I have since yesterday a weird "bip" every minute in the server room. It comes from the unit, where 2 servers, one switch and a router are installed. Can anyone help me with this? I'm working in an office right near it! Thanks.
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I hope you mean "beeping". I'm not sure what "bipping in the server room" is, but it doesn't sound like something you'd want to the Internet about. – ewall Jun 20 '11 at 14:01
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I hope it's not the smoke detector. ;-)
splattne
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Sorry. It's not such a bad question, but at first sight it was funny to read. See my other response. – splattne Jun 16 '09 at 13:02
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2I guess waszkiewicz chose this answer not because it was the smoke detector. Now I am really curious, what is causing that beeps. – splattne Jun 16 '09 at 13:16
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1splattne;
If we end up never getting a response, I'd like to change my guess to carbon monoxide detector.. ;) – Greg Meehan Jun 16 '09 at 13:20 -
3Indeed, the batteries of the smoke detector were low, causing a nice beep every minute... Hope this entry will help a lot of IT people to solve their problems! I need rest-> week-end. Thanks splattne! – waszkiewicz Jun 16 '09 at 14:39
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Those smoke detector chirps drive my dog nuts. She jumped on my bed and stood on me the last time that happened. – GoatRider Jun 17 '09 at 02:42
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I'm an old man these days and sometimes struggle to find the source of infrequent sounds - I have resorted to using the cardboard inner tube from some paper kitchen wipes to place over/round my ear and act as a 'finder' for odd sounds.
God that's the saddest post I've ever made :(
Chopper3
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1Knox: I thought sysadmins had to use the Carousel: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074812/ ;-) – splattne Jun 16 '09 at 15:13
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2What's sad is when the smoke alarm actually goes off and it's too high-pitched for you to hear it at all. Calmly eating a sandwich thinking "That's odd, why are all these youngsters running to the doors or clasping the sides of their heads" – username Feb 08 '10 at 03:39
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If you're not the sysadmin, DONT TOUCH ANYTHING! If you are the sysadmin, shame on you for not knowing.
Paul Tomblin
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Hey!! I'm the pseudo-sysadmin! I never encountered such a problem before! I cheked everything I could. ?? – waszkiewicz Jun 16 '09 at 12:55
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1Don't mind the reflexive panic at the thought of a "helpful" user trying to turn off the source of irksome beeping. :) It's a survival trait! – Kara Marfia Jun 16 '09 at 14:35
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@Kara spotted it - I wish I had a dollar for every production server that's been killed by somebody who had no business touching anything in the data center. I could retire. – Paul Tomblin Jun 16 '09 at 16:03
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Usually such "bipping" is an indication that a redundant component has failed.
Check the status of RAID arrays and PSU inputs.
Dan Carley
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While I agree with Paul, is there a UPS battery backup in the room also? Most of the time when I've encountered this, it is because the battery needs to be replaced. Make sure you work with your IT personnel before attempting any changes. You could also look to see if there are any smoke detectors in the room that need their battery changed.
Kevin Kuphal
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One possible reason is, that one of there servers has temperature monitoring enabled in the BIOS. Maybe one of the CPUs is running hot.
Try to check the cooling/ventilation fans if they are still working.
splattne
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Do you know what OS the servers use? The only OS I've experienced that beeps (or bips, even) when unhappy is NetWare. If you don't know or are unable to find out, then please hedd Paul's advice and call someone that does.
RainyRat
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Along with all the above, check the back of the units. There are models of switches/routers with redundant/hot-swap power supplies. Maybe one of them died. Or if they have add-in cards, maybe an add-in card died.
David
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