“The first rule of Linux box quieting is there’s a balance
between silence, coolness and power. Servers aren’t noisy to
impress customers; they’re noisy because they’re designed to stay
cool even if some fans fail, so they have more and bigger fans than
they need.“Outside the server room, though, silence is golden.
“When starting this article, the home office where the victim PC
lives measured about 41 dBA with the computer off and 49 dBA with
the computer on. The goal is to get the box quiet enough that it’s
not noticeable in its normal environment. A system for a factory
floor or a recording studio would be handled differently…”