Gear (Server) Rack Noise Damping

[Rod Gervais]

Originally Posted by xaMdaM

Finances being what they are, purchasing a super quiet server rack is out of the question, so I gotta build my own.

The plan is to build the carcass out of 3/4" plywood, then line it with Hardiebacker to add mass and fireproofing, then line the intake and exhaust duct work, within the carcass, with either 1" OC703 or duct liner.

The ventilation channels in the carcass are cold air intake at the bottom with hot air exhaust at the top, with whisper fans at the top pulling air through the box. There will be replaceable air filters at the intake and exhaust ports.

I'm kinda' concerned about whether to fabric wrap the 703 or forgo the fabric wrap and go with duct liner for IFR and particulate reasons.

Thoughts?

Max,

send me a drawing of what you want to do so I can take a look at it......

Rod

[xaMdaM]

Rod,

PM Sent!

[Rod Gervais]

Max,

Already replied...........

[xaMdaM]

Thanx!!!

So... the 703 should be fine, then??

[Rod Gervais]

dayam - forgot about that question - nope - I would want a polymer lined board for that - I can imagine it could play hell with your server pulling glass fibers through it's guts......

Nothing I would want to consider - never mind pulling them out of the box and sending them into the air.......

I stopped using exposed fiberglass in any air systems in 1992 - nothing has changed in that regard........

Rod

[xaMdaM]

OK... the search for a reasonably priced polymer lined board begins....

Thanx!

[DanDan]

Basotect or Caruso Isobond or Polyester Acoustic Panel | Acoustic Panels | Absorption Material | Acoustic Foam | T-Max

Bigger slow moving fans make a lot less noise than small ones doing the same amount of airflow. It's not just a direct proportion, the ratio can be to the power of 4 or even 6.

Quietening at source should help a lot. There are much quieter computer fans available from Noctua and Silenx etc.

DD

[xaMdaM]

There's a few of those proprietary fans in the servers and the RAID spindle boxes... to exchanging at the source isn't really an option... rr.

But the fans I do have for exhaust are seriously quiet... it's really a matter of sending the air through two plenums to get the noise down enough to make em' bareable.

I may have to compromize on the polymer liner and use a thinner product... which my HVAC contractor has in stock, thankfully... but it's only 1/2" thick.

I found a possible candidate material @ Lowe's... it's blue air filter material, which appears to be a polymer sheet, from what I can find out... it's 1" thick material that, if nothing else, will be the intake filter material.

[xaMdaM]

OOOOF!

The rack is about 90% done... and all the server gear is in it, up and running.

All that's left is to build the doors and attach em'.

My buddy, who's a fellow IT/Systems Admin (but several magnitude's better that I ever was), understood what I was attempting to do, but was somewhat skeptical of the effectiveness of the project.

Once we got everything in and running, we took the doors off an older road rack I had laying around and just held them in place... he was amazed at how quiet everything got!

There is a bit of coupled/transmission noise that resonates through the cabinet, but it's primarily the noise from the drives. I'm just hoping that it's low enough that I can consider it a resolved issue... but I won't be able to fully determine that until the doors are on.

Pix coming a bit later today...

[Rod Gervais]

Max,

is there enough room in the box for you to effectively decouple the computer from the frame?

Rod

[xaMdaM]

Originally Posted by Rod Gervais

Max,

is there enough room in the box for you to effectively decouple the computer from the frame?

Rod

Rod,

I used shelf type rails to rest the gear on, so as not to screw the gear itself to the rails... minimizing physical contact with the carcass. I guess I should get some EPDM pucks/strips to rest on the rails, and rest the gear on the EPDM pucks... and achieve more isolation that way. Whatchu' think?

[Rod Gervais]

Sounds good to me buddy............

[xaMdaM]

[mhch]

Thanks for the pics

Would it be possible to see the drawings (sketchup preferably) ?

[Rod Gervais]

Very nice Max.........

Rod

[xaMdaM]

Thanx Rod!

I placed some 1/2" wide (x2) EPDM gasketing on the rail beds, that I had left over from the studio build.

BINGO!

The cabinet resonance is all but gone with the units powered up!!!

Friday, I plan to move the network switch into the cabinet and do up a "permanent" wiring harness... then maybe I can call this project done.

I'm just hoping I can then take down the fabric wrapped 703 in the gear racks that lead to the control room and have enough air return to avoid having to get a smallish portable aircon unit.

(Keeping my fingers crossed!)

[Rod Gervais]

Congrats Max - you did a great job with this........

Rod

[gullfo]

Max - you don't do custom "70's love vans" do you?

congrats - looks good!

[xaMdaM]

Originally Posted by gullfo

Max - you don't do custom "70's love vans" do you?

congrats - looks good!

I will for a price!



Well crud... I'm probably gonna hafta' add the exhaust fans after all.

I'm tied up on another coupla' projects, but I'll detail the "upgrade" to the cabinet and get some pix up as soon as I can get to it....

[Syncamorea]

That is a great looking rack box!

I've built similar iso boxes - although not as massive as your beast - and just made a "S" shaped channel/duct at the top with an 800 rpm 25cm fan in the bottom leg of the S. I used a material something like you have to fill that duct and it was super quiet.