Isolating/Blocking Hard Drive Vibration, Especially on a Hardwood Desk or Floor

Hard drives (“spinners”) typically rotation at 7200 rpm, and this can generate quite a lot more vibration than 5400 rpm drives. The quietest drives tend to be the “green” ones, but these are invariably underperformers and thus not ideal for higher performance setups.

Placed on surfaces like concrete flooring, this is of little concern. But placed on a hardwood desktop or floor, those vibrations can resonate into the material in a disturbing way (often a low humming vibration). Or not, depending on the material. While the enclosure itself can eliminate some frequencies, certain frequencies are not attenuated and make it through to the surface on which the enclosure rests.

MPG has both a hardwood desk and hardwood floors, so these types of vibrations are very unwelcome, hence a search for a solution.

The Auralex MoPAD Monitor Isolation Pads @AMAZON do the job. While designed for audio monitors (speakers) they do a great job of blocking vibrations from spinning hard drives. The pads include wedges that allow the hard drive(s) enclosure to sit perfectly level on desk or floor.

Auralex MoPAD Monitor Isolation Pads
(leveling inserts not shown; can sit level too)