Sysracks Soundproof Server Rack Quiet - Acoustic Sound Proof Cabinet for Servers - Up to 36% Noise Reduction - Locking Server Enclosure - Silent Networking Cabinet - Noise Sound Dampening Box (15U)

Works well, sturdy. Definitely lowers the sound of the equipment in the rack. You do hear the cooling fans, it is not silent but does work very well.

I bought the 15U variant for my personal use at home, with no prior personal or professional experience working with rack mounted hardware. However, I have dealt with consumer-grade computer hardware for decades, and I have needs that justify a server rack in my home, so I knew what to research in advance. Even for the price, I'd say that this still falls short of expectations. It is barely acceptable for my current needs, but only just, and I will not be able to do as much with it as I had originally hoped. I read about other reviewers' installation experiences, so I knew that I needed to be careful and expect a frustrating experience. I still managed to make a major mistake that prompted a lot of rework: I had put on both side panels facing the same way, and so I would have only been able to attach one of the two doors, and I only noticed that I had made this mistake after I had put one of the two doors on. Other than that one major mishap, the whole installation process was a chore, but again, not unexpectedly so. Per another review, I made sure that my partner would be available help with this. I can't imagine doing it alone. The biggest sources of frustration here were the plethora of screw holes that seemed too far out of alignment, but ultimately we managed to get it all together with careful tension applied to the right spots of the right panels, with only one screw needing to stick out partway. Once I had everything installed, I was a bit disappointed with the acoustic dampening performance, but I can't say I'm TOO surprised: it only advertises "up to 36% noise reduction". This is a profoundly meaningless way to communicate the performance: competitors advertise using units of dB or dB(A), which makes a lot more sense. I figured that I would still go for it despite this ambiguous statistic, on the basis that some reviewers were satisfied with it. In case it helps anyone else (it sure would have helped me), I've done my own acoustic test using my own very basic tools. I measured out 3ft. from the cabinet's front door and set a SPL meter on the ground at that point. It outputs values in dB(A), so I will list out all the numbers it gave me*. With everything unplugged, it read 38.9. My equipment makes some noise when it's plugged in but powered-down, so after just plugging it in (not powering anything on), cabinet front door open: 45.4, cabinet front door closed: 42.1. Powering on my single server in there, it goes through a predictable cycle where the fans start off kinda low and then ramp up massively at a certain point, so I'll give two numbers here. When the fans are low, the readings hover somewhere around 65 with the cabinet front door open, 58 with the cabinet front door closed. The highest reading reported throughout this test was 72.5 with the cabinet front door open, 60.9 with the cabinet front door closed. *As a caution to those reading these numbers without having been given this spiel before: the decibel scale is logarithmic. Adding 10 dB (e.g., going from 60 to 70, OR from 50 to 60) is equivalent to a 10x increase in the sound pressure level from where it was before (though we perceive it as only a 2x increase in the "loudness"). Also, while I'm already infodumping, note that I reported "dB(A)", not just "dB". Look up "A-weighting" to understand what the difference is. So my measurements showed that, rather than "36%", the actual performance was -3.3dB(A) for the first set of numbers (that's -53.2%), about -7 dB(A) for the second set of numbers (that's -80%), and about -11.6 dB(A) for the third set of numbers (that's -93.08%). I should mention, of course, that the cabinet is still doing some dampening when the door is open, so this crappy test will understate the cabinet's performance by some margin that's probably significant. I imagine that if I had an actual lab (and actual training), I could devise a better test to give a single number instead of a range from -11.6 to -3.3, but hey... I'm just some guy who knows a thing or two about this stuff, and this already feels more useful than what I had to go off of before buying it. Finally, I need to mention that the thermal conductivity inside this cabinet is unacceptable when installed with all the pieces, following all the instructions. Since I also know a thing or two about airflow, it struck me as a profoundly bad idea to near-COMPLETELY block all places where the ambient (cool) air can freely enter into the cabinet, choosing instead to ONLY force hot air OUT. I understand that good acoustic dampening will necessarily mean a sacrifice to thermal conductivity. With that said, this cabinet is sized for 15U of equipment, and in a test where I was ONLY pulling 300W from the wall, the ambient temperature inside the cabinet (measured from a spot far away from the exhaust) exceeded the 35°C (95° F) threshold that's the maximum temperature that my server documents as safe. After some chats with Sysracks, they suggested taking out a foam cover at the bottom of the cabinet; this allowed the same 300W load to only bring the temperature up to 32°C (89.6° F). I'm having a hard time coming up with a clear way to communicate how unsatisfying this performance is... let's say that one server in the rack sports a 750W power supply and takes up 2U of the 15U available space, and leave it at that. I'm sure that if I went all-out on modifying this to enhance airflow like a different reviewer did, then I might be able to make it work for loads higher than 300W. Overall, I do not recommend this. It's certainly far cheaper than the competitors' offerings, and that's why I went for it (again, it's my first time touching server racks), but based on the advertised characteristics of those competitors, I think that it would have been wise to go with something else.

Reason for purchasing: I have bought some supermicro servers that had a very loud power supply fan. There are some supermicro SKUs for quiet power supplies but didn't work for my equipment. In the end I ended up not using the supermicro servers so this project was for nothing. Features: Quiet - YES, but with a HUGE caveat. The provided doors and the multi-layer metal does help silence the equipment that is stored inside the rack. There is some acoustic foam inside but really not the right material to use to silence a rack. The pictures are misleading because it is not everywhere. The vendor claimed they would adjust the photos but they still have not. Sturdy - Yes, even though they claim it cannot hold a lot of weight it is holding a lot more than they have listed. I would not set a human being on top of it but if the weight is static and the equipment is stationary then I don't see an issue with putting several servers and switches inside over the published specs. Spaciousness - Yes, there's a lot of room to get chubby hands around parts of the rack. A lesson learned was not to put the vertical post so close to the opening or the back part of rack unless you do have smaller more nimble fingers. Assembly - Yes, I needed to put this in my basement which has a very narrow opening so the option to purchase a rack that was easily assembled was a requirement. I do agree that the instructions could be reordered some because some steps should have came first. The instruction book was helpful. Some screw holes did not line up. I had several extra screws which was a little worrisome but every felt strong. Some of my screws stripped so be mindful of the grade quality of the hardware. Cooling - NO! It's almost like they didn't even try. The fans are variable and are controlled by a thermostat built into the LCD. The fans do blow out the top and then pushed out the sides. The fans do little to nothing to really dissipate heat. within minutes my equipment was reading over 120 °. The fans do not help eliminate noise either. I ended up frankensteining the rack so that way I could keep it cool and still maintain some quietness. I did nothing to void the warranty though I'm not sure how the company would ever honor their obligations. I purchased some HVAC duct board to create boxes that would mount on the front and back of the rack. these would replace the doors. I mounted them to 1x2 wood frame. I drilled a bunch of holes in the front box to allow air to come in. I kept the whole small enough so that sound had a hard time exiting but air could still be sucked in. I'm still working on adjusting this because it does add heat to the internal rack thermometer reading. In the back box I placed a 6-in inline fan to blow out the exhaust of the equipment. I used magnets to mount them to the rack. (Yes I'm aware that magnets are not great for hard drive but hard drives can take a decent magnetic hit before data issues arise). The front and middle of my rack now register somewhere between 77 and 85°. The exhaust is somewhere between 92 and 95°. I have the exhaust blowing into a crawl space. So there is some relief from the heat produced by the servers. The duct board does a decent job at keeping the sound volume down. Almost on par with what the factory doors did. Yes I did lose the ability to lock and secure my equipment. Would I recommend? NO! I do feel I should have just returned it once the item wasn't matching the photos. I also feel that they use the wrong material to help truly make this sound proof. The LCD is a nice feature BUT loud when configurating it. I could have purchased a cheaper case and made the modifications and probably saved $500.

These server cabinets are great, the way they look, the way they perform.. And it's affordable professional equipment. Very heavy duty, I certainly recommend. Will buy again for the next client very shortly.

The biggest point is this: Yes, it does quiet my server down. A LOT. Rackmount Poweredge R420 with 6 fans that seem like they can almost challenge power-tool volumes at full throttle. With that, a 2U UPS, and the router and switches, everything is still well suppressed. This rack can't eliminate *all* of the noise by any means - you'll definitely know when your equipment is spooling up - but it does a totally fine job of keeping the normal day-to-day stuff muffled. I only notice it when my stuff spikes the fans up high, and even then it can fool you into thinking it's the next room over, it's that well suppressed. It failed my phone test badly (I started a song through my phone, then put it in the rack. It didn't sound that muffled at all), but it definitely handles equipment noise better than I thought it would. So for quieting rack equipment down, it works quite well. Especially considering the cost. Also, it feels solid. The fit of the parts may not be perfectly plumb - in some ways it's actually aggravating - but it's more than close enough. I wish the exhaust fans were less noticeable, but it's way quieter than if the IT equipment were left out in the open. The window in the door probably costs it some quieting, but it helps to be able to see inside without opening it up. I'm satisfied with this. There are downsides though: Sound insulation also acts as heat insulation. Your equipment will run hotter than normal. So you either put up with the fan on quite a bit, or you accept higher temps than you're used to. As long as they're still within manufacturer spec, you're okay, but it's disconcerting to see the temp registered on the front panel. It was running north of 37 degrees C and climbing when the fans are off, so you'll NEED to make sure the fans run. They'll power themselves on and off as needed, but to get below 30 C, they'll need to run nearly constantly. I've given up on trying to stay under 30 C. And yes, this is with some blanking panels installed. Also: The boxes as shipped are large and heavy. You'll probably want help with everything: Moving, opening, and assembling. I did it on my own, but I wish I had someone helping. Assembly: The instructions are too bare boned. Also, it's easy to screw up - like when I put both side panels with the hinge screw-holes on the same side of the case. The parts themselves are solid, but I have problems with the bottom door pins. There are 4 per door, two on the top and bottom respectively. I have both bottom-most ones falling out. Not great, but the doors themselves aren't adversely affected. Features are sort of bare. You get a PDU, it's got the cooling fans on top, but it's not as feature-laden as, say, an APC NetShelter CX with opening side panels, rear fan panels, cable channels, etc. That said, it's less than half the price of their 12U (> $2000) and less than a quarter of their 18U ($3850). For those savings, I can live without the features. Solid rack enclosure. Does well at lowering server/networking fan noises. Inexpensive when compared to the APC NetShelter CX's or Tripp Lite SmartRack Acoustic. Not without it's frustrations, but overall worth having.

good soundproof server rack. Fast shipping and we’ll packaged to protect the parts. Arrived intact in 3 boxes so had to spend some time figuring out all the puzzles. Doors closing really tight so definitely cuts noise from my server but can still hear it at night. That’s my first sound proof server rack so can’t compare with other brands. the price was the main factor in buying decision.. you won’t find cheaper with same quality quite soundproof server rack. Will be recommending this to my clients..

Updated review: Although the instructions are not the best, the customer service is what made me update my review. The customer service team reached out to me and gave me a partial refund for the time wasted and for some of the damage products that came in the mail. Moreover, they seem to care about customer feedback and are willing to work on the issue at hand to get resolved. For my case, due to the instructions being bad, this company wishes to work with me to get a better sense of how to edit the instructions. Overall, my experience was bad with the product, however, the customer support team really sold me on updating this review for their care towards the customer!

Pros: - Low price compared to some alternatives - Includes a rack mountable PDU - Sturdy once assembled - Does reduce server noise noticeably, as long as the rack's exhaust fans are off. However, the fans will need to be on 50% or more of the time in order to keep the rack cool, even with only a couple of servers installed. Cons: - The exhaust fans are very loud. They sound like a household furnace starting up. In fact, they are louder than my servers were outside the rack! This really defeats the purpose of a quiet rack, doesn't it? I went ahead and ordered some 200mm noctua fans that I will be installing instead. They could have at least added some foam under the top panel to reduce noise. - The top panel is not isolated from server vibrations at all and can sometimes audibly resonate. This might be mitigated with some rubber washers. - Can be difficult to assemble. I had to drill larger holes in some places due to the pre-drilled holes not lining up correctly. - The control panel resets itself whenever there is a slight bump on the top panel, which resets the clock. The button beeps are also very loud and annoying -- ironic for a product that is selling noise reduction. - The doors are rather flimsy and the latches don't hold them closed tightly enough on the top and bottom. This might actually be by design, because I don't see any dedicated air inlets, but it still feels cheap for a $1000 product. Overall I would probably recommend spending more to get a higher quality product, but modding this rack with quieter fans is another option.