I dunno if disabling those fans is a good idea. It looks to me like their primary purpose is to cool the PSU.

You can get away with a fan-less hub if the PSU is external, like the wall-wart unit that comes with my Linksys switch. But if you have a built-in PSU like that, I think you're taking a risk if you don't cool it.

Just my theory. I could be wrong. The question is... do you feel lucky?
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Tony Fabris