bob@alsys1.aecom.yu.edu (Bob Lummis) (10/08/90)
I've read about the noise made by the AGS+ (fan originally meant to power a hovercraft, etc.). Has anyone figured out a good way to mount them to quiet them down? How about a totally enclosing rack? Probably with another fan in its roof? Should I plan to put them behind a noiseproof partition if I want a reasonable working environment? Or is the noise issue greatly exaggerated? Any advice will be appreciated. -- Bob Lummis, Director, Research Information Technology (bob@aecom.yu.edu) Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 212-430-4211 FAX:212-430-2488
BILLW@mathom.cisco.com (WilliamChops Westfield) (10/08/90)
The AGS fan (which is the same as the AGS+ fan) is rather noisy - these boxes were never intended for operation in a working environment. However, in a machine room, they are easilly drowned out by the sound of a real computer like a DEC-20 and a few RP07s. :-) Actually, even a moderately sized modern computer is noisier than an AGS. And they do fine in phone closets as long as you keep the door closed... Bill Westfield cisco Systems. -------
alan@curta.cc.columbia.edu (Alan Crosswell) (10/08/90)
Our AGSs are much noisier than our Sun data center servers! But then, we have a former DEC-20 machine room with specially added sound-proofing, air conditioning and power, so the AGSs (and ASMs) feel right at home and our senior operators have that sense of security that comes from a stable work environment:-) /a
mikes%tektronix.tek.com@RELAY.CS.NET (Mike Skrydlak -- Tektronix Network Services) (10/09/90)
Speaking of 'phone closets' - we have some AGS boxes in them.
Someone said 'With those fans pumping, & no filters in ther ciscos, in
a non-computer-room environment - won't the cards & innards get filthy
& not work so well ??"
Someone else said "Aww - don't worry so much!!"
I thought "I know - I'll ask Mr. Bill !!"
Two suggestions I've heard:
1) Get some sort of filtration system on the AGS air intake.
(I couldn't find one at Kragen's Auto Supply, though.)
2) Have someone (like our in-house hardware support org.) vacuum out the AGS
every 6 months or so. (This sounded somewhat reasonable to me - have you
heard of any such activity, maybe in Saudi Arabia, or closer to home ?)
Seriously though, I'd like your opinions on this.
We've had two of these in closets for 3 months or so, & the closets do seem
somewhat dusty to me. Thanks. Knock 'em dead at Interop.dana@ferris.cray.com (Dana Dawson) (10/09/90)
We've had some AGS and MGS boxes in some pretty dirty environments (they were installed while our new facility was still under construction), and even though the boards to indeed get very dirty, we haven't had any failures as a result. Perhaps we're just lucky, but I do think this indicates that the lack of a filter is not a major problem. Dana Dawson Cray Research, Inc. (612) 683-3056 dana@cray.com
BILLW@mathom.cisco.com (WilliamChops Westfield) (10/09/90)
I thought "I know - I'll ask Mr. Bill !!"
Sigh.
Two suggestions I've heard:
1) Get some sort of filtration system on the AGS air intake.
the AGS air intakes are actually designed to have standard (5" ?) axial box
fan filters put over them - they have the mounting holes and everthing.
Unfortunately, I don't know where one would get such filters.
(I couldn't find one at Kragen's Auto Supply, though.)
Hmmph! They probably don't have ANY hovercraft fans!
2) Have someone (like our in-house hardware support org.) vacuum out the AGS
every 6 months or so. (This sounded somewhat reasonable to me - have you
heard of any such activity, maybe in Saudi Arabia, or closer to home ?)
It doesn't sound like a bad idea, though I'd be careful. You don't want
this to end up being "provocative maintanance" instead of preventative.
I have heard that they are having some problems in Saudi Arabia with the
boxes sucking up sand - rumor has it that our manufacturing people are
hunting for a source of the appropriate filters even as I type.
Knock 'em dead at Interop.
We did have something like that in mind. hee hee. :-)
BillW
-------bdale@col.hp.com (Bdale Garbee) (10/17/90)
>We've had some AGS and MGS boxes in some pretty dirty environments (they >were installed while our new facility was still under construction), and >even though the boards to indeed get very dirty, we haven't had any >failures as a result. Perhaps we're just lucky, but I do think this >indicates that the lack of a filter is not a major problem. Be careful about this, though... here in the high country where single-digit humidity is the order of the day in winter, we all of a sudden had a humid day last year and bloody near everything of import crashed... all the gunk that had harmlessly built on on the boards of a lot of our systems became conductive when wet... /o\ Bdale HP COL Technical Computing Environment Manager