Can anyone recommend a quite fan for a Cisco Catalyst 3550 series switch.
The current fan is very loud and annoying
Below is a photo of the fan
https://i.imgur.com/OwzuZzM.jpg
I don’t think it matters of the fan is not the same size .
edit
i have found this would this be any good
I’d be interested in this also if anyone has any ideas. Not this model specifically, but 1U stuff in general.
These don’t exist. There’s a reason the fans are loud, because at the narrow 1U form factor they need to push a lot of air to keep the unit reasonably cool.
If you actually find one that does exist (or mod one in), then it likely doesn’t push enough air to keep it cool and your stuff will run too hot.
Now it should be auto sensing the heat and ramp up, but if its locked at 100% fan speed you should be able to tune it down.
Yeah I kinda thought it was a unicorn, but they have all sorts of crazy stuff on the market these days.
Pretty much this.
It’s unlikely that the switch has variable fan speed control, because normally when a fan is just 2 cored, it’ll always just run the fan at max (12V). It’s possible, but you’d have to view the signal with an oscilloscope, or have a good ear.
Depending on how far away the fan is from the hot component(s) (mainly the main ASIC(s) in switches), you could potentially use a high-wattage current-limiting resistor in series with the fan, to lower the fan speed, but be wary of this solution. It could significantly lower the life of the switch, if you slow the fan down too much.
If you wanted to get technical with the mod, you could have an Arduino constantly monitoring the temperature of the ASIC(s) with a thermacouple, and have it increase the duty cycle of the fan, depending on the temperature.
Check the polarity before you plug in a fan, Cisco do some dirty things and swap stuff like the tachometer with the positive line.