J Dogg
Site Admin
Joined: 09 Mar 2003
Posts: 76
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 Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 12:52 am Post subject: Time to reveal my inner geek |
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My hard drive started to go bad last week. =( Fortunately, it was only my drive with my mp3s. Unfortunately, it was the drive with all my mp3s. Because of this, and because I've had bad experiences with bad drives in the past, I decided it was time to either do a mirror, or a RAID5.
Last year, when I was buying hardware for a new DDR Freak server, I accidentally bought five of the wrong type of hard drive (Quantum Atlas 10K II, SCSI, 73 GB). Nothing was wrong with them--they just wouldn't fit in our 1U box. They are 1.5" high instead of the regular hard drive height on PCs. I happened to have these lying around doing nothing, so I figured it would be a good idea to use three of them in a RAID5 in my new hard drive configuration. I bought an Adaptec 2100S SCSI RAID card and went to work.
After all the hard drives were mounted in my case, and everything was working, I noticed that not only were these drives very fast, but they were very hot, and very loud as well. In fact, they were so loud, they would keep my roommate from sleeping! Something about the hard drives resonating against the case and becoming this booming low pitched sound.
I went to look for reviews on quiet hard drives, and I found out that quiet SCSI hard drives that meet my specs are the Seagate Savvio...available for only $800 each! Ok, so I went to the forums at http://www.silentpcreview.com and asked them what I should to about my situation. After telling me I was crazy, they offered me a few suggestions. The following is my implementation. 8-)
I got a new Antec SLK3000B case, and mounted the hard drives by suspending them with bungee cord and cable clamps.
In between each hard drive are strips of cut out DDR Ignition Pad foam, to promote airflow between each drive, and to prevent the drives from hitting each other.
Rear view:
The result is a noise level about the same as what my computer used to be. I also ordered this AcoustiPack material which should arrive in a couple days. This will cover the insides of my case with acoustic dampening foam, and hopefully make things even quieter.
Yay for case mods! =p |
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