperatures? Sure makes determining the reason for the overtemp easier. With tach readings from all the fans, proactive replacements are the way to go.

 

I'd be very concerned if I saw drives going 40 and my computer room is close to 30 for intake airflow.

 

 

I'd be very concerned if I saw drives going 40 and my computer room is close to 30 for intake airflow.

 

I wouldn't be concerned at all and neither would google

Me either => 40 is fine for any modern drive.  I DO keep mine cooler than that; but if I was setting a temp alarm at 40 or 42, I'd be completely confident that that was fine.

 

I'd get worried if my drives got "this high" specifically because right now they chugg along at 38c during a parity check.  That said, "this high" refers to 60c ... per the WD Green specs, http://www.wdc.com/wdproducts/library/SpecSheet/ENG/2879-701229.pdf, operating temp is 0-60c

 

 

I'd get worried if my drives got "this high" specifically because right now they chugg along at 38c during a parity check.  That said, "this high" refers to 60c ... per the WD Green specs, http://www.wdc.com/wdproducts/library/SpecSheet/ENG/2879-701229.pdf, operating temp is 0-60c

I ran 12 WD Green drives at 60+C on a parity check after a fan failure.  Have no idea how long they ran that way and they ran for several months after that at normal temps when I replaced the fan.  But they were showing smart errors so I've since replaced all of them with larger drives and switched to RED drives.  The reason I switched was that I had other problems with my original 21 greens that basically left me with only 5 working drives.  So I lost 12 due to over heat and 4 others just started throwing smart errors also.  Coupled with the endless loop of RMA'ing some non over heated drives to Newegg trying to get good drives put me off of greens - at least from Newegg - but in general too.

My experience with Greens has been much better, but I still only buy Reds these days.  I had a VERY high "infant mortality" with WD Greens -- probably 20-25% or so;  but once a new drive passed my very thorough testing regimen, they've all been VERY reliable.

 

But I've never had a single failure (knock on wood) with the WD Reds, with the same initial testing regimen that I put all drives through.

 

My experience with Greens has been much better, but I still only buy Reds these days.  I had a VERY high "infant mortality" with WD Greens -- probably 20-25% or so;  but once a new drive passed my very thorough testing regimen, they've all been VERY reliable.

 

But I've never had a single failure (knock on wood) with the WD Reds, with the same initial testing regimen that I put all drives through.

 

Did you have the high failure rate on Newegg drives? I used to buy everything from them... hard drives included. But after getting many DOA drives (green, black, enterprise), I stopped ordering hard drives from them. They were throwing them in a box with a little bit of paper packing material and the drives were flying around in the box since they weren't secured in any way. I think about 20-25% of the drives I got from Newegg were DOA.

 

I've since switched to getting drives from Amazon or ordering online and picking up locally at Frys (much cheaper that way) and for the past 5 or so years I've never had a DOA drive with that method.

Yes, a lot of the drives were from Newegg ==> but I stopped buying from them a couple years ago for the same reason you noted .. very poor packaging.

 

Amazon, Superbiiz, and others have MUCH better packing ... and FAR fewer DOA's

 

You following me Bob? 

 

Yeah I would not want to live near, no less above, that side of the ops limit. 

 

As for Greens specifically ... I just used those as one example of spec'ed ops temps.  Heck, *I* don't even have greens myself because of the poor reviewing them seemed to have right here a few years ago.  So I've ended up with 3 Hitachi's and a Seagate.

 

I'd be very concerned if I saw drives going 40 and my computer room is close to 30 for intake airflow.

 

I wouldn't be concerned at all and neither would google

 

I can not comment on google's concerns, but their published data indicates that drives older than 2 years fail less under 35 degrees, prior to that under 40 is better than over 40, with 47-48 being an inflection point for increased failures. However, it should be noted that google published average temperature, and we are discussing fan failure and temperature alarms. With a fan failure alarm, the recommended action is not like a temperature alarm, ie send email vs shutdown to avoid damage.

 

Yes, a lot of the drives were from Newegg ==> but I stopped buying from them a couple years ago for the same reason you noted .. very poor packaging.

 

Amazon, Superbiiz, and others have MUCH better packing ... and FAR fewer DOA's

 

Ditto

I'm surprised we all saw the same issue, but they didn't.

Yes, a lot of the drives were from Newegg ==> but I stopped buying from them a couple years ago for the same reason you noted .. very poor packaging.

 

Amazon, Superbiiz, and others have MUCH better packing ... and FAR fewer DOA's

 

Ditto

I'm surprised we all saw the same issue, but they didn't.

Just got my 2nd DOA on a 3TB WD Red - both have been from Newegg.  I think I'm going to wait for the Amazon match on the sales from now on and order from them.  The other two 3TB Red's I ordered from Newegg are preclearing now - hope they remain in good shape.  I have ordered from Superbiiz as well - just ordered a replacement for the bad 3TB Red from them - in case I get into an endless loop on RMA-ing with Newegg again - plus this will give me a spare.