Switching

EX3200 AC Power Fan has a loud noise. Do you know this information?

 

In silent laboratory, this product may have a trouble.

 

Help us.... If i won't solve this noise problem, returned goods.

 

I hope to hear  an official Juniper Networks's explanation.

 

Namely, have any concrete plans these loud noise hereafter?

 

Regards.....Thanks.

The EX3200 and EX4200 systems are high performance systems targetted for wiring closets, GbE aggregation and Data Center access deployments. The acoustic characteristics for these devices are within the acceptable parameters for these deployment times. Please note that these devices are not designed for open workarea deployments where low acoustics is a key requirement. 

 

For all Juniper hardware engineers, this is a real problem with the EX series. We may have to deploy some Cisco Catalysts in places where the noise is unacceptable.

 

That being said, the chassis fan on the EX series seems to be under software control and that is not what makes all the noise. Most of the noise is generated by the tiny, super high speed fan in the power supply (thus a dual-supply EX4200 is nearly twice as loud!) 

 

If the power supply fan could be placed under software control - that would go long way for making the EX series nore usable in a sound-critical environment, especially if the device does not have to supply PoE.Or even a special low-power PS could be devised that woudl disable PoE on the EX, I could live with that as well.

This is not Acceptable.

 

The noise was one of my first complaints about the EX-series. I've offered design modifications for the chassises and for the power modules.If the majority of the noise is generated by the PSU fan, which I agree seems to be the case; then it is a matter of getting fans with a different shaped blade. Blade shape and pitch has a huge effect on dB. 

 

  I've recieved calls from people concerned about the loud noise coming from a wiring closet. I get the pleasure of having the 4200s in my work area for days during the initial break-in period and during pre-deployment configuration. he acoustic characteristics for these devices are NOT within the acceptable parameters.

 

 "Please note that these devices are not designed for open workarea deployments where low acoustics is a key requirement. " We aren't expecting low acoustics; we simply want moderate acoustics. That does not exist with these, which means: poor design.

Agreed! This is completely unacceptable and a HUGE problem. I'm not sure what world the Juniper Hardware engineers are living in but it's not out in the real world where well insulated spaces are few and far between. The EX3200 is NOT a high-speed high-performance product, it's a L3 GE switch with 10GE uplinks, and it has a uniquely high sounding PSU fan. Fix this! Stop being cheap about it and use different PSU fans for different PSUs, a 320W PSU does not need a fan i could use to blow leaves of my lawn! Sincerely, Martin Levin IT-strategist City of Molndal, Sweden

To bump old topic. Today we received new EX3200-24T and it has a lot less noisier power supply fan than the older ones. The new ones came with:

Power Supply 0   REV 04   740-020957   AT0509453245      PS 320W AC
So that Rev 04 is lot less noisier than the old rev 03.

 

Good to know thanks for the update.

We were sent a few instances of Version 4 of this power supply in some of our EX3200s and they do not seem to be noticeably less loud than Version 3.

 

I would need to get out my sound level meter and chech this in a location other than our lab, which is fairly noisy with the sound of Juniper fans 😐

 

Can someone at Juniper confirm that Version 4 was **designed** to be less loud than Version 3?

 

 

OK, I checked the sound level of an EX3200-48T using my el-cheapo sound level meter, and version 04 of the power supply  is 1 dB quieter that version 03. Not really noticeable to me, and certainly within the realm of experimental or sampling error, given the sample size of 1. So there you go. Definitely not enough difference to demand an upgrade from version 03 to version 04.

Our 4200's are loud, but in a server room. We bought 3200 for a remote office where the luxury of a dedicated server room or wiring closet is not an option.

 

I agree the dB for these is not acceptable.

I really hate to bump a topic this old, but I recently put a EX4200 and EX3200 in my lab here at home.  Even with them shoved into a closet, I can still hear them over the TV in the next room.  The power supply fans in these devices are entirely too loud.

 

A client did a major net refresh about 2 years ago and put in over 150 Juniper devices, mostly 4200's and 8200's.  They had to keep one rack of Cisco gear because the EX series switches were too loud for a major office in the building.  It's bad when Juniper is losing to Cisco based on the sound of their devices.  Simply design the power supply fans to be quiter or to be under software control and get that share back.  I have personally seen 2 prospective customers pass on Juniper simply because of how loud the devices run.

 

Hell, I've got a 1KW PSU in my desktop and I can't even hear it!

I totally agree with you on this, I have a Cisco 2960 SW and a EX4200 in my office for lab purposes and the EX is blazing down the hallways.  Is there anyway to turn down the fan noise?

Is there a known resolution to this ? ex3200 is unacceptably loud. 

It seems I have revision 4 power supply and it is still way too loud.

 

Power Supply 0   REV 04   740-020957   AT0509282844      PS 320W AC

 

I don't see the part number for the chassis fan itself, which also doesn't seem to be of acceptable noise level.

 

I've worked with Cisco, HP, Foundry and I've never heard anything this loud. It's impossible to be near the unit for more then 2 minutes.  I have a Cisco 3750g and Juniper 3200 next to each other and 3750g is almost entirely silent.

The E line is louder, but it's still nothing like this.

Pulling the main chassis fan out seems to quite this just  a tiny bit and the assembly may allow some sort of fan controller. Will try that.  I was going to invest into these myself, for several network upgrades and recommend Juniper to the management of several firms, as high end switches capable of routing, which similarly priced  Cisco switches can not do, but this isn't going to fly.  This won't work in floor closets either. Some fan control does seem to exist in the unit, as I hear the fan speed changing occasionaly,  it is beyond reasonable at any level.

 

It's very unfortunate.. I really like the OS, but the quality of the cheapest hardware parts seems to be doing the product line a very serious disservice.  It's important for the vendor to understand that the crowd of people who recommend, sell, install and manage these devices intends to have a couple handy, by the desk, in the basement.. someplace where you can quickly test things, without going all remote. CIsco understands that.  Juniper won't get anywhere with the current implementation. I hope this can at least be partially addressed with the next part revision. 

 

 

 

We are recently switching from a mixed environment with old 3Com, HP switches and Snapgear to Juniper. The SRX work great, but the EX 3200 switch is way too loud.

 

With EX 3200 running even in a closed closet with airco and sound reducers for over EUR 1.000, I have had two instances in a week where business users complained about the noise coming from the closed closet.

 

To compare: the closed also houses 4 high-end servers, each equipped with approx 7 fans, two more switches. Before installing the EX 3200 we have never had any complaints about noise coming from the closet.

 

I think we will kick out the EX 3200 and replace it by something less noisy.

I suggest that if noise is a problem, you should get instead a switch designed for the office instead of a server room.

The EX4200 and 3200 are high stabndard. and fan is nothing compared to an MX960.

Go get yourself an EX2200. It will most likely suit all your needs.

 

 

Can someone find some replacement fans that can povide equal cooling without the noise and replace them just to see how it works. I imagine that would/may void your contract, but one could buy two additional power supplies for this purpose. Seems like Juniper is not too interested in fixing that issue that would theoretically bring in more revenue in more ways than one. It seems like more people would deploy these switches in small offices instead of the lower end 2200. And I am sure they they can add code which will slow the fan speeds depending on the temperature. So that say at nights when there is less activity, they could slow down and save power at the same time. But here is my high tech suggestion.

Remember that high tech helicopter the US lost in the Pak raid for OBL, could Juniper contack the makers and see about then designing a small but very pwerful and effective wuiet fan?

EX2200 & EX3300 have no noise 

 

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