Very Silent Tower Server for Office

[AndreH]

Hello,

can anyone recommend a very silent tower server system from HP (ML 11x)?

The system doesnt need much performance. It will host a small debian installation and Win SRV 2008 + Exchange 2010 (only one mailbox) on VMWare ESX. Main goal: very very silent.

The server will be located in a small office with no extra room for hardware.

I also could build a server by myself, but i prefer HP Hardware. If there is no silent server, a silent client hardware also would do the job, (because performance of a atom dual core would do it (but i need more than 4 gbyte ram, space for some harddrives and ESX compatibilty)).
Thank you very much

Andre

[Dennis Pillow]

I have a new ML110 G6 that is running SBS 2008 R2 with no problem at all. I have it on my desk and I have to look at it to see if it is running. As far as VMWare I don't know if it will work on this server. You can install only 8gb of memory and that may limit your use of VMWare.

You could go to the ML150G6 and get a better memory amount. It will also support Raid 0 and 1.

I hope this input helps.

Dennis

[Terry Hutchings]

The ML150 G6 is also pretty quiet and supports up to 48 GB of memory. If a 100 series server doesn't do the job for you, then you could always get a ML330 G6 or a ML350 G6. Each of these supports 192 GB of memory.

[AndreH]

Thank you very much.

So you would say, the ML 11x can be placed in a office and it is so silent, that the workers would not/hardly hear it?

[Michal Kapalka (mikap)]

hi,

in my opinion, any server should be placed in some dedicated room ( server room with limited physical access, air-conditioning / UPS system ).

Actually a saw in some companies the ML 1/3xx proliant series in the offices, and it was really silent, the noise is always depend on the server usage.

mikap

[AndreH]

At the moment there is extra room.

[wobbe]

If support is important then this might interest you:

http://h71028.www7.hp.com/enterprise/us/en/servers/4x-servers.html

Also, I'm not sure if vmware can regulate fan speed. If it can't then fans might spin at high speeds and create a lot of noice.

[Terry Hutchings]

In fact, I have an ML150 G6 sitting on my desk right next to me and even while not booted to the OS (in the Bios, for instance) it is very quiet. The fan noise should not rise or fall based on the OS which is installed on this server. I have an unsupported (by HP) operating system installed on this server and there is no dicernable fan noise. Obviously, the warmer it is in the desk area, the more likely you get additional fan noise.

I would agree with Michael regarding having servers in server rooms, or at least something dedicated for that use, but I understand that this is not always an option.

[AndreH]

Yes, i will change the offic in 5 months. but i would like to buy a good server now.

because of the server doesnt need performance (current system is running on a P4 2 Ghz HP Evo SFF), the fan speed could solve the noise problem for a while.