'Acoustic' Rack Cabinets

[Moltuae]

IF tl;dr THEN CutTo :TheChase

Got a customer with a server rack cabinet in their main office and a director (who chooses to sit right next to it) with rather sensitive ears.

Presently there's just a few switches in the rack (that aren't particularly noisy), a silent router and a Cisco 2921 ISR, which does howl a bit, to be fair.

I've managed to cut the noise down dramatically from what it was by modifying the otherwise standard rack. I've replaced the roof fans with larger, quieter fans and put rubber draught-proofing strips around the door frames and side panels. In my opinion, and that of the other 3 directors and numerous office staff, the noise is almost unnoticeable now. However, Mr. Bionic-ears disagrees and feels it is still irritatingly loud.

Discussing it with the other directors, we have 3 options: Relocate the rack (which we're all reluctant to do for numerous reasons), make the rack even quieter, or relocate Mr. Bionic-ears' desk out onto the car park. After discussing the latter option with him, it seems we're now left with just two options.

Bearing in mind that we haven't even finished populating the rack yet, which will ultimately contain at least 2 servers (possibly even a 1U howler or two too), I need to find a way of reducing the noise much further. The existing rack isn't actually deep enough anyway to house some of the equipment we're planning to use (needs to be a 1000mm deep unit), so replacing the existing rack with a deeper 'acoustic' rack is looking like the best option at the moment.​

:TheChase

So, to get to the question, has anyone here had any experience with quiet/'acoustic' racks?
How well do they perform, and are there any you could recommend?

I'm presently considering these:
http://www.rackcabinets.co.uk/cabinets/acoustic-racks/acoustic-free-standing-racks.html
http://www.toughrack.co.uk/hushrack-server-cabinet-42u-freestanding-600-w-x-1000-d.html​

Thanks in advance

 

[AndyM]

APC NetShelter CX range. Fantastic sound reduction and build quality, but not cheap. Yes, I have seen and heard them in action.

http://www.apc.com/products/family/index.cfm?id=468

Andy

 

[Moltuae]

Brilliant. I'll look into those.

Thanks Andy

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

We mostly use APC Netshelters...love them.

BUT....notice most of them state some sort of moderate thermal uses. Rack mount servers are designed for cabinets, and designed for being sandwiched up top and bottom...thus only air flow from front to back. Due to that..they have high rpm fans in them. So they're noisy from need..,..if one cares about reliability and life expectancy.

I would not use a sound proofed cabinet if it had more than 2 servers in it...needs airflow. Sound proofed cabinets severely restrict airflow.

When a client has an investment of enough servers to warrant a cabinet, I strongly recommend a dedicated server room with separate HVAC...so that it can be kept at 65* F. Typically too cold for offices. My two main clients...I setup office in their server room, and have to put on another layer of closing when I'm there for a few hours.

 

[Moltuae]

Thanks Stonecat. Good points.

I've given them the APC Netshelters suggestion, but I'll be raising your points with them too. Ultimately it's their choice, given all the information and pros/cons.

I doubt very much they'll want to go to the expense of moving everything to a dedicated server room, although I have repeatedly recommended they at least partition the room the racks are presently in, which would probably be the next best option. They're not too keen on the idea, because they feel it will ruin the look of their nice new office, but they are considering it. Funny how little importance some customers put on IT .... until something goes wrong of course.

65F (about 18C in real money, by my calculations) is pretty cool. I don't think I'll be able to convince them to invest in a HVAC for the racks though, when they don't even have air con in the offices. To be fair though, this is the north of England; their office rarely gets above about 21C (70F). In fact, I've never seen a server area/room with its own HVAC (though I only do work for SMBs of less than 100 staff) and the majority of the cabinets I work on probably peak at around the 30C (86F) internally, when all the doors closed.

I'm wondering if one option might also be to use ducting to vent the APC Netshelter to outside via some fans and filters.

 

[AndyM]

I do have a contact at APC. May be worth giving him an email/ring tomorrow. His details are at work.

Andy

 

[Moltuae]

A contact would be great. Thanks Andy.