A Decent, Low-Cost 2U Server Chassis For $69

[Passso]

Actually less work. Because the air can't go away, it just ends up being a vortex. The blades will have less resistance, and hence are able to spin faster.
Just like a vacuum cleaner: block the intake, and the motor can run faster due to less friction.
Also you will get overheating due to no cooling.
The filters are not really a waste: they will never get clogged in a real datacenter, so should be removed there, but in a home made datacenter it actually helps not clogging your fans.
Filters should be cleaned everytime you hear the fans go up.
Otoh, if you use the right fans, they will not get clogged by dust.
You should also practice a regulair airdusting the inside of your servers. The quality of your air-conditioner/filter decides how often. In a datacenter that's about never.
In my room that's about every 2 years because I am lazy, and these servers are in production.

This is why Michael shows the Dyson on the picture, he already had the solution

[hoohoo]

Your farm is starting to look a lot better, Michael!

[Ardje]

more work from ventilators, which means much more noise.

Actually less work. Because the air can't go away, it just ends up being a vortex. The blades will have less resistance, and hence are able to spin faster.
Just like a vacuum cleaner: block the intake, and the motor can run faster due to less friction.
Also you will get overheating due to no cooling.
The filters are not really a waste: they will never get clogged in a real datacenter, so should be removed there, but in a home made datacenter it actually helps not clogging your fans.
Filters should be cleaned everytime you hear the fans go up.
Otoh, if you use the right fans, they will not get clogged by dust.
You should also practice a regulair airdusting the inside of your servers. The quality of your air-conditioner/filter decides how often. In a datacenter that's about never.
In my room that's about every 2 years because I am lazy, and these servers are in production.

Anyway: that's a very tiny/short servercase :-).

[cjcox]

Anybody want to start a Kickstarter.... ??

Anybody want to start a Kickstarter project to provide a decent label maker...

[chrisb]

Also, those punny air filters create more problems than the solve.

They're a joke.

[Brane215]

Also, those punny air filters create more problems than the solve.

They fill fast and then they act as a cork- they obstruct airflow. Also, even when clean, they usually introduce much more resistance to airflow, which demands more work from ventilators, which means much more noise.

[efikkan]

I would like something similar, but with a shorter depth.

[Michael]

That would be my idea too. At least it is possible to mitigate the cooling issue using that little hardware hack of reversing one of the fans. Maybe the middle of the 3 fans in the back could be flipped over.

@Michael could you try that?

If I run into any issues, would look into something like that, but with things panning out so far, no reason to unbolt them :P

[DeepDayze]

I agree the air circulation looks bad. I don't think the PSU is as big of a problem as the CPU fan, though. The PSU at least has a vent, but I can't see anything equivalent for the CPU.

I wonder if it would be worth switching one of the front fans to be an output rather than 3 inputs. 3 inputs into a closed space with almost no exhaust seems like a bad idea, at least having one output would be a start.

That would be my idea too. At least it is possible to mitigate the cooling issue using that little hardware hack of reversing one of the fans. Maybe the middle of the 3 fans in the back could be flipped over.

@Michael could you try that?

[Michael]

So far there's no issues except with potentially one system (but I think that's a motherboard issue). And with these systems running the same workloads in the same pattern daily in a temperature-controlled environment, things should be panning out fine.