Let's Just Shove A Bigger Fan In There And See What Happens
The Register, Monday, October 26th, 2026
A Who, Me? reader recounts keeping a failing company's server alive by balancing improvised fans on it as its internal fans died.
In The Register's Who, Me? column, a reader called Robert describes working at a struggling press-clipping company that kept legacy hardware running to save money.
When one of its 2U server's three internal fans failed with no replacement available, he placed a larger fan on top of the hot component.
After a second fan failed, staff added another improvised fan, leaving the server running lidless with fans balanced over exposed parts.
Management only bought a new server when the third internal fan died.