Question How to reduce noise in a NAS setup?

[HarborFront]

Thinking of getting the cheaper 6-bay UGREEN NASync DXP6800 Pro NAS (vs the very expensive QNAP 6-bay TVS-h674) and populate with 6x20TB IronWolf Pro HDDs running RAID 6

The question is where to put this guy? In the hall or next to my work table? The latter will generate great amount of noise.

Near the router in the hall
- It’s ok to be slightly noisier since it's far from my work table
- TB4 uses seem not so useful since the cable length is limited to 3m
- Since it comes with 2x10G RJ45 ports can use them to back up the primary NAS to a backup NAS.
- There's an existing UPS to keep alive the primary and backup NAS

Near or on the work table
- Can use the 2xTB4 for connections to other devices on the work table. Better to optimize the 2xTB4 since already come with (paid for) in the NAS
- The more silent the NAS the better
- Since it comes with 2x10G RJ45 ports can use them to back up the primary NAS to a backup NAS. Can locate the backup NAS in another place in the house to reduce noise
- Need to buy a UPS to keep alive the primary and backup UPS

To reduce NAS noise the followings are options.............not so great though

1) Use SSD – Not possible because it’s too costly for 6x20TB = 120TB. And currently no SSD NAS with 6 bays and 20TB SSD, if any, is going to be prohibitively expensive.
2) Noise-proof NAS casing. Limited for certain models. Metal casing, good for heat dissipation, but noisy due to amplification of noise.
3) 6-bay and below NAS casing is generally noisier than 8-bay NAS casing and above
5) Use Standard drive over enterprise-grade drive. Standard drives used in NAS will accelerate their failure for they are not made for NAS use
4) Select lesser noisy NAS drive over the enterprise-grade drive. Basically, heavy-duty enterprise-grade drives for NAS use are noisy. Nosier enterprise-grade drives are Seagate Exos X20, WD Gold, WD UltraStar etc. NAS drives like Seagate IronWolf Pro, WD Red Pro etc are slightly quieter
6) Move the NAS to another location not in the same room but with restricted use of TB as mentioned above
7) Use lesser speed 5400 rpm drives. Not possible for large capacity drives running 7200 or 10000 rpm
8) Change the fans in the NAS to NOCTUA quiet fans, if possible

Last option, hopefully the best, is to put the NAS under the work table with a 3m length TB cable away from my keyboard. Similar for the backup NAS

Remember that the NAS is to be used in a home environment. That noise level will be nothing if the NAS is placed in the server room since those noise from the big fans will drown them out

Is my last option good? Any chance of further improvement?

Feedback please. Thank you

 

[Bot]

Your last option seems to be the most practical given your constraints. You could also consider adding some form of soundproofing around the NAS under your work table to further dampen the noise. Another suggestion would be to use a NAS with a fan control feature, allowing you to adjust the fan speed to a quieter level during your work hours. Lastly, ensure the NAS is well-ventilated to prevent overheating.

 

[HarborFront]

Your last option seems to be the most practical given your constraints. You could also consider adding some form of soundproofing around the NAS under your work table to further dampen the noise. Another suggestion would be to use a NAS with a fan control feature, allowing you to adjust the fan speed to a quieter level during your work hours. Lastly, ensure the NAS is well-ventilated to prevent overheating.

There's a fan speed control feature but not sure how detailed is the speed control

Generally, lower fan speed will be quieter but heat will build up. Contrary, higher fan speed will be cooler but noisy

 

[Bot]

There a fan speed control feature but nor sure how detaiked is the speed control

Generally, lower fan speed will be quieter but heat will build up. Contrary, higher fan speed will be cooler but noisy

Yes, that's correct. You'll need to find a balance between noise and cooling. You could set a schedule for the fan to run at higher speeds during non-working hours. Also, consider a well-ventilated and air-conditioned room to help with cooling.

 

[HarborFront]

Found that I can have my primary and backup NAS keep far away in the hall from my work desk i.e. with no noise in this case

If I put the 2 NAS in the hall I can use thunderbolt optical cables to connect into my work room thus having no restriction on TB copper cable length of 2 - 3m. Another advantage here is I can use my existing UPS in the hall to keep alive the 2x NAS. But such cables are super expensive

Similalry, can use USB-over-Fiber and HDMI-over-Fiber extender adapters/cables for the other USB and HDMI ports on the NAS to run the cables into my work room.

In this case the ports on the 2xNAS will be fully utilized but with additional costs of cables and adapters. Might be messy if not properly done.

One catch here. Fiber optic cables don't carry power, unlike copper cables, so in the TB case it cannot supply power if connected to your laptop i.e. cannot charge the laptop. On the contrary, if electrical noise is transmitted from the end device using copper and can be heard it would be eliminated if use fiber optic cable.

 

[HarborFront]

To update

My quote

1) Use SSD – Not possible because it’s too costly for 6x20TB = 120TB. And currently no SSD NAS with 6 bays and 20TB SSD, if any, is going to be prohibitively expensive.

Unquote

There are NVMe SSD NAS with more than 4 bays like those from QNAP and ASUSTOR. And largest capacity M.2 NVMe SSD currently is 8TB with a prohibitive price

 

[cartaphilus]

Get as big of a fan as you can, set it at low speed and duct the air through a reduction cone into the case. You can ghetto duct it with a polyurethane sheet or an RV AC silver flexible duct thing.

 

[HarborFront]

Get as big of a fan as you can, set it at low speed and duct the air through a reduction cone into the case. You can ghetto duct it with a polyurethane sheet or an RV AC silver flexible duct thing.

Actually changing the casing fans to NOCTUA quiet fans help to cut down the noise. Some reddit users have tried that.

However, the HDDs noise cannot be reduced.

Also, changing to 3rd party fans may interfere with the fan sequence ie. they will always be running at one speed (not high load spin up and low load spin down) thus increasing electricity consumption