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IPMI fan curves that don't sound like jets

Dedicated Servers by wendy 24 replies 2K views
wendy

Member OP

#1

In my experience, Supermicro boards ship with fan curves designed for datacenters where nobody cares about noise. To be fair, theyre meant to keep things alive at 40C ambient, not sit under your desk.

Heres what worked on my X10SDV:

IPMI web interface, Configuration, Fan Mode. Switch from Optimal to Full, then immediately set custom thresholds. The BMC wont let you go below certain RPMs for "safety" but you can trick it by setting lower temp thresholds.

My Noctua NF-A4x20 PWM fans now idle at 2800 RPM instead of 5200. CPU temps went from 38C to 47C. Acceptable trade.

If anyone has Dell iDRAC or HP iLO equivalents, please share. To be fair, Windows Server runs fine on these boxes once you stop the jet engine impression.

Have you tried restarting it?
diegoracks

Member

#2
wendy said:
If anyone has Dell iDRAC or HP iLO equivalents

In iDRAC you make this in the Thermal Settings, or what? I tried but the minimum fan speed is still very high. Actually my PowerEdge is in my office and people is complaining about the noise. How much fans do you use, friend? I have 6 and all is loud.

marcus_qc

Member

#3

Hey folks! Gonna drop my HP fix here. iLO 4 Advanced license needed unfortunately.

  • Got to Remote Console, then hit Ctrl+A for the text interface
  • Navigate to System Configuration, then BIOS, then Advanced Options, then Thermal Configuration
  • Set "Increased Cooling" to DISABLED

Super stoked when I found this. My DL380 went from 78dB to like 52dB.

Admitting my mistake: I bricked iLO once by setting fan thresholds too low. Had to physically reseat the board. Be careful out there

42U and still growing
JO

Member

#4

My customers hear the server noise in video calls sometimes. I have a Supermicro too, from @marcus_qc. Will try this tonight. Does anyone know if cheaper PWM fans from Contabo work the same as Noctua? My budget is tight right now. 'Sara's Crafts'

cleardmitri

Moderator

Moderator

#5

Spreadsheet of compatible PWM fans now required. Post it or dont. Off-topic vendor debates will be removed.

No logs, no proof. I have logs.
OwnerSeeker

Member

Small Biz

#6

My nephew set this up for me and he used the "internet box" method where he just logged into something and changed numbers. I think he used IPMI but I dont know what that stands for. My Dell is much quieter now. Thank you everyone. I have 64GB of RAM which is also my storage I think? The Dell website says iLO but the box says iDRAC. Very confusing. Anyway thanks.

DU

Member

#7

52dB is still loud. My desktop hits 34dB under load

tarekcai

Member

spaces are for websites

#8

Which X10SDV, the 4C or 8C

wendy

Member OP

6 #9
tarekcai said:
Which X10SDV, the 4C or 8C

4C-TLN2F. Should have specified, sorry. 47C is with 22C ambient. Your 30C closet would push that to maybe 55C, still inside spec but I would not go lower than my thresholds.

Also re Dell: iDRAC 8 and 9 hide thermal settings differently. IDRAC 9 is under Configuration > System Settings > Cooling. The "Minimum Fan Speed" slider is a lie, it snaps back. You need the IPMI raw commands or racadm.

Have you tried restarting it?
DU

Member

#10
wendy said:
52dB is still loud. My desktop hits 34dB under load

This is a server thread. My R720 idles at 48dB after tweaks. 52dB is a win for rack hardware. Your desktop does not have redundant PSUs and a RAID controller cooking itself. Different category entirely.

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