Netfinity 5000 - replacing system fans and monitoring system temps

[st3ph3n]

My server is all up and running, and loudly at that. Not that I was expecting it to be quiet as I've seen and heard enough servers in server rooms to know the score.

Anyway, I've had a look at the fans and was thinking of trying to replace them with some slower ones as I am in a well ventilated room which isn't having to house 20 or 30 red hot servers. I noticed that they have 5 pin rather than 3. 2 of the pins appear to be just wired together though.

I also noticed the sizes was ~115-120mm.

So my question. Is it possible to mount standard (low speed) 120mm fans in the existing fan housings in the case, and can they be wired to the existing connectors (probably cut the wires and then solder them to the new fan's wires). If not will the system boot with no fans detected, as I'd be plugging the 120mm fans into standard molex power connectors.

And lastly - is there any software available for monitoring the system temps and so forth. I couldn't see anything on the IBM website, but then I didn't really know what I was looking for.

Many thanks

Stephen

 

[catorze]

Answers: It may be possible to mount other fans, but certainly not recommended. The answer to your second question is the reason why. The Netfinity 5000 contains an onboard Advanced Systems Management Processor (ASMP) that monitors fans, temperatures, voltages, etc. There is a device driver for the ASMP, and IBM Director software is available to monitor the server, generate symptom-based events, and forward those events to the IBM Director Management Server. The server can be configured to take a multitude of actions, based on the triggering event.

 

[st3ph3n]

Cheers catorze. I'll have a look for the drivers and software when I get home and give it a whirl.