HP ML350e Gen8 Fan Noise

[JackKCT]

The noise is gone - completely after I removed the StarTech USB 3.0 4 port PCIe card...

I just purchased 2x Lacie usb 3 and thunderbolt 4TB external hdd... it is such a waste to use them as usb 2.0.

I don't mind to spend some $ for a better(work) USB 3.0 PCIe card, but I don't want to keep trying... and the driver might mess up the server...

[Simon Read - S3BS]

I have the same noisy fan problem with an ML350e Gen8 box [470065-733] with an additional network interface card installed. When I remove the aforementioned card the fan noise goes back to acceptable (7-10%) but with it plugged in fans are running at 50%, and often ramp up and down. It also doesn't appear to matter which PCI-E slot the card is plugged into, but when it is removed the problem goes away.

It must be a firmware problem with this model. Hope HP fixes it soon as this box needs additional network adapters as it only has a dual port on the board, unlike it's big brother the P model which has 4.

The ML350 G6 was quiet as a mouse in comparison.

[ocarman]

Just chiming in to say that I'm having the same problem with an ML350e Gen8 running Ubuntu Server 12.04.

Fan speeds remain at or above 50% even when temperatures are well within normal and the server is idling. We intended to have this server sit near some employees' work areas, but it's much louder than anything in our server room.

Looking around online, it seems that HP servers in previous generations have had similar problems with fan speed and noise. And, just as people are reporting for this model, people who were having issues with those older models found that the problem went away if they uninstalled PCIe cards. If this is truly the same issue, it would be extremely disappointing -- you would think that HP would be able to learn from past mistakes.

When I contacted HP, I got an intial response almost immediately that asked me to generate and send an AHS log file. I sent the log file along that same day, but it looks like my case hasn't been updated at all for a week. I'm starting to get pretty frustrated.

The irony is that we had bought this server specifically because the hardware was certified for Ubuntu, but this HP server has already caused us more aggrivation than our (uncertified) Dell and Lenovo servers ever have. Lesson learned, I guess.

[Oscar A. Perez]

Here is the deal. Option cards supported by HP, come with temperature sensors and other stuff that our BIOS can read and then determine the exact cooling the card requires during operation.

If you insert a third party card that isn't supported by HP, our BIOS would not have a way to know the thermal characteristics of the card so, the BIOS assumes worst case scenario and increases cooling to protect the system.

[Bart_Heungens]

And what if my server has no option cards installed at all? No cards, 1 CPU, 8GB of memry, high fans and noise...

[Oscar A. Perez]

In that case, there is an issue with that system that needs to be investigated.

[JackKCT]

Hi,

Please tell me if there is any USB 3.0 PCIe card that is supported by HP and work with server 2008 r2.

Thank you.

[Michael4000]

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@Oscar A. Perez wrote:

Here is the deal. Option cards supported by HP, come with temperature sensors and other stuff that our BIOS can read and then determine the exact cooling the card requires during operation.

If you insert a third party card that isn't supported by HP, our BIOS would not have a way to know the thermal characteristics of the card so, the BIOS assumes worst case scenario and increases cooling to protect the system.

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This is all well and good, until you realize that HP doesn't have many of the cards needed to run a server, such as USB 3.0 and eSATA (both should be built-in anyway in 2013).  I have been tracking down this issue on an ML350p Gen 8, and narrowed it down to the cards.  It didn't matter what slot I put them in.  The fan speed would be low for about 20 seconds, and then jump up and decay for about 5 seconds.  It was driving my customer nuts!

HP needs to add to the BIOS an override.  These two cards need almost no cooling.  I have a G6 server right next to it with an eSATA card, and there is no problem with overtemperature, and there is no cooling, temperature sensor.

Michael

[syg_t]

This is fine for those that are using cards, at least there's an explanation.  But mine is running at 30/40% speed constantly in an air conditioned room.  I've installed a 310e, and a DL160 in the last week as well as the 350e, all gen 8 servers and the others had no issue what so ever.

[JackKCT]

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@syg_t wrote:

This is fine for those that are using cards, at least there's an explanation.  But mine is running at 30/40% speed constantly in an air conditioned room.  I've installed a 310e, and a DL160 in the last week as well as the 350e, all gen 8 servers and the others had no issue what so ever.

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Glad that no other people in your office complain about the noise, is that in the server room?

If I knew this problem, I would rather get the DL series to save more room.

I also have the Gen6 ML, and DL  in the server room(another company), we are happy with that too. and the noise from the AC is much louder than any server.

I will just stop following this post because it has been a week and the HP rep. still hasn't come back and tell me if there is any USB 3.0 PCIe card that is certified by HP.