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January 30, 2010 Show Notes (PodcastIT001):

"Do I need to shut down your computers when I leave for the day?"  This is an ongoing argument that has been going on for years.   Here are the pros and cons.

Leaving your computer on does use electricity, even in sleep and hibernate mode.  However, with more modern computers, the amount is small (comparable to a 100 W light bulb or even less in the power saving mode).  If you have a lot of computers (20+), you will definitely see this on your electricity bill.

Powering up and shutting down your computer every day also has its effects.  The "wear and tear" on various components (such as power switches, motors, and other mechanical devices) are a real issue.  Also the heads of your hard drive may be affected as well.  However, with more modern computers, this is also minimized.

Another argument is that the electrical systems may cause undue stress from a "cold" start.  Electrical systems operate best at an optimum cooler temperature.  This explains why IT rooms are colder and why fans are used inside computers themselves to remove heat.  Due to the high temperature output of computer systems, the internal fans and the colder room helps to minimize the systems from overheating, and allows them to operate at an optimum temperature.  Overheating will definitely harm or destroy your system.  However, a cold start in such an environment may also hinder your system's performance and cause possible damage.

There are obvious advantages to having your computer system on overnight.  If you are running your maintenance, virus scans, and backups for example, you don't want to waste an hour or more of valuable production time during business hours while you are waiting for your system to optimize.  It would be better if you can do these tasks overnight.

There are also other settings that can be used such as sleep mode and hibernate mode that will help with the power consumption, but make sure you test your system first if you expect your overnight routines to "wake up" when you want them to run.  At the minimum, make sure that your monitor shuts off - monitors are notorious for using a lot of energy, so this would be a smart move.

Better Systems Tech Tip:  If you don't expect to run any maintenance or anti-virus programs overnight, the decision to shut down, or leave on, your computer on may not be foremost on your mind.  However, you can be more productive with an optimized system during your working hours if you did.  The benefits offset the additional power usage.  Finally, compared to the downtime that can result with a non-optimized system, or one that fails completely, then there is no comparison.

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