Reboot Server PC, Yes or No?

[Peter Hibbs]

In Access 2003 I have written a small database for a client. The BE on
the Server PC and a FE on each PC for each user. At the moment the
client has the Server PC permanently running 24 hours a day every day
(although the user's PCs are switched off each night).

As far as the database system is concerned, is it OK to never reboot
the Server PC or never to power it down. What would be the recommended
procedure regarding this?

TIA

Peter Hibbs.

 

[TedMi]

I have WinServer 2003 running in a small-office environment, with several
split databases. The server is rebooted only in these cases:
as required after Windows Update;
if the office closes for more than 4 days;
shutdown after a power outage (there is a UPS, but only provides 10 min or
power).

No problems with any of the Access databases or other shared elements.
-TedMi

 

[Peter Hibbs]

OK, that's good to know. Will pass that on to my client.

Thanks.

Peter Hibbs.

 

[Tony Toews [MVP]]

In Access 2003 I have written a small database for a client. The BE on
the Server PC and a FE on each PC for each user. At the moment the
client has the Server PC permanently running 24 hours a day every day
(although the user's PCs are switched off each night).

As far as the database system is concerned, is it OK to never reboot
the Server PC or never to power it down. What would be the recommended
procedure regarding this?

I'm with TedMi. Reboot the server when stuff happens or when patches
require it. Otherwise not required.

Tony

 

[Peter Hibbs]

OK, thanks Tony.

Peter Hibbs.

I'm with TedMi. Reboot the server when stuff happens or when patches
require it. Otherwise not required.

Tony

 

[David W. Fenton]

In Access 2003 I have written a small database for a client. The
BE on the Server PC and a FE on each PC for each user. At the
moment the client has the Server PC permanently running 24 hours a
day every day (although the user's PCs are switched off each
night).

As far as the database system is concerned, is it OK to never
reboot the Server PC or never to power it down. What would be the
recommended procedure regarding this?

Servers never get rebooted. Ever (except for updates that require
it).

A server is designed for the purpose of being up all the time.

In fact, I don't see much point in shutting down workstations every
day any more, as Windows since 2000 runs efficiently enough that
it's not a problem to leave it running for weeks and months at a
time. I do recommend sleep/hibernation mode, though, since that
saves power without causing long startup times.

Now, for workstations on a LAN with a file server, there's no need
for them to be on overnight.

But for standalone workstations that need to run backups and virus
scans during time when the machine is not on, it's better for them
to be left on and not in sleep/hibernation.

But servers shouldn't ever need to be rebooted, except for
extraordinary circumstances.

What prompts the question? Is there some issues that causes you to
ask?

 

[Peter Hibbs]

David,

As a matter of fact, there was. The client was having some trouble
getting the mail merge facility in the database to work properly. The
client is not especially 'computer literate' and as they are several
100 miles away I am debugging the problem by email. It transpired
that, due to an incorrect set up in the mail merge table in the
back-end, that several instances of Word were left running on the
Server PC. I got them to terminate those programs using the Windows
Task Manager but I was concerned that there may be other 'rogue'
processes running on the Server which may have adverse effects on the
database or other programs. I thought that a reboot of the Server PC
might flush out any unwanted processes and clean it up. Having said
that, they have not reported any more problems so maybe you are
correct (that there is no need to reboot).

I will advise them about the sleep/hibernation option, I'm not sure,
at the moment, what they do in this regard. I will investigate
further.

Thanks for your comments.

Peter Hibbs.

 

[Tony Toews [MVP]]

several instances of Word were left running on the
Server PC.

But they shouldn't be running Word or anything else like that on the
Server PC. That said if it's a small office well ...

Tony

 

[Peter Hibbs]

Tony,

Yes, it is a small office and they were only running the database mail
merge option on the Server as a temporary measure to check if the
problem was a network issue. Having said that, I don't know if they
use the Server PC as one of their workstations, I'm not there. I will
check that out, it is presumably preferable to have the Server PC
acting purely as a Server and not being used for day to day operations
by one of their users.

Peter Hibbs.

 

[David W. Fenton]

As a matter of fact, there was. The client was having some trouble
getting the mail merge facility in the database to work properly.
The client is not especially 'computer literate' and as they are
several 100 miles away I am debugging the problem by email. It
transpired that, due to an incorrect set up in the mail merge
table in the back-end, that several instances of Word were left
running on the Server PC. I got them to terminate those programs
using the Windows Task Manager but I was concerned that there may
be other 'rogue' processes running on the Server which may have
adverse effects on the database or other programs. I thought that
a reboot of the Server PC might flush out any unwanted processes
and clean it up. Having said that, they have not reported any more
problems so maybe you are correct (that there is no need to
reboot).

Is this a Terminal Server scenario? If so, logging off Remote
Desktop will release memory.

It it's not WTS/Citrix, then I seriously question a setup where
someone is running a user application on a server.

I will advise them about the sleep/hibernation option, I'm not
sure, at the moment, what they do in this regard. I will
investigate further.

This is for workstations only, not for servers, and it's highly
dependent on the vendor implementation of the interface between the
hardware and the relevant Windows APIs. I've been thrilled with how
well IBM ThinkPad/Lenovo laptops handle it, as have my clients (and
it's one of the main reasons ThinkPads are still the only laptops I
recommend to clients).

 

[Peter Hibbs]

David,

The network setup (as far as I know) is a simple system of 6 computers
connected together by a Switch with one PC being used as a Server for
the BE (and possibly other stored data).

The general consensus seems to be that the Server PC does not need to
be rebooted unless it is required as a result of some Windows update
or some major problem. I will pass that information on to my client.
Thanks to everyone for assistance on this question.

Peter Hibbs.

 

[David W. Fenton]

The general consensus seems to be that the Server PC does not need
to be rebooted unless it is required as a result of some Windows
update or some major problem. I will pass that information on to
my client.

But it should also *not be used as a workstation with that many
users. It's one thing to have 3 workstations and have one of them
functioning as a file server, but when you get up to 6 workstations,
it really makes no sense to have an in-use workstation functioning
as server. If you pro-rate the cost of the file server between the
workstations, it's really not very much incomparison to the cost of
an additional workstation.

 

[Roberto Alicer]

Roberto Alicer at www.vesseltracker.com, www.bobby.com

 

[Peter Hibbs]

Agreed. I will pass your comments on to my client.

Peter Hibbs.