[WinMac] re: restarting servers
Jeff Wechter(jeff[at]azimuthco.com)
> From: "Jeff Johnson" <jjohnson@wi.net> > Subject: restarting servers > Date: Thu, 16 Dec 1999 08:51:09 -0600 > > Is there any rule-of-thumb for restarting servers? I've had a couple of > distinctly different opinions on this. A network engineer (CNE, MCSE) told > me to restart all my servers as a matter of maintenance ever 1-2 weeks. > Another (CNE) said to never restart a server until they start acting up. > > I'm interested in any other thoughts on this and reasoning to back it up.
My firsthand experience is in in DTP environments and offices with 12/5 work weeks (not 24/7); Macs running ASIP 5.0.3 and 6.2, and an Alpha with NT4/SP5 running SFM.
I restart my servers *on demand,* usually either because they are misbehaving or when software gets updated.
The dream/goal is to set it and forget it. The reality is a restart every 1-6 months. I think that a proactive restart of a server once a month is a reasonable preventive maintenance schedule, kind of like an oil change for a car every 3,000 miles. It probably helps more than it hurts.
FWIW, the Macs I tend have been excellent and have NEVER required a restart to correct a problem in the two years I've been administering them. Not all users have such good fortune. Also the demands on them are relatively modest compared to more server-intensive environments (e.g. Universities, WWW server, etc.).
The NT is needier and odious at times; it could probably be fine-tuned for greater reliability. It does get restarted once a month mainly to run DSKCHK and rebuild the SFM volumes which seem to almost always have problems.
$.02 US.
jw
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