
Ask HN: Can I buy a soundproof box to stick my server in? - breck
I've got a laptop working as a server running from my room but I turn it off at night because it's loud. Do they make boxes that I could stick the thing in that would muzzle the sound but still keep it at a good temperature?<p>Thanks!
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jsz0
Have you considered buying a silent computer? I think it would be cheaper than
an enclosure. Depends what type of power you need though. Mac Mini is good for
this or maybe ATOM if you can get by with it. An easy solution I've used
before is to stack a small wall of books in front of a loud device. Don't
fully enclose it just make a little wall between yourself and the laptop. It
may not erase the sound entirely but it will definitely smooth out the higher
frequencies.

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moe
Here's another reseller of such cabinets: <http://www.acoustiproducts.com>

But I second what jsz0 said, the pricing is normally prohibitive for personal
use. Their cheapest offering (the orion) starts at around 650 USD - and that
generally seems to be about the starting range for these things.

That money is better spent on a Mac Mini, or if you need more extensibility
from your server then have a look at your local "silent pc dealer" - various
levels of noise reduction can be had, from dampened cases to completely
passively cooled systems.

Personally I can recommend the stupendously awesome products from
<http://www.hfx.at/>. Reasonably priced, absolutely stellar build quality -
and no fans (heatpipes for everything).

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patio11
I think "my laptop is noisy" is the symptom, not the problem. The problem is
that you have a server in your bedroom. You can address your problem by
renting a cheap VPS or low-end dedicated server. You'll never hear it or worry
about temperature again, you'll have increased reliability, and you'll spend
less of your valuable time keeping the server alive when you could be doing
more important things.

~~~
breck
Sorry I should have added more info. I have many cloud servers, this one is
for a personal project that is running on Windows, and I have never worked
with a hosted Windows server before and am not sure if I want to. So for now,
I'm just running it from home.

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Scott_MacGregor
It's a laptop, try using one of those little $100 fridges from Home Depot. Try
putting it in there. That might work for you, plus you can keep something cold
to drink close at hand too.

~~~
revicon
really interesting idea actually. Would there be a problem with moisture
inside a fridge?

~~~
jws
Even if you do, you won't have a problem in the computer. It will be warmer
than the refrigerator so any dew activity will be elsewhere.

Getting the power cord in will require some creativity.

And frankly, I have no idea if a small refrigerator can keep up with the heat
output of a small computer. It would be an interesting duel.

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rms
<http://acapella.harmony-central.com/showthread.php?t=1578901>

~~~
netcan
Here's the schematics: <http://nearworlds.org/stuff/soundproof_box.jpg>

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netcan
Put it in someone else's room.

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WalterBright
I put mine in the closet, and run long video/keyboard wires to my desk. Works
fine.

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staunch
Maybe your fans are old and you could clean them/lube them/replace them? Maybe
you could disable the fans safely (might reduce lifetime or something, but
maybe not kill it) if you watch temp.

~~~
Scott_MacGregor
Do not ever disable the fans! It’s probably not a hardware problem with the
fans. If it has a server OS running on it the bios on the laptop is probably
not server friendly. Plus if the OEM had some kind of temp sensing application
on the laptop to spin the fans up and down as needed the server install might
have wiped it out. Net result the fans run wide open all the time making the
laptop seem noisy.

~~~
jrockway
What differences in CPU power management do you think there are between a
server OS and a desktop OS? (Operators of server farms try even harder than
laptop users to save power. Hot servers sucking down a lot of power require
very expensive infrastructure. Reducing power consumption and heat production
makes the infrastructure cheaper.)

~~~
Scott_MacGregor
It is not a power management issue, but servers are optimized to run certain
_server_ operating systems. Laptops lack this _server OS_ optimization. For
instance our Dell PowerEdge 1850 has different fan drivers depending on if we
load it with RHEL5 vs WinServer 2008. The drivers control the fan speed and
are OS specific and work with the _server_ bios. If we loaded XP Pro or Ubuntu
as an OS the box would probably light up and function but would lack the fan
speed control (and some other management features), plus the Bios is not
optimized for a non-server (non-supported) OS meaning possible loss of USB
functionality (This is the voice of experience).

~~~
jrockway
Fan speeds are often a software-controlled feature. There's a daemon running
in the background that gets temperature inputs, and sets the fan speed output
as a result. If this daemon (not "the OS") doesn't step in and do something,
many mainboards will just turn all the fans to "high" just to be safe.

The is not an OS issue, but rather a userspace configuration issue. Install
your favorite Netbook OS, install the userspace fan-control daemon, and enjoy
quiet fans from your server. It has nothing to do with the OS.

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chipsy
<http://www.silentpcreview.com>

My reference for silencing computers. The guys there take their noise VERY
seriously. I was among them at one time :)

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rdj
Would it be cheaper to buy noise-canceling headphones?

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carl_
Search for 'kell systems' for a high-end option to address this need.

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dnsworks
This company used to appear a lot at LinuxWorld & Mac World touting rackmount
enclosures for acoustically sensitive areas like recording studios.

<http://www.xrackpro.com/>

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clistctrl
I had this same problem, except I didn't have a laptop making noise I had 5
Dell poweredge 2650's (yes i realize how outdated they are) plus 4 other home
brew servers. I rewired my network, and placed them in a closet. I'm at the
point now where the hum actually helps me sleep better.

on another note, the servers keep the closet a comfortable 70º on average (I
leave the door open during the day, so air circulates) which is the perfect
temperature while my homebrew is fermenting, I'd like to think I have a
wonderful nerd eco-system.

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codemechanic
Try one of those plug computers like <http://www.tonidoplug.com>. It runs
ubuntu though.

