[Info-vax] Pile of RX2660s

[fhsjvl at gmail.com]

On Sunday, December 22, 2013 11:24:19 PM UTC+1, MG wrote:
> On 22-dec-2013 21:43, David Turner wrote:
> 
> > We have hundreds of rx2660 servers available
> 
> > We can do brand new legal licenses to anywhere in the world thanks to
> 
> > our relationship with HP.
> 
> > If you need any rx2660 servers or options let me know
> 
> > I know i know, I am pedaling systems, but will not do it again for a
> 
> > while
> 
> 
> 
> How noisy are these?  Are they decent (i.e. on par with a DS10, DS15
> 
> or rx2600) or downright unbearable (i.e. on par with an rx2620)?
> 
> 
> 
>   - MG

The difference between the rack mount (RM) server and the office friendly server (OFS) is the fan assembly inside the system. Of course each system needs an other firmware bundle. As far as I know there is officially no "OFS conversion kit" for the HP Integrity rx2660 server.

When you order a RM server, you have to order the RM kit itself as a separate item (includes also a cable management arm).

When you order an OFS, the pedestal kit is included in the order already. However you can order the pedestal kit separately when you want to install a RM server as pedestal form factor.

The specs say that the noise level of a RM server is 70dBA. Our measurements confirm this. The specs continue to say that the noise level of the OFS is less than 60dBA. Our measurements show that the noise level of the OFS is at a litte bit more than 50dBA at normal room temperature. When the room temperature rises to a rather high value, the fans speed up and the noise level reaches 60dBA.

My personal opinion is that 60dBA is acceptable but some colleagues of mine say 60dBA is too loud to be considered "office friendly".

It should be noted that the HP Integrity rx2800 i2 and rx2800 i4 servers (on both of which I am running VMS) behave roughly the same way, though the temperature threshold that makes the fans rise the noise level from 50dbA to 60dbA is lower than with the rx2660 server.

One should not forget that if you want to use an rx2800 i2/i4 OFS you are limited on the CPU/memory/PCI-Express configuration. It should also be noted that for the rx2800 i2/i4 servers there is no difference between the hardware of the RM server and the OFS. The firmware however is different.

When the cover of an rx2660 or rx2800 i2/i4 server is removed while the system is running, the fans go into "blow out" mode and the noise level exceeds 80dbA, which is quite inpressive.