Editing Noise (section)

=== PC and Rack Acoustic Absorption Kits ===
Absorption kits are a very effective way to retrospectively reduce the noise emanating from your servers. They typically consist of rubber-like material around 0.5-1cm thick, which absorbs sound waves from your devices, and reduces the overall noise produced by the device. Obviously they are only effective in a case where you can physically fit them to most internal case surfaces, and leaving large areas uncovered will reduce effectiveness.

It is generally not recommended to fit acoustic material inside of [[Building_a_Homelab#Vendor_Style|rack mount cases]], as these are generally built to specific tolerances etc, however most medium sized cases are perfectly capable of squeezing in a bit of acoustic foam! That said, beware as the foam not only conduction of noise, but it also reduces conduction of heat through the metal case of your machine, so your temperatures will rise inside the case, and require more effective cooling to keep to the same temperatures.

For rack servers, it is probably better to apply the absorption kits to the rack itself, as a number of Open Homelab community members have already done!

An example of the acoustic material can be found here, but other vendors are also available! [http://www.quietpcusa.com/Acoustic-Materials-C4.aspx Acoustic Absorption Kits]