DL380 G4 fan noise

[William Walsh_2]

we just got one of these. it is a fantastic product but the fan noise is unacceptably loud with 5 fans even in a closed cabinet. the problem is not the air sound but the whine of the fans. we did not install an os but ran smart start and checked the fan speed which was reported to be normal.

can you tell me if installing an os and the drivers would reduce the fan noise according to the temperature. is normal speed the lowest setting for the fans. thanks

[Rob Leadbeater]

Hi,

I'm not sure on the DL380 G4, but our BL20pG2's sound similar.

Without the OS running, the fan speed is considerably higher than when it is.

I'm not sure how many fan speeds there are, but I do recall sitting in the computer room when things were a bit on the warm side and could here the fans gradually step up in speed.

Cheers,
Rob

[John Dongworth]

Once you have an OS installed and the System Health Drivers installed, the fan speed will step down considerably and so will the noise.

All Proliants do this, you want to hear a DL360!!!! They whine at a very high pitch until drivers are installed. :)

[Colin_29]

John is right, there was a load of activity on the forum about DL360 G3s. You may want to check the following link: http://forums1.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?threadId=59952

You will see that the fans are considerably louder that the older and larger diameter ones ("you canae change the laws of physics" as Scotty once said). I think that they will slow in speed but you may still find them loud.

[William Walsh_2]

Thanks for your replies which are greatly appreciated, we are considering exchanging for a ML350 if we cannot find a solution in the next few days after installing the os.

[William Walsh_2]

many thanks for your replies, we installed the os via smart start today which made the installation a breeze. however there does not appear to be a reduction in fan noise after installing all the hp software. can you please advise what app/agent is controlling the fans.

would also appreciate advice as to whether the ML350 g4 is considerably quieter (considering the larger fans) than the DL380 g4 or there is not too much difference.

[Colin_29]

I believe that it is CPQHEALTH that controlls the fan speed.

With regard to the noise. No matter what server you put in, it will need to remove the heat from within the case. Fan design dictates that the smaller the diameter then the faster the speed and therefore mode motor noise.

[John Dongworth]

ML350s are noisier than a 380 until the health driver is installed, when you first switch them on they sound like a Dyson vacuum cleaner, ie very loud!!!

They are resonably quiet in normal operation though, although the fans do speed up if the box is under heavey load (due to more heat output). 350 would deffinitly be the better choice if the server was to be in contact with people (ie you want it by your desk).

[HGN]

Hi

This problem is related to the CPQHEALTH once this is installed on the system it should take care of the fan noise issue. The fan noise seem to increase when there is no proper ventillation and the server generates a lot of heat. There are also many threads for this issue in this forum you can take a look at them also.

Rgds

HGN

[William Walsh_2]

we have decided to keep the unit but i do not see an agent cpqhealth installed by the smart start utility. the management utility for environment communicates with the fans and reports the temps and which fans are active and whether their speed is normal. Are you sure that the G4 series includes the cpqhealth agent.