DL80 Gen9 Unnecessarily Loud Fans

[Andrew_Moore]

I've just received two DL80 Gen9 servers to install for a client. They will be installed in a small business that is operated out of the clients house. Due to this the machine needs to be at a noise level suitable for a living environment.

The fans are constantly at 50%-55% according to iLO which is way to loud and completely unnecessary in the environment the server is in. It is running the default configuration (788148-425) with no add-in PCIe cards or drives at the moment. It will be remaining in this configuration, the single 85W CPU hardly needs all that much airflow to keep it at acceptable temperatures. Even with the fans at 10% I am sure the cooling will be adequate. At idle the fans are currently at over 8000rpm.

How can I reduce the noise level? As it stands I cannot install this product as is it not fit for purpose.

So far all I have done is run the HP Service Pack for ProLiant (SPP) Version 2015.10.0 from a USB stick and let it run through the automatic mode. I read online that this may fix the issue but it hasn't. I've also tried reseating the fan connectors.

Many thanks!

For any HP employees I have a case open ( 652566505) but it's been nearly 2 days with no reply so I thought I'd create a thread.

[Jimmy Vance]

Have you installed an OS yet? Generally they quiet down once all the drivers get loaded.

[waaronb]

Simply put, if noise levels are a factor, a server chassis is NEVER the right option.  These are meant to be installed in a separate room, whether it's HP, Dell, SuperMicro, IBM, etc.

However, you might have some success by going into the BIOS settings and picking different cooling and performance options.  Setting a power cap would also help by limiting the CPU states to avoid periods of high power draw which would make the fans spin faster.

It will still be far noisier than any desktop system would be, but maybe it will be tolerable for your client.  When I'm setting up a new system on my desk, before putting into a server room, there is an initial "blow out" when the machine powers up, but then it will settle down into a low RPM state.  It only spins faster when the CPU is busier or if the ambient temperature is warmer.

By setting the cooling level you're basically telling it to allow the temps to run a little hotter.  Optimal or max cooling will spin the fans faster to keep temps down, but it's noisier.  I think "optimal cooling" is the default.  "max cooling" is only an option on gen8/gen9 boxes I think, but you wouldn't want that anyway.  It runs the fans faster and keeps the temps lower by a good amount, which is great if you're running CPU intensive workloads.

[waaronb]

I had a chance to look at my DL380 Gen9 today and refresh my memory on the cooling settings.

Same as the Gen8, there is "optimal cooling" (the default), "increased cooling" which will run the fans a little faster to keep the internal temps cooler, and then "max cooling" which runs the fans at 100% all the time.

So assuming your system is set to the default "optimal cooling" it will run the fans fast enough to keep the temps in a normal range.  But as you've noticed, even if they're running at 20-30% they can still be very loud.  There are a lot of them in there, and they're not designed to be quiet, they're designed to move a lot of air.

I think the only difference with the Gen8 and Gen9 boxes were the addition of the increased cooling?  Older G5/G6/G7 systems have "optimal cooling" and I don't remember if the only other option was the increased (I think) or the max cooling.

[AdrienC]

I totally agree that a server is not designed to be quiet. However, in the case of the DL80 Gen9, please see this answer. It means that if your server use UEFI and Dynamic Smart Array, then fan slow down after a while from ~55% to 16% in my room. If you set Legacy BIOS (and so disable Dynamic Smart Array), then fan speed is set to 55%, no matter what. This test was performed by booting into the embedded Smart Storage Administration tool.

What's the point to that? If I have an OS that is unable to manage the fakeraid B140i (i.e. everything except RedHat an SuSE), am I stuck to a noisy server for nothing?