Quiet server

[TheInx]

Hi

I am looking to buy a server to run Active directory on windows server 2008.
It doesn't need to be very powerful as it will only be managing 10 desktops.

Problem is the only place i can run it is in the office so noise is a huge factor.

Obviously a rack or blade server is out of the question unless i buy storage for it that drastically reduces the noise but i have never done this before, does anybody have any experience in this area?

Are their any servers that run quietly? Like similar to a PC or slightly nosier?

Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers

 

[MindoverMaster]

There are several ways to quiet a system. What type of server are you looking at? You wouldn't need anything powerful, I would think. What's your budget?

 

[snowsurfer]

Build one yourself instead of buying it. While budget is an important issue, you need to think about an appropriate case, an antec P280 could be a decent option (plenty of room inside, sandwiched panels designed for maximum sound isolation, rubber grommets for the hard drives to minimize vibration transfering onto the chassis), a fanless PSU (since you won't be running discreet graphics on this server) - Seasonic has some excellent models, and, being fanless, they are 100% quiet, and the integrated GPU on select Sandy Bridge CPUs will be more than enough. If you need plenty of storage you can go with an SSD (60Gb should be enough) for the system, and 5.4k rpm "green" drives like the ones from the WD green series. Since you won't be overclocking, you could go for a passive CPU cooler like this one. If you follow these suggestions, the only noise that the case will generate will come from the hard drives (slow ones like the ones suggested on rubber grommets and in that case should be very, very quiet) and the case itself (you choose how many fans you want to install).

 

[TheInx]

Thanks for your replies.

Yes i had considered building one myself, although i am in New Zealand so sourcing all these parts isn't as cheap as other countries.

Their are plenty of 2-3 year old decent rack servers going for peanuts over here at the moment and i would be keen to buy one of these and save myself a lot of hassle if i could find some sort of sound insulation for it, does something like that actually exist?

Also thanks for the rundown of parts i should be using - that will prove very helpful if i do end up building one.

 

[snowsurfer]

I believe something like this is what you're looking for. I have no idea regarding availability in NZ, I would suppose it is harder to get than the desktop components I listed above.

Please note that I have never purchased anything from this supplier and I can't vouch for them, but there are plenty who offer similar solutions. Look around, search for "fanless rack mount server", for example!

 

[TheInx]

I believe something like this is what you're looking for. I have no idea regarding availability in NZ, I would suppose it is harder to get than the desktop components I listed above.

Please note that I have never purchased anything from this supplier and I can't vouch for them, but there are plenty who offer similar solutions. Look around, search for "fanless rack mount server", for example!

Yes that is exactly what i need, cheers