Noise Level of the MD-1200?

[topher5]

 

I've been looking for a good RAID solution for my home media for a while now and the MD-1200 boxes are looking good.  Since this is going to sit in the back corner of my basement next to my rack I was wondering what type of noise level are we talking with these models?  I'm willing to accept a certain level of fan noise but the sheer number of fans is a bit of a concern for me. 

 

What's everyone's experiences with the noise level of their systems?  Is it loud enough that you wouldn't put it in a common area (albeit one that is only really used for gaming and movies)?

 

 

[Billped]

Keep in mind that there is often an inverse relationship between the number of fans and the noise level since having more fans (in the proper locations) means they each can be run at a lower speed.  You can also spring for quieter fans.  Check out www.silentpcreview.com and other sites.

 

I have four 120mm fans running at their lowest stock speed (in addition to my PSU and CPU fans).  The system is by no means silent (I kept the stock Antec fans which are just "OK"), but the noise is fine.  In fact, I think it is my CPU fan that I am hearing.  I also have a cheap NDAS backup drive about the same distance away which is doing a backup right now.  The seek noise of the backup drive is twice as loud (and ten times as annoying) as the subtle hum of the unraid box's sound.

 

I have an Antec P180 case.

 

 

Bill

 

 

[topher5]

 

Thanks for the response!  I realize that there are a lot of mods I can do to help quiet down the system, I was asking more about the stock version offered on the website.  I'm kind of past wanting to do lots of mods myself if I can help it. 

 

I'm weighing building a server myself versus buying the MD-1200.  Obviously it would be cheaper to build it myself but I'm willing to pay a little more to save some time.  I'd rather not pay extra for the prebuilt system then have to spend time adding mods also.  I can accept a certain level of fan noise (ala my Dell 24 port Gig-Switch or standard desktop), what I'm trying to avoid is the jet engine (anyone who has worked with recent Dell PowerEdge servers knows what I mean). 

 

 

 

 

 

[Billped]

Although the prebuilt systems are still listed on the website, Tom has moved away from selling them.  Thus you'll need to "roll your own".

 

The big savings in $$ by rolling your own comes mostly from choosing less expensive parts than what is in the MD-1200.  I built mine for ~$630 (sans drives).  If I had chosen to mimic the exact same parts, I would have probably spent more like $1000.  If you want to go even less than what I did, you can *easily* save another $200.  For example, I went with a dual core CPU but coudl have gone with single core.  I also put in 1GB when 512MB was called for.  I used a good mobo and could haved $50+ there.  Lastly, I used a much better graphics card and case than was needed.  Many folks have full systems sitting around gathering dust they can leverage - remember that Linux needs far less than Windows, so an ancient Windows box may be plenty for Unraid.

 

 

Bill