Will hibernate/standby protect pc from extreme heat? 1

[jpm3]

Will hibernate or standby mode protect a server from extreme high temperatures (85-90 degrees F)? Our Florida company moved to a building with NO a/c on Sundays, and even with a portable A/C unit running 24/7 in the server room it still hits mid 80's on Sunday afternoon (and it's only May!).

My commute is 1.5 hours and it's impossible for me to shutdown Fridays and turn up on Mondays, and the boss often comes in on Saturday.

So I hoped to set up scheduled tasks on all 3 servers to hibernate Sat 4pm / wake from hibernation Mon 6:30am, if that would save them from the heat. Any advice / war stories would be great to hear. Thanks ...

 

[LloydSev]

hrmmm.. sounds like you need a second A/C unit, or just a better 1.

Do you keep the server room sealed most of the time? Because having it open would also cause it to stay warm.



Computer/Network Technician
CCNA

 

[jpm3]

It's a 7500 BTU venting into ceiling space. The room is 5' x 12' and the door is supposedly closed all the time. But there is a west window (tinted and covered by closed mini-blinds). It's freezing in there all week (low 60's) but the temperature logger shows mid-80's on Sunday afternoon. Reason for concern.

If I can get the task scheduler to hibernate/wake, will it protect the servers?

 

[N0ktar]

If you have a good heat sink/fan combo on your CPUs I wouldn't worry about hibernation. It is pretty much impossible to 'fry' a Pentium 4 processor, even after removing the heat sink. P4 remains operational even once the thermal catastrophe took place or the heat sink fell off.

 

[sab4you]

sounds like asking for trouble to me
i.e. premature server failures such as hard drives dying

can you host the servers in another location?

 

[jpm3]

Thanks --

Going with hibernation, what is considered "period of inactivity" for a server to go into/come out of hibernation? If a workstation requests documents on a hibernating server, would that wake it? Or is mouse/keyboard activity (or a scheduled job) required? I can't find any details on this ...

 

[GlenJohnson]

Why does the air get turned off on the weekend? The cost of replacing the server is going to be higher than the electric to cool it. Why not just adjust the a/c so it's not as cold? Just a thought.

Glen A. Johnson
To get the best awnsers to your questions, check out faq950-5848
If your from the Chicagoland area, check out Tek-Tips in Chicago IL

 

[jpm3]

We lease space in a building with no a/c on Sunday. So the portable in the server room is on it's own that day.

Thank you all for your replies. I guess I'm hearing that hibernation is too risky. What temperature level would give YOU cause for alarm?

 

[dkediger]

With the portable AC venting into the ceiling - is the ceiling plenum sealed from re-entering the room? Most ceiling return air vents are simply openings into the ceiling space with no actual ductwork installed. This would allow the vented warm air from the portable AC to reenter your server room via the return air vent.

 

[jpm3]

Thanks dkediger, I'll have to check that. I assumed the vents all had sealed ductwork behind them.