Keeping computers switched on?

Our office is closed over the Christmas break – what should we do with our computers ?

The easy answer, is that if no-one needs them, then switch them off!

The advice used to be that important computers should be left on as turning computers on and off exposed them to an electrical phenomenon called thermal shock. Nowadays computer designs are much improved and the impact/risks associated with them being turned on and their components warming up to their operating temperature is much reduced.

We also now live in a more environmentally aware society and one where energy costs have increased dramatically and if your pcs and servers are sitting there idle but using power you are throwing money away.

Of course you never just turn computers off, especially servers. You shut them down using the operating system. If you are using UPSs then you need to hit the power button on the UPS to turn the UPSs off as well, once the equipment it is supplying has completed their shut down of course.

When powering up, generally you should switch on your network and internet equipment first. Then your servers, turning on any ancillary components like external tapes drives, robotic libraries or disk arrays first. Once your servers are up and running then you can power on your pcs.

Please note this is general advice! Check with your support company if in any doubt about your systems. For example, we can’t turn off some of our servers equipment, as part of our proactive support service we are continuously gathering performance and alert information from our clients systems, servers and firewalls.