How to make your dell server silent with and without IDRAC UI

Owning a home server can be incredibly convenient for storing movies, files, folders, or even running applications. However, one common drawback of server ownership is the noise it generates, often from the fans working tirelessly to keep the system cool. Along with noise, there’s also the issue of power consumption. In this blog, we’ll explore how to reduce the fan speed on your Dell PowerEdge server, making it much quieter, or as silent as your desktop, without compromising the server’s performance.

IDRAC

The Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (IDRAC) is a powerful tool for remotely managing your Dell server. It allows you to monitor hardware health, update firmware, and adjust settings like fan speeds, all without needing to be physically present. Through IDRAC, you can access your server’s thermal settings, which control how the fans behave based on factors like temperature and workload. By making adjustments to these settings, you can lower fan speeds and reduce noise, creating a quieter home server environment.

Before proceeding, make sure that IDRAC is enabled on your server. Additionally, when configuring network connections on servers, there’s typically an option to either share Ethernet ports or use them individually. While sharing Ethernet ports can simplify the setup by requiring just one cable, it may cause some user interface (UI) issues, such as slower responsiveness or connection drops. On the other hand, using each Ethernet port individually provides a more stable connection but requires two separate Ethernet cables, one for each port. Choose the option that best suits your network setup and performance needs.

Method 1- Using IDRAC interface (Easier but less customisability)

When powering on your server, it should have an “IDRAC” IP at the top. Once it has fully booted, type this IP into your PC’s browser. By default the username is root and the password is calvin.

After logging in you should be greeted with this screen:

Step 1- Click Hardware, then Fans

Step 2- Click Setup

You should be presented with these settings. We suggest turning down the minimum Fan Speed in PWM for a more silent server, if this doesn’t make any change, skip to method 2.

Method 2- SSH (Harder but more customisability)

Step 1– Download IPMI Tool here

Step 2– Open the IPMI tool to be greeted with this download UI

Step 3– Change the name to “ipmitool” to make it easier to access in the future, ensure you keep the path to your folder, e.g c:\ipmitool

Step 4– Complete the Installation and open your IDRAC Web interface. Go to Idrac Settings, network, scroll down to Common settings and enable “Register IDRAC on DNS”

To configure your server’s fan speeds, you’ll need to run a few commands in Windows PowerShell or Command Prompt. Follow the steps below carefully.

Navigating to the Correct Directory

First, open PowerShell or Command Prompt and navigate to the directory where you downloaded the IPMI tool.

• If you’re currently inside a subdirectory (e.g., C:/games/randomgame), you can move back to the root C: directory by running:

cd ../../

• If you’re unfamiliar with navigating directories in Command Prompt, refer to this guide.

Once you’re in the correct directory, navigate into the IPMI tool folder by running:

cd ipmitool

At this point, you should have full control over your server’s fan settings.

Enabling Fan Control

Before adjusting the fan speeds, you must first enable manual fan control. Run the following command:

ipmitool -I lanplus -H <IDRAC_IP> -U root -P calvin raw 0x30 0x30 0x01 0x00

📌 Important: Replace <IDRAC_IP> with your actual iDRAC IP address.

After running this command, you’ll be able to manually adjust your server’s fan speeds.

Fan Control Commands for Your Dell Server

Below is a full list of every fan command including speed: IPMI Command List.

Setting Your Fan Speed

To manually adjust your fan speed, use the following command in Windows PowerShell or Command Prompt:

ipmitool -I lanplus -H <IDRAC_IP> -U root -P calvin raw 0x30 0x30 0x02 0x00 (Fan Speed)

📌 Replace <IDRAC_IP> with your actual iDRAC IP address and (Fan Speed) with one of the values from the list below.

For example, if you want your server to be as silent as possible (10% fan speed), use:

ipmitool -I lanplus -H <IDRAC_IP> -U root -P calvin raw 0x30 0x30 0x02 0x00 0x0A

Available Fan Speeds