[Need Server Help] HP ProLiant ML370 G6

[JonathanC]

EDIT: Forgot to mention. I have checked the temperatures using the iLO 2 web panel and everything was 40 C and below.

Hello everyone and thanks for stopping by. I will try to keep this post as short and straight to the point as I can, but no promises.

Recently I managed to obtain four server towers. In this batch was two HPs, an IBM, and a Dell. The IBM was the first one I obtained and used for a few months before getting the next three and deciding that the HP ProLiant was what I really wanted to use. The main reason I chose to go with it was because of the specs it had when I got it. (It was like a nerds wet dream)

To keep this simple, the server is amazing, but compared to all of the other servers. It is EXTREMELY LOUD. I can compare the sound to sitting directly beside a Boeing 747 during take off. This server is in my bedroom directly beside my desktop PC. So you can imagine that something that loud wont be easy to run 24/7 when you are trying to sleep.

Needless to say, I have tried a ton of different options before coming here. Like I said... I will try to keep this short, but there is a ton of information I have to include in this post. I will begin with some basic specifications...

HP ProLiant ML370 G6 (Not to be confused with ML350)
S/N: USE112N3A2
Product ID: 483880-B21
HP Bios P63 07/02/2013
Power Management Controller - 2.9

Operating System: Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter (64bit)
Processor: Two - Intel Xeon X5650 @ 2.67GHz (6x2 Cores, 12 cores total)
Hard Drive: 16 500GB Drives in Raid setup. 8 TB Total.
HP Smart Array P410i

I have updated both the HP Smary Array firmware and the iLO 2 (Integrated Lights Out) firmware. These were two of the options I saw online, neither resolved the issue, but did help the issue. The server can now go a while before it gets too loud.

The problem is linked to the fans in the server. There are 5 fans total and when idle, only running a Teamspeak server, the fans slowly increase in speed. The average time that I can leave the server running before it becomes unbearable is 3 - 4 hours. Someone mentioned that a setting in the new bios would fix it. The setting is labeled "Reduced Acoustics". This did nothing... However the reduced acoustics mode tells you that it will only work effectively if you have cards in slots 3 - 6 - 8. My current setup has slots 3 - 6 - 10. This is due to the Network card that is in the computer, it uses a special double PCIe slot. I have noticed that removing the network card and leaving the server running did work out. The server was very quiet.

Someone else mentioned that the network card gets very hot, causing the server to ramp up fan speeds to accommodate for the extra heat. They weren't wrong exactly... the network card was getting insanely hot. To solve this problem I put new thermal paste on the heat sink and attached a small fan to it. The fan is ran directly off a 12v lead from the power supply.

To get to the point here, nothing has solved the issue, only lowered it. If anyone has ideas please feel free to pitch, I am all ears. I can also provide pictures if requested.

 

[v12dock]

Does it use an exhaust fan to passively draw air over the heatsink like I have seen with other HP servers?

 

[JonathanC]

Does it use an exhaust fan to passively draw air over the heatsink like I have seen with other HP servers?

It has a fan cage that is just before half way in the case, then has a baffle that directs the air through the case to the exhaust fan on the lower back of the case. So in short.... yes.

That is if you mean the heatsinks on the CPUs.

 

[Solaris17]

Ill take the server off your hands no problem.

 

[JonathanC]

Ill take the server off your hands no problem.

I am sure a lot of people would take this server off my hands. ;P Especially because the processors are also hyper threaded making windows see it as 24 cores. Hahaha.

 

[JonathanC]

Does anyone else have any ideas? I am still battling this thing.

 

[PHaS3]

Have you looked at the hp forums? There are some threads on this issue.

This one seemed to have some answers.

http://h30499.www3.hp.com/t5/ProLia...G6-fan-noise/td-p/4416470/page/2#.VYutzShBvMI

 

[OneMoar]

Dude Have you ever worked on server-hardware before or been in a data-center .....
servers are loud they use industrial fans that are made to operate 24/7 365 they are not designated with noise as a concern at all ...
your only options are the swap the fans for quieter ones or buy a fan controller and rig it up gettostyle
THATS IT PERIOD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811992005
^has temperature probes

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

@Knoxx29 had similar issues recently which he was able to resolve. Hopefully he will drop in.
I know he is very busy at the moment.


Be patient.

Here is something to keep you amused (and informed) while you are waiting.

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/building-a-pc-for-crunching.209443/page-13

 

[blobster21]

Just as OneMoar said, noise level is not to be taken into account when running a server.

An additionnal word of warning : using a third party fan controller can result in the server refusing to go past the POST. Some servers (like those Dell T710 and R520 we're using at work) have advanced fan speed detection implemented in their bios, and refuse to start on invalid RPM / PWM /Power consumption scheme .

Those fans are designed to achieve a certain CFM flow and are here for a reason !

 

[GhostRyder]

Does anyone else have any ideas? I am still battling this thing.

Welcome to the DataCenter life

Yea the HP servers generally out here are a bit more loud than the Dell equivalent and IBM's. I have messed with plenty up here and they are quite loud as the fan speed stock is just very high for these devices. The only options are really rigging up your own cooling method on the server for reducing the fan speeds from what I have seen. Generally the system is all automated so there is really no way to slow the fans in the system down without a custom bios.

 

[OneMoar]

Just as OneMoar said, noise level is not to be taken into account when running a server.

An additionnal word of warning : using a third party fan controller can result in the server refusing to go past the POST. Some servers (like those Dell T710 and R520 we're using at work) have advanced fan speed detection implemented in their bios, and refuse to start on invalid RPM / PWM /Power consumption scheme .

Those fans are designed to achieve a certain CFM flow and are here for a reason !

I believe that fan controller has a header to plug into the board so it reports fan speed
e

 

[JonathanC]

Dude Have you ever worked on server-hardware before or been in a data-center .....
servers are loud they use industrial fans that are made to operate 24/7 365 they are not designated with noise as a concern at all ...
your only options are the swap the fans for quieter ones or buy a fan controller and rig it up gettostyle
THATS IT PERIOD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811992005
^has temperature probes

Until this year I have no worked with them very much. However, not all servers are meant to be part of a datacenter. They have to take in to account that small businesses are using the hardware too. No one is really mentioning much about how it isn't loud when the network card is removed.

Just as OneMoar said, noise level is not to be taken into account when running a server.

An additionnal word of warning : using a third party fan controller can result in the server refusing to go past the POST. Some servers (like those Dell T710 and R520 we're using at work) have advanced fan speed detection implemented in their bios, and refuse to start on invalid RPM / PWM /Power consumption scheme .

Those fans are designed to achieve a certain CFM flow and are here for a reason !

Yeah, I have seen stuff about fan controllers causing issues. It is why I haven't jumped that direction yet.

Welcome to the DataCenter life

Yea the HP servers generally out here are a bit more loud than the Dell equivalent and IBM's. I have messed with plenty up here and they are quite loud as the fan speed stock is just very high for these devices. The only options are really rigging up your own cooling method on the server for reducing the fan speeds from what I have seen. Generally the system is all automated so there is really no way to slow the fans in the system down without a custom bios.

This one specifically is nuts. I have read a few different articles and people seem to find a solution to it with firmware... maybe I am just missing an update that can help more. My IBM is whisper quiet compared to this. I only barely hear it over my desktop.

 

[MLAS]

Dude Have you ever worked on server-hardware before or been in a data-center .....
servers are loud they use industrial fans that are made to operate 24/7 365 they are not designated with noise as a concern at all ...
your only options are the swap the fans for quieter ones or buy a fan controller and rig it up gettostyle
THATS IT PERIOD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811992005
^has temperature probes

Not true in case of the HP Proliant ML370 G6!

Hi JonathanC

I just acquired a Proliant ML370 G6 and it's pretty quiet.
It's like yours located next the bedroom and my wife who's very picky about noises at night did not hear it at all.
I've had from HP:
ML350 G4 (extremely loud)
ML310 G4 (noisy)
ML310 G5 (loud)
ML350 G5 (noisy)

This ML370 G6 is the most silent one and should have no acoustical problems:
Specssheet says: 29 dB with one PSU and 32 dB with two PSU's.

So there's definitely some kind of misconfiguration or hardware problem that keeps the fans in a alert state.
I'll check my ILO tonight at what rotational speed my fans are running.

Greetings,

MLAS

 

[MLAS]

PS 2012 R2 is not an official supported OS platform for the ML370 G6 due to low demand of this model according to HP.

Greetings,

MLAS

 

[Bo$$]

put it into a Tower HP chassis.

maybe build a shroud to help channel air flow better

 

[newtekie1]

If removing the network card solved the problem, why not leave the super high end, likely way more power than you need, NIC out of the server and put in a standard 1Gbps single port PCI-E x1 NIC?

Put the standard NIC in slot 8 so the low acoustics mode works.

 

[AhokZYashA]

have you tried to change the thermal paste of the CPU
because ML servers isnt supposed to be that loud
or maybe a bad sensor that caused the fan to ramp up very loud

 

[MLAS]

My fans are all running at 18% at an ambient temp of 24 degrees Celcius.
These are the temp readings:
Temp 1: Ambient Zone Ok 24C Caution: 42C; Critical:46C
Temp 2: CPU 1 Ok 40C Caution: 82C; Critical:83C
Temp 3: CPU 2 n/a n/a Caution: 82C; Critical:83C
Temp 4: Memory Zone Ok 33C Caution: 87C; Critical:92C
Temp 5: Memory Zone n/a n/a Caution: 87C; Critical:92C
Temp 6: Memory Zone Ok 35C Caution: 87C; Critical:92C
Temp 7: Memory Zone Ok 34C Caution: 87C; Critical:92C
Temp 8: Memory Zone Ok 35C Caution: 87C; Critical:92C
Temp 9: Memory Zone Ok 42C Caution: 87C; Critical:92C
Temp 10: I/O Board Zone n/a n/a Caution: 75C; Critical:80C
Temp 11: I/O Board Zone Ok 39C Caution: 70C; Critical:75C
Temp 12: I/O Board Zone Ok 39C Caution: 70C; Critical:75C
Temp 13: I/O Board Zone Ok 40C Caution: 70C; Critical:75C
Temp 14: I/O Board Zone Ok 40C Caution: 70C; Critical:75C
Temp 15: I/O Board Zone Ok 39C Caution: 70C; Critical:75C
Temp 16: I/O Board Zone Ok 38C Caution: 70C; Critical:75C
Temp 17: I/O Board Zone Ok 39C Caution: 70C; Critical:75C
Temp 18: I/O Board Zone Ok 37C Caution: 70C; Critical:75C
Temp 19: I/O Board Zone Ok 37C Caution: 70C; Critical:75C
Temp 20: I/O Board Zone Ok 35C Caution: 70C; Critical:75C
Temp 21: CPU Zone Ok 38C Caution: 70C; Critical:75C
Temp 22: Power Supply Zone Ok 34C Caution: 63C; Critical:68C
Temp 23: I/O Board Zone Ok 57C Caution: 110C; Critical:115C
Temp 24: I/O Board Zone Ok 59C Caution: 110C; Critical:115C
Temp 25: System Zone Ok 35C Caution: 60C; Critical:65

And indeed I do not have installed any supplemental boards that coud impeed the airflow.
Latest BIOS etc...

Success!

 

[brandonwh64]

I believe that fan controller has a header to plug into the board so it reports fan speed
e

Yes it does report fan speed but if it falls below the threshold then it will not post. I have however tricked a server into booting with fans full blast then lowering it down once it got into windows. This was on a DL380

 

[JonathanC]

Not true in case of the HP Proliant ML370 G6!

Hi JonathanC

I just acquired a Proliant ML370 G6 and it's pretty quiet.
It's like yours located next the bedroom and my wife who's very picky about noises at night did not hear it at all.
I've had from HP:
ML350 G4 (extremely loud)
ML310 G4 (noisy)
ML310 G5 (loud)
ML350 G5 (noisy)

This ML370 G6 is the most silent one and should have no acoustical problems:
Specssheet says: 29 dB with one PSU and 32 dB with two PSU's.

So there's definitely some kind of misconfiguration or hardware problem that keeps the fans in a alert state.
I'll check my ILO tonight at what rotational speed my fans are running.

Greetings,

MLAS

Thank you so much for the reply. I have seen quite a lot of people claiming that this server is one of the most silent. I have a 2 PSU setup, however my second PSU is not connected (I ran out of available plugs... heheh) I am really confused as to what may be causing the problem.

PS 2012 R2 is not an official supported OS platform for the ML370 G6 due to low demand of this model according to HP.

Greetings,

MLAS

I am also aware of this. Thank you for giving me the heads up though... do you think maybe the unsupported OS could be responsible? I have seen few threads about the issue. However the ones I have seen were people who managed to get it working.

If removing the network card solved the problem, why not leave the super high end, likely way more power than you need, NIC out of the server and put in a standard 1Gbps single port PCI-E x1 NIC?

Put the standard NIC in slot 8 so the low acoustics mode works.

I have actually considered this. I wasn't sure if doing this would result in my desire. I have a standard NIC in my desktop... I will try this once I have a chance. Thanks for the input.

have you tried to change the thermal paste of the CPU
because ML servers isnt supposed to be that loud
or maybe a bad sensor that caused the fan to ramp up very loud

The possibility of a bad sensor wouldn't surprise me. Though, not entirely sure how I was diagnose this issue. Any pointers incase other recommendations don't pan out?

My fans are all running at 18% at an ambient temp of 24 degrees Celcius.
These are the temp readings:
Temp 1: Ambient Zone Ok 24C Caution: 42C; Critical:46C
Temp 2: CPU 1 Ok 40C Caution: 82C; Critical:83C
Temp 3: CPU 2 n/a n/a Caution: 82C; Critical:83C
Temp 4: Memory Zone Ok 33C Caution: 87C; Critical:92C
Temp 5: Memory Zone n/a n/a Caution: 87C; Critical:92C
Temp 6: Memory Zone Ok 35C Caution: 87C; Critical:92C
Temp 7: Memory Zone Ok 34C Caution: 87C; Critical:92C
Temp 8: Memory Zone Ok 35C Caution: 87C; Critical:92C
Temp 9: Memory Zone Ok 42C Caution: 87C; Critical:92C
Temp 10: I/O Board Zone n/a n/a Caution: 75C; Critical:80C
Temp 11: I/O Board Zone Ok 39C Caution: 70C; Critical:75C
Temp 12: I/O Board Zone Ok 39C Caution: 70C; Critical:75C
Temp 13: I/O Board Zone Ok 40C Caution: 70C; Critical:75C
Temp 14: I/O Board Zone Ok 40C Caution: 70C; Critical:75C
Temp 15: I/O Board Zone Ok 39C Caution: 70C; Critical:75C
Temp 16: I/O Board Zone Ok 38C Caution: 70C; Critical:75C
Temp 17: I/O Board Zone Ok 39C Caution: 70C; Critical:75C
Temp 18: I/O Board Zone Ok 37C Caution: 70C; Critical:75C
Temp 19: I/O Board Zone Ok 37C Caution: 70C; Critical:75C
Temp 20: I/O Board Zone Ok 35C Caution: 70C; Critical:75C
Temp 21: CPU Zone Ok 38C Caution: 70C; Critical:75C
Temp 22: Power Supply Zone Ok 34C Caution: 63C; Critical:68C
Temp 23: I/O Board Zone Ok 57C Caution: 110C; Critical:115C
Temp 24: I/O Board Zone Ok 59C Caution: 110C; Critical:115C
Temp 25: System Zone Ok 35C Caution: 60C; Critical:65

And indeed I do not have installed any supplemental boards that coud impeed the airflow.
Latest BIOS etc...

Success!

When you say supplemental boards what exactly do you mean? The cards? Sorry, not often I hear anything referred to this way.

Yes it does report fan speed but if it falls below the threshold then it will not post. I have however tricked a server into booting with fans full blast then lowering it down once it got into windows. This was on a DL380

Neat trick, may contact you with ideas about doing the same for this server if other options don't work.


Note: I want to apologize to anyone who was awaiting my reply. I have been away from home now for about 3 weeks doing tons of work. I will be headed back within the next couple of days. Stand by for replies and feel free to make more recommendations. All help is VERY much appreciated.

 

[joishw]

I realise this thread is more than three years old, but I too am facing this. I wanted to share my findings to hopefully help someone out there as I've had no luck. What I'm seeing is the server will either post fine, no loud fans, boot into Windows then ramp the fans up 5% at a time every 15 seconds or so, or POST fine, boot into Windows then randomly spike all fans to 80% and leave it there.

1. Updated BIOS to latest (June 2018)
2. Updated iLO to latest (2.33)
3. Removing ALL PCIe cards (including quad port NIC)
4. Setting cooling profile to optimal cooling, reduced acoustics etc (both with no PCIe cards and with PCIe cards)
5. Populating ports 3, 6 and 8 only with PCIe cards and having it in reduced acoustics
6. Disconnecting 1 SAS backplane from power and data when the RAID card is removed
7. Installing Windows drivers for the devices that reported with no driver (IPMI interface and Base System Device)
8. Single PSU in slot 1, slot 2, dual PSUs.
9. Removing 1 DIMM to have only slots A, D and G populated. (Had A, B D and G populated before)

I've resorted to purchasing an additional two fans to populate fan ports 1 and 3. I'm hoping the reduced acoustic mode will behave better with all fans populated and PCIe ports 3 6 and 8 populated only.

I've also purchased some I2C cables to go from the SAS backplanes to the motherboard. This is kind of a shot in the dark, not holding my breath for this one.

Also whilst writing this it's managed to boot with the following:

3x DIMMs
1 PROC
1 RAID card in port 6
1 quad port NIC in port 10
Cooling profile: Optimal cooling
3 fans, (Fan 2, 4 and 5)
Both backplanes connected
2 PSUs

Fans were as:

Fan 1: System Zone Not Installed n/a
Fan 2: System Zone Ok 18%
Fan 3: System Zone Not Installed n/a
Fan 4: System Zone Ok 43%
Fan 5: System Zone Ok 18%

Removing the quad port NIC made them go to the below with fans 2 and 5 increasing every so often.

Fan 1: System Zone Not Installed n/a
Fan 2: System Zone Ok 25%
Fan 3: System Zone Not Installed n/a
Fan 4: System Zone Ok 43%
Fan 5: System Zone Ok 25%

Rebooted the system and the fans have stayed like the below:

Fan 1: System Zone Not Installed n/a
Fan 2: System Zone Ok 18%
Fan 3: System Zone Not Installed n/a
Fan 4: System Zone Ok 43%
Fan 5: System Zone Ok 18%

Seems to me that on hardware removal and the next boot the system assumes something has failed and throws the fans up in small increments.

I shall test the same with the additional fans installed and in different modes, then with removing RAID cards but not without attaching the SAS connectors to something the other end, don't want to add the possibility of the server kicking the fans up because it suspects a RAID card has failed as it detects it is providing power to a SAS backplane but then not having a device the other end for data.

Long post, apologies. TL;DR

1. On reboots fans go nuts
2. Acoustic mode may not work without all fans populated
3. Fans remain the same in optimal cooing when quad port NIC connected too.

 

[joishw]

I realise this thread is more than three years old, but I too am facing this. I wanted to share my findings to hopefully help someone out there as I've had no luck. What I'm seeing is the server will either post fine, no loud fans, boot into Windows then ramp the fans up 5% at a time every 15 seconds or so, or POST fine, boot into Windows then randomly spike all fans to 80% and leave it there.

1. Updated BIOS to latest (June 2018)
2. Updated iLO to latest (2.33)
3. Removing ALL PCIe cards (including quad port NIC)
4. Setting cooling profile to optimal cooling, reduced acoustics etc (both with no PCIe cards and with PCIe cards)
5. Populating ports 3, 6 and 8 only with PCIe cards and having it in reduced acoustics
6. Disconnecting 1 SAS backplane from power and data when the RAID card is removed
7. Installing Windows drivers for the devices that reported with no driver (IPMI interface and Base System Device)
8. Single PSU in slot 1, slot 2, dual PSUs.
9. Removing 1 DIMM to have only slots A, D and G populated. (Had A, B D and G populated before)

I've resorted to purchasing an additional two fans to populate fan ports 1 and 3. I'm hoping the reduced acoustic mode will behave better with all fans populated and PCIe ports 3 6 and 8 populated only.

I've also purchased some I2C cables to go from the SAS backplanes to the motherboard. This is kind of a shot in the dark, not holding my breath for this one.

Also whilst writing this it's managed to boot with the following:

3x DIMMs
1 PROC
1 RAID card in port 6
1 quad port NIC in port 10
Cooling profile: Optimal cooling
3 fans, (Fan 2, 4 and 5)
Both backplanes connected
2 PSUs

Fans were as:

Fan 1: System Zone Not Installed n/a
Fan 2: System Zone Ok 18%
Fan 3: System Zone Not Installed n/a
Fan 4: System Zone Ok 43%
Fan 5: System Zone Ok 18%

Removing the quad port NIC made them go to the below with fans 2 and 5 increasing every so often.

Fan 1: System Zone Not Installed n/a
Fan 2: System Zone Ok 25%
Fan 3: System Zone Not Installed n/a
Fan 4: System Zone Ok 43%
Fan 5: System Zone Ok 25%

Rebooted the system and the fans have stayed like the below:

Fan 1: System Zone Not Installed n/a
Fan 2: System Zone Ok 18%
Fan 3: System Zone Not Installed n/a
Fan 4: System Zone Ok 43%
Fan 5: System Zone Ok 18%

Seems to me that on hardware removal and the next boot the system assumes something has failed and throws the fans up in small increments.

I shall test the same with the additional fans installed and in different modes, then with removing RAID cards but not without attaching the SAS connectors to something the other end, don't want to add the possibility of the server kicking the fans up because it suspects a RAID card has failed as it detects it is providing power to a SAS backplane but then not having a device the other end for data.

Long post, apologies. TL;DR

1. On reboots fans go nuts
2. Acoustic mode may not work without all fans populated
3. Fans remain the same in optimal cooing when quad port NIC connected too.

OK so additional fans did nothing.

My fans are all running at 18% at an ambient temp of 24 degrees Celcius.
These are the temp readings:
Temp 1: Ambient Zone Ok 24C Caution: 42C; Critical:46C
Temp 2: CPU 1 Ok 40C Caution: 82C; Critical:83C
Temp 3: CPU 2 n/a n/a Caution: 82C; Critical:83C
Temp 4: Memory Zone Ok 33C Caution: 87C; Critical:92C
Temp 5: Memory Zone n/a n/a Caution: 87C; Critical:92C
Temp 6: Memory Zone Ok 35C Caution: 87C; Critical:92C
Temp 7: Memory Zone Ok 34C Caution: 87C; Critical:92C
Temp 8: Memory Zone Ok 35C Caution: 87C; Critical:92C
Temp 9: Memory Zone Ok 42C Caution: 87C; Critical:92C
Temp 10: I/O Board Zone n/a n/a Caution: 75C; Critical:80C
Temp 11: I/O Board Zone Ok 39C Caution: 70C; Critical:75C
Temp 12: I/O Board Zone Ok 39C Caution: 70C; Critical:75C
Temp 13: I/O Board Zone Ok 40C Caution: 70C; Critical:75C
Temp 14: I/O Board Zone Ok 40C Caution: 70C; Critical:75C
Temp 15: I/O Board Zone Ok 39C Caution: 70C; Critical:75C
Temp 16: I/O Board Zone Ok 38C Caution: 70C; Critical:75C
Temp 17: I/O Board Zone Ok 39C Caution: 70C; Critical:75C
Temp 18: I/O Board Zone Ok 37C Caution: 70C; Critical:75C
Temp 19: I/O Board Zone Ok 37C Caution: 70C; Critical:75C
Temp 20: I/O Board Zone Ok 35C Caution: 70C; Critical:75C
Temp 21: CPU Zone Ok 38C Caution: 70C; Critical:75C
Temp 22: Power Supply Zone Ok 34C Caution: 63C; Critical:68C
Temp 23: I/O Board Zone Ok 57C Caution: 110C; Critical:115C
Temp 24: I/O Board Zone Ok 59C Caution: 110C; Critical:115C
Temp 25: System Zone Ok 35C Caution: 60C; Critical:65

And indeed I do not have installed any supplemental boards that coud impeed the airflow.
Latest BIOS etc...

Success!

Are you able to provide a breakdown of your system? OS, drivers, FW and BIOS settings? Really struggling with this one.