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Re: Mac OS X computers restarting

On Apr 15, 2004, at 9:49 PM, Romeyn Prescott wrote:

I'm interested if anyone has any definitive information on this. I would have thought the exact opposite...that leaving them running all the time (hard drives) is LESS wear and tear! It's easier to keep something spinning at 7200 RPMs than it is to make it go from 0-7200 in a few seconds!

See below for an explanation of why stopping is beneficial. The problem, and what causes much of the controversy for computers, is that mechanical equipment experiences wear when its running and that's what causes them to break down. On the other hand, solid-state electronics experience negligible wear when running. Its the stress caused by thermal expansion/contraction when the systems are turned on (warmed up) and turned off (cooled down). Ever notice how light bulbs almost always burn out when you turn them on, not after they've been on for a while?

So continuous running is bad for mechanical parts, but (relatively) good for electronics, while turning off and on is good for mechanical parts and bad for electronics. Since a computer is a combination of both, take your pick :-)

So I split the difference using Energy Saver. I put the drives to sleep to minimize mechanical wear -pick a time limit that prevents it from spinning down very often during the day. I don't let the systems sleep (all those housekeeping jobs run, never had to worry about being able to connect remotely and it bypasses many of the wake-from-sleep bugs that pop up from time-to-time). I also put the monitors to sleep to save energy.

In the end, what works best all depends on priorities -its all about tradeoffs. By not putting the systems to sleep, it costs more in electricity, probably doesn't extend the life of the machines significantly, but it has saved me a lot of hassles.


They say the worst thing you can do to your car's engine is start it up; that's when most of an engine's wear takes place because all the lubrication (oil) is in the pan and not on the parts that need lubricating. I know there's no oil in a hard drive, but I always figured the basic principle was the same.

Yes, starting the engine is about the hardest thing on it, but it (hopefully) only takes a second or two to do. But wear also takes place while its running, just at a much slower rate, so one start may be equivalent to minutes or hours (just guessing) of running. So if its going to be off for a while, turn it off. If you're going to be starting it up again right away, leave it running.

-Mike
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References: 
 >RE: Mac OS X computers restarting (From: "Fendley, Matthew" <email@hidden>)
 >RE: Mac OS X computers restarting (From: Romeyn Prescott <email@hidden>)



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