Restarting Server.

[da644]

Hi.

We have an NT4.0 server running IIS4 and ColdFusion 4.5. It has all the latest service packs and security fixes installed. When we got the server we where advised by the hosting company to set the server to restart everyday to stop memory leaks and other problems. However, we have recently been having some problems with the server and have been advised by someone else that restarting it each and every day is not a good idea.

It has been suggested to never restart the server useless completely necessary and just to restart problem service each day.

I would like to get a feeling of what other people think, so, please let me know your thoughts on the matter.

Thanks

Andrew.

 

[Required]

Personally, I wouldn't recommend to restart the server with such a frequency. I would suggest something between once a week and once a month (or only when it seems to be unstable).
Rebooting is an easy workaround for memory leaks but if there are memory leaks, it would be much better to find the application responsible for this and have it fixed, eventhough it is more complicated .

 

[zoeythecat]

I agree with Required. To add something here, if you are getting memory leaks your best bet would be to upgrade the memory as much as your budget will allow. Memory is cheap now adays. Max it out if you can. We have Dell servers in my environment with over a Gig of RAM and we have no problems. We reboot when necessary but even in my environment it is good to reboot the servers at least once a month. I'm guessing if you need to reboot your server even once a week than you should analyze your Servers to see if it needs additional memory or a faster processor or a faster hard drive with more disk space. You get the idea.

 

[da644]

Hi Guys...

Thanks for that... it was not that we have been suffering from memory leaks, it was that we where too by the engineer at the hosting company that because NT was so prone to them that it was worth setting the system to restart everyday... I was not with the company at that time and personally I've always thought it sounded a bit silly to restart so offen. I've now disabled the restart and I will keep a close eye on it just to be sure....

If anyone else has any thoughts about this subject I would love to hear them.

BTW, do anyone know of an application that would allow us to monitor the server remotely... i.e. over the net... without have to PCAnywhere into it each time... something like a report about memory status, cpu usage, service status etc... maybe via a web page or any email at intervals or something??? Any ideas???

Best Regards

Andrew.

 

[chavron]

IIS and cold fusion are such common programs that if they did cause memory leaks to any extreme degree, users would raise such noise about it that they'd be fixed quickly. if those are the only programs ran, you shouldnt have to worry much about rebooting every day.
you can probably get more than a month uptime there..

maybe the hosting company guy thought you said Windows 95 instead of NT?

 

[da644]

No, I think he was just crap... he should have knowing what the OS was as it was him who build the machine!!!! He is not with them anymore... I wonder why!!!!!

Thanks.

Andrew.