Thinking of lining the inside side panels of my 48u rack with some sort of sound deadening material. Was going to go with rock wool or the cheap self adhesive foam bricks you can buy off amazon. Was thinking of doing the same thing to the ceiling above where my rack sits and the walls behind as well. Mainly trying to cut down on the echo and high frequency whines. Anyone have any advice or suggestions? Maybe talk me out of it, or some other solution?
rockwool is going to bleed dust into your equipment. Go with accoustic foam panels, they are cheap even if you need to use some double sided tape.
It’s going to be a challenge to soundproof without blocking off a lot of airflow.
I have full mesh front and rear doors, and the top is just a metal grate. I’m just going to focus on the removable side panels, just to minimize some echo.
That’s not going to do much, then. Sound is transmitted through movement of air, so the mesh front and backs give the sound a direct path out of the rack. Close and insulate the front, back, and sides, and leave the top and bottom open for airflow. You can add insulated baffles to further reduce sound egress while still allowing airflow.
Using this method, I assume it would be beneficial to get some fans at the top to help with ventilation? Or would natural convection be enough?
Passive convection would probably be fine. You can add an extractor fan later if you find it’s necessary.