Running laptop 24/7

[Tigris]

Hi there,

I am using some software which requires my laptop to be on all the time.

Would anyone advise paying for a remote virtual machine service as this would probably workout cheaper than leaving my laptop on 24/7.

Thanks

 

[Ian Sutherland]

Hi,
I can probably give you some idea of costs for this as it's a service our company provides. Do you mind me asking what the software is or what its for, how you use it, and why it needs to be running all the time?
There may be some other benefits that running a virtual machine may provide.

 

[Tigris]

Hi,
I can probably give you some idea of costs for this as it's a service our company provides. Do you mind me asking what the software is or what its for, how you use it, and why it needs to be running all the time?
There may be some other benefits that running a virtual machine may provide.

The program will be used to automate tasks.

It will not be making me any money and is just for fun so it may not be worth me using a virtual machine service if the cost is to much. I did read one from somewhere was £2.50 a month and other places £25+.

 

[Ian Sutherland]

It would probably be closer to the latter for a managed solution

 

[Tigris]

It would probably be closer to the latter for a managed solution

Yeah, may not be worth it then because all I want it for is to put one small program on the virtual desktop and leave it running 24/7

 

[WESH.UK]

Hi Beav

Best thing you can do is to simply remove the laptop battery so as not to fry it and have it constantly charging, which will help prevent your energy bill being higher than it needs to be.

An alternative would be to by a very cheap laptop from eBay or Facebook marketplace for £50 or less, and just use that (Minus the battery)

 

[arnydnxluk]

It's true you can pick up a hosted VM from about £2.50/month but if you need to run Windows, expect to pay extra. For example Vultr do a 1GB VM at $5/month but if you want Windows it's going to be another $16/month. I would budget £15 - £25 per month.

I definitely think the VM is the better overall option - it's nice to know you can use your laptop as usual and take it anywhere while the automated tasks continue in the background - but it may not be worth the cost for personal needs.

 

[mattk]

I agree with @WESH.UK, rather than your electricity bill I'd be more concerned with damaging your laptop. Batteries are one thing, but I would be worried about cooling as laptops generally only have puny fans, Running one constantly could potentially risk overheating.

Does the application really need to be running constantly? Could the tasks be run in batches potentially utilising a schedule facility that comes with your web hosting?

 

[Tigris]

Hi Beav

Best thing you can do is to simply remove the laptop battery so as not to fry it and have it constantly charging, which will help prevent your energy bill being higher than it needs to be.

An alternative would be to by a very cheap laptop from eBay or Facebook marketplace for £50 or less, and just use that (Minus the battery)

My laptop has no battery in it anyway. It was a refurbished HP and the battery didn't last long before failing to charge so I just removed it I have been looking at a nice neat Asus Zenbook but that's for another post, lol.

I'm currently using the HP elitebook 8460P, i5/i8/ssd. Even though it is a 14" screen it's very chunky.

Just looked at the software support and been recommended this "https://www.3essentials.com/?a_aid=3bcf7fcc". $3.99 option.

 

[arnydnxluk]

Just looked at the software support and been recommended this "https://www.3essentials.com/?a_aid=3bcf7fcc". $3.99 option.

That's a shared website hosting plan, so you wouldn't be able to run a typical windows program using that plan. Unless the software is something web based?

 

[Tigris]

That's a shared website hosting plan, so you wouldn't be able to run a typical windows program using that plan. Unless the software is something web based?

Damn. Looks like ile run it from my laptop for now and see how its goes. May just turn it off either whilst im at work or overnight.

Laptop is actually staying very cool as its only a very basic bot that is running.

 

[WESH.UK]

As its just a scheduled task on your computer, and as you mentioned it makes you no money, using any web hosting for it will be a total waste of both time and money. In fact, if it makes no money, then why not just run it only when your laptop is on as its just for fun?

rather than your electricity bill I'd be more concerned with damaging your laptop.

So long as there is no battery constantly charging, you cannot damage a laptop by leaving it running 24/7, in a suitable environment. The cooling inside a laptop is designed around the spec of it and the power it uses.

This is why there are no 5Ghz laptops, and why there is a mobile version of graphics chipsets, as they run on far less power, and so don't damage a laptop, so unless you are working inside an oven, with zero ventilation, you will be ok, as most decent computers will just shut-down if they are overheated.

 

[Nico Albrecht]

Get yourself for £72 of ebay a Beelink Z83-V Windows 10 MINI PC Smart TV Box Intel 32GB/2GB 4K 2*WiFi Bluetooth. Work via remote desktop from your laptop and have this low power consumption device running 24/7

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Sounds like Bitcoin mining

 

[alan1302]

Sounds like Bitcoin mining

A laptop won't be any use for bitcoin mining - you need a lot more power than a laptop can give.

 

[SteveHa]

It'd be nice to know what it IS going to be doing. A raspberry PI may be enough, with running costs in the pennies per month.

 

[Jhon4777]

try contacting some server guy he can probably help.

 

[David Beach]

It'd be nice to know what it IS going to be doing. A raspberry PI may be enough, with running costs in the pennies per month.

a pi would be a cheap cost, for simplicity a windows machine would work but strip down all the unnecessarily installed software that will run in the background to reduce power costs but also reduce ware and tare on the machine and reduce te chance of some random 3rd party software screwing up your job.

 

[Tigris]

Its not bitcoin mining.

I purchased a new laptop and will keep my old one for running the software 24/7

Thanks for the replys guys.

 

[Hostora]

Personally, I would recommend paying a small fee for a VPS, using your laptop can cause the battery to fail faster, overheating, generally not good for any tech to be on 24/7 and what if there's a power cut (no wifi)

 

[Neromare Works]

I'm pretty much positive you will soon burn through your CPU/GPU fan. Prepare a whole batch of them. Newer laptops are junk. Older ones are better, but still I would not recommend running a laptop 24/7. It's not made for that.

And you need to clear the RAM memory by restarting, and it will accumulate errors. A laptop will not have an ECC memory. A server will have. A server is made to be ran 24/7 and most of them have a redundancy (two power supplies), plus hot swaps.

You want to get a Porsche 911 GT3 RS and go drive through a river of mud. Doesn't work like that.

 

[Tigris]

GT3 RS, beautiful car

I'm running an older laptop now and it's doing the task 12 hours a day (maybe a little less) then it's turned off

Thanks for the replies