PowerEdge 2900 Noise?

Any recommendations on quite servers?

I don't ... sorry... Servers are noisy, fans have to run to keep the system cool... you could look into water cooled servers or possibly a better sound proof cabinet... sorry i'm not much more help

One thing to note, smaller rack based servers tend to be noiser as they have more smaller fans and it is small, fast fans that make the noise.

Your old tower style servers are often the quitest, bigger slower fans.

We have Dell, 1950, SC1425, R300 & 1850 and they are all noisy.

You also have to watch out for the switches. A recent purchase of a Power Connect 2748 had us reaching for our ear plugs when compared to our 24 port switches.

Another point to watch out for is disk speeds. The higher the speeds, the more disk whine you get.

I would phone Dell on 08444 445 419 (will bypass the muppets who normally answer the phone) and ask for any psecs they have no server noise. If they can't provide any, phone HP.

Do you NEED the power of a dual CPU monster like the 2900? You don't say anything about your needs, but something like the PowerEdge 840 is reasonably quiet and can be configured fairly powerful. It can run a single quad-core CPU up to 2.4GHz, 8 GB RAM, and 4 hot-swap hard drives, either 1TB SATA or 15k RPM SAS. I was just working on one today in a small office and it was not much louder than an average desktop computer. If your needs are along the lines of a normal home business, that should be plenty sufficient. If you have rather extreme needs and require the dual CPU power or the larger capacity of the 2900, then you may just have to put up with the noise. Noise output is a relatively low priority for machines of that class.

If you really NEED dual CPU then maybe you could consider a workstation class machine like the Precision class systems like the T5400 or T7400. They're meant for use in an office environment, rather than a server room.

I am using the server to host multiple websites, exchange, file server, ftp, remote log in... Later on I'll be upgrading to SBS 2008 x64. I don't believe PowerEdge 840 supports x64.

I believe every computer Dell currently makes supports x64 by now. Their servers have all supported it for at least 2 years now. The 840 most definitely does support x64. Those are definitely needs outside of the normal home office though. A quad-core PE840 could definitely be a usable SBS 2008 server, especially for a handful of users. I suppose it will depend on how many users and websites, and how intensive they are. It might be that a couple of PE840's could do the job for you as well as a single big 2900. The 2900 most definitely is noisy. Even with the fans at low speed, the sheer number of them makes for quite the droning noise that would get tiring in a small office.

I believe Dell does offer a 30 day satisfaction guarantee with their systems. If you're not happy with it, you can return it for a full refund, though I presume you will likely be out shipping fees at least. The 2900 servers are generally shipped via freight truck rather than DHL/UPS/FedEx, FYI. You could call a Dell sales rep and inquire about the 30 day return policy to verify the details.

I worked with PE 840 a number of times. Most of my clients have PE 840s. My needs are a bit more in a sense of power and performance. I love the server, its a great server. I just didn't know how loud it was when I bought it.

P.S. It is also a DEV server for my website developments.