Xserve blowers / hacks

[5300cs]

Would running an Xserve without the blowers be possible? I know they're there to reduce heat, but if it's run as a desktop, couldn't it run on just one or the fan in the rear?

If that's not possible, does anyone know any software hacks to shut them off, get them to slow down, or know anywhere to get different, quieter blowers? The ones in mine are really noisy and vibrate.

 

[edesignuk]

I wouldn't touch them if I were you, they are not there for fun, they are there for a very good reason

Leave well alone IMO...

edit: oh yeah, and if it died, you'd probably have voided the warrenty by having removed/dissabled the colling system in any way.

 

[5300cs]

Yeah I know, I haven't touched them at all. I'm just trying to get the damn thing to run quietly.

I was in a Mac store a few weeks ago and one of the new slot-loading ones was sitting there purring along and it's gotten me obsessed into quieting mine

 

[5300cs]

I went back to the same Mac store yesterday, and their Xserve was still on display, purring away happily on a display table.

There was a rep from Apple there and I was talking to him about how loud my Xserve was. He showed me Server Monitor on the display machine (a single 1.33ghz G4) and the blower RPMs were around 2,000 something. On my machine right now, serving nothing, the blower RPMs are at 4963RPMs (the PCI slot blowers are at 3750RPMs.) The internal ambient temp is 84F/29C.

Is it strange, or is it just me? There's got to be a way to slow them down while not damaging anything. I cannot see any reason for them to be running full speed when nothing is going on inside...

 

[Dreadnought]

I don't know anything about Xserves, but it sounds like the fans of an xserve will speed up if there is more heat or activity from the processor and any other thing in there that is producing heat. Does it have multiple drives in there, or just one? The Xserve in the Applestore, is it processing anything? And what is the difference with yours, the one in the store is probably free and has lots of breating room, and yours is probably built in, isn't it?

 

[peterjhill]

I would consider moving either yourself or the XServe to a new location. There is little reason to be in the same room with them. Ideally they would be an a room for servers and networking equipment. The room would be climate controlled. The equipment would be properly mounted. There would be conditioned power. The thing would not be plugged into a wall outlet. It would either be on its own UPS or the entire room would be on Power Distribution Units.

XServe's are pretty, but it makes no sense even considering messing with the blowers. Apple has excellent designers.

So, think about moving you or it.

 

[Calliander]

Do you have one of the tray-load Xserves? The original models were very loud. Our Xserve here at work is noisy, but the cabinet we've got it in lowers the noise a bit. Whatever you do, don't run that thing with the fans out unless it's in an icebox.

 

[5300cs]

Originally posted by Calliander
Do you have one of the tray-load Xserves?

Yes, that's the model I have. It's the original, 1Ghz model. I had it running last night, doing nothing, and Server Monitor gave me the readouts I posted previously. I wasn't even serving anything

When I first got it, I just had it out in the open and it was so loud I couldn't hear people next to me talking. I tossed it into an A/V cabinet thing with a whole lot of cushions and things to kill the noise level. It helped in terms of noise (a little) but the operating temps have always been the same- inside the cabinet or outside.

The store display model had a plexiglass cover on top to show the insides, and it was sitting idly for people just to look at (with a bunch of signs saying "Do Not Touch".) The store model was the slot-loading 1.33Ghz model.

Is there such a difference between the two models???

And I agree about the design being spectacular -- that's why I bought it (while completely disregarding where I'd put it, how I'd use it & what my wife thought about it.)

-- and I only paid $1000 for it used, so don't jump on my thinking I paid full price. I'm not that impulsive --