How to cool a cluster?
I have a small study with a large number of computers in it (including several up on the wall). Between them, all these machines give off an awful lot of heat. Fortunately I live somewhere with mild summers, so this is rarely a problem, but on the hottest few days it can be a worry. The biggest problem is those machines up on the wall, because if there's not enough of a breeze through the building they can end up in a pocket of air 20° or more hotter than the temperature where I sit.
So far I've been dealing with this by having a fan on the windowsill that points up, forcing the air to mix more, but it's annoyingly noisy and today that fan seems to have died. I've generally found fans designed for cooling people to be quite unreliable when left on continuously, but I can't think of anything better, because the way these machines are mounted is not well suited to installing case fans. Does anyone have any ideas for a better way of cooling those machines than just buying another household fan each time the existing one gives up the ghost?
Comments
A) Buy better fans that don't die as quickly, and are likely to be quieter, too.
B) Add some ductwork to cool them more directly.
C) Buy two fans at a time, so they're less likely to both die at once, leaving you without any cooling.
D) Move to Greenland.
Not that D is not tempting, but I think A-C are probably better ideas. I was sort-of implementing C, but I haven't bothered replacing the dead fan just yet because I'm enjoying the relative quiet. We'll just have to see what happens when the promised heatwave hits....
Do you have any specific advice on A, like where to shop for such things? So far I've just been trying different models from Staples, but that's more because it's nearby than because I expect it to be where one would find the best quality fans.