Plurality of configurable independent compute nodes sharing a fan assembly

A system, comprising:

• a chassis including a plurality of modules and a fan assembly disposed in a distal end of the chassis for drawing air in parallel pathways through the plurality of modules, wherein at least one of the plurality of modules is a compute module, each compute module including a processor mounted on a motherboard and a thermal sensor disposed to sense the temperature of air flowing across the processor, wherein the thermal sensor provides an output signal that varies according to the temperature;
• and
• a fan controller receiving output from the thermal sensor of each compute module, wherein the fan controller operates the fan assembly to cool the plurality of modules and maintain the thermal sensor output within an operating temperature range, and wherein the fan controller controls the fan speed according to predetermined thermal profile settings associated with one of the compute modules received in the chassis, wherein the predetermined thermal profile settings include a minimum fan speed, a maximum fan speed, and control loop feedback settings.