Leaving the machines on 24hrs a day would actually reduce the wear and tear on
them and may make them more reliable. They would, however, use more
electricity.
____kevin
Leaving them on would reduce wear and tear on the power supplies, but using
them 24 hours a day increases wear on the drives, and increases chances of a
network failure. (Still a minimal chance, but it's there)
–John
PS — Do you do your own taping?
>>24 hours a day increases wear on the drives…
I've heard both arguments on this one…
A: The most damage occurs during power-up. The drives need to spin-up to
operational speed and cooling/warming of chips may loosen them. Don't light
bulbs usually blow when you throw the switch?!?
B: Computer parts are generally rated with a mean time between failures: the
longer they run, the sooner they fail.
My policy… don't turn off the system when you go to lunch or to get a cup of
coffee, but DO turn it off if it will be unused overnight.