SG-4860-1U Fan Noise Issue
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Hello everyone,
We've just purchased our first SG-4860-1U from pfsense and I'm very shocked on how loud this device is. It's almost as loud as Dell PowerEdge Server when running high load. I thought the loud noise/high speed was only going to last for initial 10 second burst or so but it does not tone down even after 15 minutes. It's running on default 2.2.4-RELEASE version.
Has anyone else experienced similar issue with this model? I understand it's a rack device but still, this thing is loud…..
We also have non-1U 4860 and thing is fanless so its super quiet.
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It's running on default 2.2.4-RELEASE version.
Why? Did you reinstalled it? Why it is not using the ADI image from the pfSense store?
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The rack system needed more cooling that the desktop because of the internal power supply in the 1U. The fan is not PWM controlled so it runs at constant speed.
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Thank you for the information regarding internal psu. I might need to re-think on deploying these units as they could be too loud for some of our client's office.
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I might need to re-think on deploying these units as they could be too loud for some of our client's office.
On the other hand if someone is buying a 19" 1U appliance for rack mount installation, mostly can be
expected that there is a cooled and extra server room where the rack is placed in.There are some closed office racks out that comes with an noise isolation that could be a choice for your clients.
Mostly they have 4 x 14 mm fans inside so that the rack will be cooled but the noise will be placed inside.
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On the other hand if someone is buying a 19" 1U appliance for rack mount installation, mostly can be
expected that there is a cooled and extra server room where the rack is placed in.You're assuming a 19" rack is the traditional floor model ~6' high and housed in a separate room.
Many smaller installations will use a wall mount rack to allow for structured cabling to remain reasonably well managed, but without the dedicated room for IT gear.
An office with some 10-15 desktops might not have a dedicated IT room, but could benefit from a small 24-32U rack to keep the gear and cabling in order.
I've seen many cases where this sort of setup is put in a small closet with louvered doors or no doors at all.The noise issue would certainly be a concern in that scenario.
As for just ordering the non-rack versions instead, a rackmount version of the router makes it easier to keep the cabling neat and organized IMHO.
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The http://store.pfsense.org/SG-4860-DUAL/ without the second unit might be a low noise option that is rack mountable. It still has the power supply external.
They would have to be special ordered.It might be possible to qualify a "premium" – quieter fan for the chassis, if there was enough interest. We'd have to stock a second set of fans and run a thermal qualification test. There might be a minimum order quantity requirement, depending on if there was enough interest.
The downside I see with this, is that the current 1U offering is designed for maximum thermal performance, most things that can be done to decrease the noise are going to decrease the maximum operating temperature.When you have a firewall mounted in a cabinet/rack in a closet, that has no air-conditioning it can get very warm. We've seen units in the field that are reporting 120F/48C, The "official" rating for the 4860-1U is 50C ambient temperature. It can probably safely run a fair bit more than that. The CPU is rated to safe operation up to its thermal shutdown point of 100C, but the CPU is always going to be warmer than the ambient, and the power supplies are not rated to 100C, so things get complicated quickly, designing a system.