Dell PE R210 iDRAC6 Firmware Upgrade - Fans still Noisy

Just wanted to say, with all respect, that YOU should be working for Dell!

I do not have any issues with the noise on these models only because I have a huge datacenter, all by itself, down in the basement of my building so noise is not an issue.

Having said that, when setting up these units I cannot tell you how many times people will come by to ask where the runway is for the plane that sounds like it's taking off!

Really seems like a no-brainer to me,

KBeau

> 2) Those of us (self included) who work in or with small businesses get our hopes up that ANY 1U server will be
> quiet, when the reality is that even just one 40mm fan would generate too much noise, and this server probably
> has 6 of them at minimum.  They are small and run at higher RPM, which leads to more vibration and higher pitch.
> Even running at the same speed as a larger fan (much less airflow) they would be louder.   Unless you build it
> yourself, which is not feasible or a good business decision for 99% of us, then 1U just won't be quiet.   It's sad,
> because if this server was quiet, I would buy about 10 of them in the next year just based on awesomeness.

I plan to buy 5 servers in the following months just for this place... But not if they're that loud.

About the R210 noise in general:

• The most annyoing thing is the frequency of the noise. I wouldn't complain about neutral white/pink/brown noise. The buzzing/whirring is annoying.
• The R210 let's it's fans run too fast. It's nowhere near overheating but yet the fans run at 7000+ RPM.
• There are quieter 40mm fans.
• Spec sheet, first page: "[...] which aids with airflow direction, helping to keep the server cool and reduce noise as much as possible". Yeah, right...

Hi Simon,

Thank you for your question regarding the R210 fan noise and the latest iDRAC6 firmware.  From my posts addressing  other questions regarding PowerEdge servers, you may have seen that I work for Dell as a PowerEdge Product Manager. 

For the R210, we engaged with with our design center to drive as much improvement as possible to improve the acoustical performance.  Given the 1U chassis, varying configurations, thermal and other envrionmental considerations that had to be accounted for, we made as much improvement in adjusting the fan speeds as we felt could be made safely.  Additional options that might be pursued to manage processor and other areas that might be driving the fan speed for your configuration can be found in the Dell Energy Smart Architecture (DESA) for 11G Rack and Tower Servers.  This White Paper can be found in the "Resources" section of the R210 home page.  The link is as follows:

http://www.dell.com/us/en/enterprise/servers/poweredge-r210/pd.aspx?refid=poweredge-r210&s=biz&cs=555

Again, thank your for question.

Regards,

John

Thank you for the interesting read. The document sheds a light on the various difficulties of developing a server platform. It was surprising to read to what extends Dell thinks about improving it's servers. However, even after reading the whole thing, I'm still no wiser as to how solve my problem. I already configured all the settings according to the doc.

I believe there are two main topics where we disagree with Dell's decisions:

1. How conservative the cooling can be
2. The importance of acoustics

I hope #2 will be accounted for with the upcoming server generation. #1 is where you could help us now. There are two possible solutions, both require a BIOS update:

1. Make the fan control parameters less overcautious (except for extremly high temperatures)
2. Let me chose the fan control parameters myself at my own risk

What can I do to make this happen?

Can you  wrote  link to  new version DRAC and bios  firmware for T310 for lowering   noise of fan ?

Now I use T310 with BIOS 1.3.6 .

This Problem was discussed on this thread before http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/servers/f/946/p/19316464/19634677.aspx#19634677 and Dell-Matt M told us that this task should be solved in a early July firmware update. I am also waiting for this since January but it looks like Dell is late or just does not care. I dont know, Dell-Matt M have you any news for us?

Have you got the answer? I have the similar question.

I wrote to severall Dell employees I could find around the web who're somehow related to the issue. DELL-John H was the only one to reply. You find his nice, but ultimately unhelpful reply above.

It'd be great if you yourself would write to some Dell people and ask the Dell Support too for a proper firmware fix.

In the end I got fed up waiting for Dell to change the firmware/bios and replaced the fan with a quiet fixed speed fan.  End of all troubles :)

It's gone from being the loudest thing in here to the quietest.

The HDD temps (all 4 bays filled) range from 28 to 36 deg.

The mother board temperature similarly.

Those are the numbers returned by SMART tools and iDRAC firmware respectively, however being a cautious sort I also took spot readings of varios parts of the motherboard including memory modules and processor heat sink (using a Fluke IR temperature monitor) and none of them went over 40, even when CPU was under heavy load, so I'm happy enough.

Even if something does go wrong (blocked vents, fan stopping etc...), there are two further precautions. Firstly even though the fan is fixed speed, it still has a RPM speed output so if it stops revolving  iDrac can tell, and iDRAC can be set to reboot or power down under those conditions). Secondly there is an over temperature alarm with the same facilities.

Anyway, I no longer worry about it and can get on with a nice peaceful working life.

Simon.

Sorry to reply to myself again...

I just read back the bit where I said '...hdd temps range from about 28 to 36...'  which is a bit ambiguous.

What I really should have said was that for any given ambient temperature and time of day, all 4 HDDs usually sit at no more than a couple of degrees different from each other and AS A WHOLE their temperature goes up and down between about 28 and 36, depending on the room ambient temperature.

As an aside, I think the air flow in the T310 is very good actually. In my old Optiplex on the other hand the HDDs don't seem to get anywhere near as much air so the CPU in the Optiplex stays cool but the HDDs go up to mid 40s some times...

 Sorry, I should have said, my T310 has been running with the fixed speed quiet fan now for about 6 months without problems.

Hi Simonicemans,

I'm interested by your solution but can you give me some specifications (Air volume, Noise level, Fan speed...) for the fan you have replaced the old with ?

Thanks for your help  !

Cranbs (bad english, I'm french !)

Hi Cranbs email me at <ADMIN NOTE:Email id removed per privacy policy>

I also have an R210 and curious on how you solved the issue. Would like to purchase the same fans you did. Could you help?

Hi Teddf1 - did you ever get a reply, as i have the same issue with the R210, and desperately need to resolve the deafening fan issue.

I used ebmPabst 412 fans (http://octopart.com/412-ebm-papst-2029) and SilenX iXtrema Pro IXP-13-14 fans (http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=22906). I also tried Noiseblocker NB-BlacksilentFan XM2, but they don't have enough oomph to push air through the server. That being said: The former two fans lack that power too, they barely manage to move a little bit of air through the server. But apparently it's enough for my use case. The servers run stable for years now under full load in a 30* celcius rack (read http://www.42u.com/cooling/data-center-temperature.htm).

The ebmPabst fans are noisier but have more power. I use an ebmPabst and two SilenX fans in each server.

Please not that you need proper equipment to connect those fans to the motherboard of the server. The fans don't have the right connector. Also, you'll lose speed monitoring and the servers'll think that you've got no fans. So you need to disable those warning in iDRAC.

Hope that helps,
Simon