micbbc
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Shutdown PC or not?
I have approx 25 W2K workstations on the network. I have always thought it was best to leave PC's on permenantly 24/7. Out of hour administration takes place during the night. I was under the impression that powering off PC's and then booting up daily reduced the life time of the hardware. Is this correct?
We currently get approx 3-4yrs life span out of our workstations. Would be interested to know what your opinions are.
Thanks, Mike
We currently get approx 3-4yrs life span out of our workstations. Would be interested to know what your opinions are.
Thanks, Mike
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It also depends on the parts used in those PC's. Often consumer type HD's aren't built to run 24/7, and by keeping these running you will get a lower life-cycle out of them. Most standard PC's only use consumer type HD's for cost reasons. Servers normally use disks that are meant to run 24/7, but these are normally more expensive, make and more noise, have lower capacity and usually are SCSI disks, all that makes them not ideal to run on a standard PC. Of course there are HD's built for PC's that are quite OK to run 24/7, but you should check for such specs on the manufacturer's homepage. These types of disks will normally last longer if not turned off all the time. Most other parts in a PC aren't as sensitive to 24/7 running. Be sure to regularly clean out the dust and check the fans on these PC's, as they will attract more dust, blocking the airflow and causing the PC to overheat.
i agree with all of the above; just want to add this :
even if it is true that the poweroff/on cycle can reduce the MTBF of a PC, i think it was more of a problem years ago, when all the hardware was more of a "new development" thing, with its childs diseases. I have my customers turn off all computers every day, and i must say the last 4-5 years there are next to none problems with it, wile there were some before.
Most of the earlier problems were caused by heat crimping and expanding, which seems now to be much better controlled.
even if it is true that the poweroff/on cycle can reduce the MTBF of a PC, i think it was more of a problem years ago, when all the hardware was more of a "new development" thing, with its childs diseases. I have my customers turn off all computers every day, and i must say the last 4-5 years there are next to none problems with it, wile there were some before.
Most of the earlier problems were caused by heat crimping and expanding, which seems now to be much better controlled.
I will suggest that you put just the monitors off even if you will leave the system running cos they generate quite an amount of heat except of course if you are not using a CRT Monitor.
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