My unraid journey, i finally settled... Sound proofed rack was the way to go!


je82

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I started my unraid journey in october 2019 trying out some stuff before i decided to take the plunge and buy 2 licences (one for backups and one for my daily use).

 

I am working with IT and knowing how much noise rack equipment makes at work i had no plans what so ever to go that route. My first attempt at an unraid build was using a large nanoxia high tower case where i could at max get 23 3.5mm drives into, but once i reached around 15 drives the tempratures started to become a problem. Also what i didn't see was how incredible hot the HBA controllers become.

 

I decided to buy a 24bay 4u chassi to see what i could get away with just using the case and switching out the fan wall with noctua fans and such to reduce the noise levels. I got a 24bay case that supports regular ATX PSU because i know server chassis usually go for 2U psu's to have backups and they sound like jet engines so i wanted none of that.

 

Installing everything in the 24bay 4u chassi the noise levels were almost twice as high compared to the nanoxia high tower case even when i switched the fans out and used some nifty "low noise adapters".

 

Next up was the idea of having a 12U rack that is sound proofed, is it possible? How warm will stuff get? What can i find?

 

I ended up taking a chance and i bought a sound proofed 12u rack from a german company called "Lehmann", it wasn't cheap in any sense but it was definitely worth it! I couldn't possible be happier with my build.

 

From top to bottom:

10gps switch

AMD Threadripper WM host server

Intel Xeon Unraid server

Startech 19" rackmount kvm switch

APC UPS with Management Card

 

In total 12u of 12u used!

 

Temps: around 5c higher than room temprature, unraid disks average of 27c.

 

Noise level? around 23db, i can sleep in the same room as the rack!

 

noise-cancelled-server.thumb.jpg.27362b2b20acee0333f398057296d927.jpg

 

 

 

Edited by je82
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I bought an isobox studio 20u used on eBay about a year ago and love it for all my stuff. Recently replaced all the fans with Noctua NF-F12 iPPC 3000 and a different fan controller. I keep 1 server plus a workstation computer, jbod enclosure, and a monster 220v backup in it and run about 8-10f more than ambient. The low hum of the fans is glorious vs the whine of the electronics.

 

https://www.soundconstructionsupply.com/isobox-studio/

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I guess this is a link to the "Lehmann" server case.

https://www.lehmann-it.eu/en/19-inch-server-cabinets/19-inch-office-racks.html

 

Quick search gave this alternative (80% sound reduction)

http://www.msnoise.com/soundproof-it-rackmount-cabinets-4u-6u-12u-25u.html

 

I have no idea of the price.

Of course these must be really expensive, reducing sound considerably and be high quality (that's what it looks like at a glance).

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