Power settings for an SBS 2003, what do you do???

[estwig]

Hi,

We are attempting to screw down our electric bill, it is currently over £100.00 a month.

So we now shut down our 6 PC's when they are not being used, turn off printers, etc and have fitted them low power bulbs wherever possible, (the kids will leave lights on, grh!)


But what to do with the SBS 2003??

Can it be set to some kind of wake on Lan, or somefink, whereby it goes to sleep, hibernates or switches off until one of the PC's tries to connect to it??

Is this the way forward??

What do you do with yours??


Any help or pointers would be appreciated, £100 a month on leccy is crazy and we wanna get it down as much as possible.

:)

[stugster]

First question to you sir:

What does the SBS do in your office?

[estwig]

Annoys the hell outta me!!

It erm, not being sarcastic, serves files and sends email to all the PC's, that's about it.

Oh and we have Outlook on all the PC's so calenders and to do lists are all synced.

[stugster]

If you shut it down, will emails sent during that time be lost? How does your email come in to it?

[estwig]

No emails won't be lost, they will sit on the web thingy until the server goes and gets them.

[stugster]

Ok... well if you're sure :)


I'd run a scheduled task [i.e. automatic shutdown] at 10pm at night (or whenever) that tells it to shut down. Then in the morning, at 8am (or whatever) boot it up by hitting the power button before you start. Your only manual thing you have to do is in the morning push the power button.

How does that idea sound?

[estwig]

Sounds very simple, probably the easiest answer by far.

Could it also be set to wake at a certain time?? Cause it takes for ever to boot up and settle down.

[stugster]

If the machine is shut down, the only way (I can think of) is to have it Wake on LAN (if the Network Card supports it). Assuming it does, you'd need another box to do the waking anyway.

Can Mrs Estwig not push the button when she opens the curtains and then brings you breakfast in bed?

[estwig]

The box is a standard PC that just happens to have sbs loaded onto it, don't know if that makes any difference??

The other thing I just remembered, whoops!! When I go to shut it down it says something about, if I shut it down it might be a b8tch to fire up again, it doesn't have it's own screen, I get to it via a desktop connection.


Breakfast in bed, I'll be lucky, usually outta the house before anyone else is even up!!
;)

[estwig]

Just been for a look and I think what it is telling me is to push the button to start it. Nothing too complicated then.:redface:

I don't know why, but I am petrified of the thing, I know my way round a PC no probs, but this thing, I haven't got a clue and it scares me.

:)

[stugster]

That's ok... as long as the BIOS isn't really stupid, it'll continue to boot up and open network connections to the router/switch.

I'll have a look at this Wake On LAN thing - depending on your setup, it might be an option.

The shutdown thing is easy though.

1) Open NOTEPAD on the server
2) Type:

%windir%\System32\Shutdown.exe -s

3) Click File > Save As
4) Locate C:\ and get ready to save it in there. Change the drop down menu "Save as type" to "All Files *.*". Change filename to: keith.bat (or shutdown.bat).
5) Click Save

6) Click START > Accessories > System Tools > Scheduled Tasks
7) Open "Add Scheduled Task" click Next.
8) When it asks you for the program you want Windows to run, click BROWSE.
9) Find the .bat file you saved earlier.
10) Click DAILY (perform this task:)
11) Start Time: 22:00 (yeah, 24 hour clocks Keith!:D)
12) Pop in the password for Administrator (twice!)
13) Click FINISH and your computer will automatically shut down at that time every night.

[computer storm]

Have to agree with Stu on this one what he has put is your best option,

[computer storm]

I'll have a look at this Wake On LAN thing - depending on your setup, it might be an option.

Its a shame that it isnt a full server as you would be able if it was a HP to use the ILO to start the machine up and also shut it down. The other thing you have to remember is that the backups will not be run if you turn your server off at the end of everyday, i take it you do do backups of your server.

[estwig]

Thanks Stu, done.

:)

[KM-Tiger]

Hmm.

Might be more trouble than it's worth, as I doubt that's where your major LX use is coming from. I've got 4 servers running here 24/7 and I don't spend £100/month.

[An Oasis]

Hey Keith

DON'T PUSH THAT BUTTON!:eek:

Get rid of the kids it's waaaaaaaaaaaay cheaper.;)

[stugster]

K: when the server is fully shut down, pull it out and see if there's still a wee light flashing on the back of the computer (where the network cable plugs in).

Or better still, fire me an email with your connection details for the server, and I'll see if we can set you up with Automated Wake On Lan :D

[estwig]

Hmm.

Might be more trouble than it's worth, as I doubt that's where your major LX use is coming from. I've got 4 servers running here 24/7 and I don't spend £100/month.

erm, caught me!!!

:)

It might have something to do with the 28 separate lights we have in our kitchen alone.
16 in the lounge.
8 in the bathroom
big telly
plus 2 more tellys
mobiles
7 x puters
1 x pda
tomtom
endless mobiles
TV distribution amps
stereo amp
tuner
dvd players
Wii
PS3
nintendo ds x 2
3 x extractor fans
sky
pda
2 x routers
1 x switch
3 x printers
4 x stereos
speakers
stereo in the kitchen
outside lights
endless table lamps
kids who leave things on!!

Modern life is enough to make you dizzy!!!

You get the idea, my penchant for all things running on the leccy is getting outta control!!!

:)

[estwig]

I'll have a look at the light thingy, thanks Stu, let you know.

:)

[estwig]

Its a shame that it isnt a full server as you would be able if it was a HP to use the ILO to start the machine up and also shut it down. The other thing you have to remember is that the backups will not be run if you turn your server off at the end of everyday, i take it you do do backups of your server.

That's a good point, it backs up to a usb hard drive 3 times a week in the early hours of the morning.

[KM-Tiger]

It might have something to do with the 28 separate lights we have in our kitchen alone.
16 in the lounge.
8 in the bathroom
big telly
plus 2 more tellys
mobiles
7 x puters
1 x pda
tomtom
endless mobiles
TV distribution amps
stereo amp
tuner
dvd players
Wii
PS3
nintendo ds x 2
3 x extractor fans
sky
pda
2 x routers
1 x switch
3 x printers
4 x stereos
speakers
stereo in the kitchen
outside lights
endless table lamps
kids who leave things on!!

Modern life is enough to make you dizzy!!!

You get the idea, my penchant for all things running on the leccy is getting outta control!!!

:)

Washing machine, dishwasher? They are big power users. Do you run them at night on the low rate tariff?

[estwig]

No mate we don't, and there's the tumble dryer.

[Tej]

All that for £100 a month and you are moaning?.....lol
perhaps they are undercharging you:)

[CrispyUK]

As a quick and dirty alternative to WOL, you can quite often set a system to power up each day at a specific time in the BIOS - might be worth looking at if WOL isn't possible/straightforward :)

[stugster]

Your issue with backups isn't really a problem - you can adjust the time that they're made.

Depending on how much data you're backing up, you could just have it start at the end of the evening (Say at around 4.30pm). By 10pm, I'm pretty confident it'll be all backed up :) If you're really scared... have backups start early in the morning (Machine boots up at 6.30am, backups start at 7am, machine shuts down at 8pm).

[PureIT]

Most BIOS' have a 'Power on' option - well on HP kit anyway, even Apple OS lets you power the machine on at a certain time. All my Apple client Mac's power on at 0600 so I can run patches etc before they get into work.

Have a look in your BIOS - you might be able to set it to power on at a certain time

Cheers

James

[Comspec]

I'd be tempted to leave the server alone K tbh.

Just take stock of everything else (the 6 Pc's will definitely help if shut down), then see what difference it makes. The server alone will not make much difference, particularly if it is only really a normal PC.

To cause disruption to your backups, plus have the hassle of waiting on it to boot eachday - not worth it in my book mate.