X1400 Storage Server - P.O.S.

[Eric Hvinden]

We recently received a X1400 Storage Server for a client. At first, when first powering up the equipment, A High Pitched Fan stated up, before powering on the unit. In an office environment, this was very irritating. After swithcing the unit on, the unit sound like a Jet Engine taking off. We can hear secondary fans spooling down, but the high speed whine turned into a Super High Speed Whine Calling HP Support -they stated they never heard of this problem. The Whine was traced to a Power supply backplane, which consists of a Power Supply backplane, control module and two Fans, for Axial cooling of the Power Supplies. Dispatching HP Technicians on the client site to replace the P/S Backplane and main system board, did not relieve the whining. After the visit, the X1400 started rebooting after 15 minutes. Both Optimal and Increased Cooling did not help the reboots, even in a cool office.
From the Service Manager, HP Phone support, and the Service Tech's have never even Seen an X1400. This is the 8TB Model (4 x SATA-300 2TB Drives).
This has been a very disappointing experience. I cannot get anyone to fess up on knowing that this High-Speed FAN WHINE exists. It is as if no one has ever seen an X1400 Server.
They say that this may be a lemon, and a replacement will solve the issue. I am doubtful, but am considering talking my boss into a replacement.
We are an HP Reseller, and suggest HP workstations and Servers (DL-320, 360, 380s and Workstations). This was the worse experience on any servers we have used. I suggest someone give X1400's to Service personnel to see, so they can tell if they are defective, or normal operation.