Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
Hard Drive Fans
If you want to install one or two 92 mm supplemental cooling
fans for the hard drive bay, now is the time to do so. You can use
any standard 92 mm case fan.
Different fans have different power connectors. The most com-
mon is a standard Molex (old-style hard drive) power connec-
tor. If your power supply has one or more Molex connectors
labeled Fan-Only, you can use those to allow the power supply
to control fan speed. If you do that, set the fan power switch
to high. If you set it to medium or low, the voltage supplied by
the Fan-Only power connector may not be sufficient to spin up
the fan. If your fan has a three- or four-pin header-pin connec-
tor, it's designed to be connected to the motherboard. Locate a
header-pin connector on the motherboard labeled Aux Fan or
Case Fan and connect the fan power cable to that set of header
pins. Once again, if the fan has a speed switch, set it to high.
We decided not to install any hard drive fans in our server, at
least initially. We'll keep an eye on hard drive temperatures, and
install a fan or fans later if necessary.
If you install one or both of these fans, make certain that they
are oriented to push air into the case rather than draw air out of
it. Look for an arrow on the body of the fan, which indicates the
direction of the air flow.
To mount a fan, simply install the four mounting screws or
expansion connectors supplied with the fan in the four holes
surrounding the fan grill on the hard drive bay cover. Run the
fan power cable into the interior of the case, and connect it to
an available power connector.
If you install a fan or fans that have switchable speeds, decide
how much noise you're willing to tolerate. If the server is in an
area where noise is not an issue, set the fans to run on high.
Otherwise, start by setting them on low and increase the speed
later if you need more cooling.
Figure 8-15. Align the pins on the drive bay cover with the sockets
in the chassis and lower the drive bay cover back into place
Figure 8-16. Reinsert the thumbscrews to secure the drive bay
cover
PreparingtheMotherboard
With the hard drives installed, the next step is to prepare the motherboard
by installing the processor, CPU cooler, and memory. Some manuals suggest
installing the motherboard in the chassis before installing the processor and
memory, but after nearly cracking a motherboard by doing it that way, we
decided it was much safer to install the processor and memory first.
To begin, locate the metal cam lever on the side of the processor socket. Press
the cam lever slightly outward (away from the socket) to release it from the
plastic latches that secure it, and then lift the lever, as shown in Figure 8-17.
 
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