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mugwump · Mar 8, 2001, 12:07 PM

Do the specs for a Powerbook allow it to run all the time?

Since my Powerbook 145 in '92, I have always put my 'books to sleep when not in use. But lately I desire to keep my G3 400 running day and night as a web server.

This should be fine, right?

Funny how no posts mention how well the macs are constructed. Why is it that PC's often melt down after a few years, while FOR THE MOST PART, macs keep on trucking? I'm sure some horror stories exist, even with certain LEMON apple models. But it seems clear that if no problems in the first year, the macs seem to persevere. Is it just good components?

spike · Mar 8, 2001, 12:37 PM

I even got a mac SE from '84 running like a swiss watch

tooki · Mar 8, 2001, 12:54 PM

The PowerBook should be just fine. There's nothing instrinsically more fragile about it -- the only reason desktop machines often outlast notebooks is because they don't get schlepped everywhere

I actually think the idea of a notebook as a server is great -- they use little space, they have built-in, long-lasting UPSes... sounds like a good server to me!

Good luck!

tooki

Mar 8, 2001, 12:58 PM

Why would you want to use a laptop as a server? That defeats one of the big advantages of a laptop. Namely, you can take it with you. Not so easy when it's hooked up to an Ethernet cable all the time. Unless it's a really, really, really, really long Ethernet cable.

You'd be better off buying a cheap desktop machine as a server. You can find the old Power Computing clones for less than $100 stripped on eBay.

Fyre4ce · Mar 8, 2001, 01:11 PM

Remember that laptops have very poor hard disk performance. Just be aware of that if you're trying to run a server.

BTW, do you know what "mugwump" means? It's a Native American term that means "mug on one side of the fence, wump on the other." Don't ask me!

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Fyre4ce

"I need a vacation." - Terminator robot

ddiokno · Mar 8, 2001, 02:01 PM

Originally posted by mugwump:
This should be fine, right?

Shouldn't be a problem... All of my machines are on 24/7... I have them running SETI@home when I am not using the computers... several machines of which have been/are Powerbooks... haven't seen a meltdown yet...
If you do set your powerbook up as a server, you'll want to take some measures to ensure the integrity of the screen, such as setting it to go to sleep after X amount of minutes... but other than that, you should be okay...
dave

PowerBookDude · Mar 8, 2001, 02:27 PM

Originally posted by ddiokno:
Shouldn't be a problem... All of my machines are on 24/7... I have them running SETI@home when I am not using the computers... several machines of which have been/are Powerbooks... haven't seen a meltdown yet...
If you do set your powerbook up as a server, you'll want to take some measures to ensure the integrity of the screen, such as setting it to go to sleep after X amount of minutes... but other than that, you should be okay...
dave

I thought I read on these forums or MacAddict's that when a PowerBook or iBook goes to sleep it cuts the connection to the Internet and probably to everything else (USB, FireWire etc) in order to save power.

It would make sense.

Just trying to help.

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Ti 500/384/20/Airport
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Pismo 500/256/12/Airport
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iMac DV SE 400/128/12/Airport
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iBook Blueberry 300/96/3/Airport

ddiokno · Mar 8, 2001, 02:34 PM

Originally posted by PowerBookDude:
I thought I read on these forums or MacAddict's that when a PowerBook or iBook goes to sleep it cuts the connection to the Internet and probably to everything else (USB, FireWire etc) in order to save power.
It would make sense.
Just trying to help.

In your energy saver settings, you can customize what goes to "sleep" and what doesn't. I have my machines set to turn the screen off after 15 minutes of inactivity, but the hard drive set to never sleep.... so NO, the machine is still very much active crunching units for SETI...
MUGWUMP, if you do set your machine up as a server and keep it running at night, you should think about joining the SETI@home team here at MacNN...
dave

denim · Mar 8, 2001, 02:43 PM

Originally posted by Binky:
Why would you want to use a laptop as a server?

Because it's

paid for
too slow for anything else
too old for current software

...perhaps?

PowerBookDude · Mar 8, 2001, 02:54 PM

Originally posted by ddiokno:

Originally posted by PowerBookDude:
I thought I read on these forums or MacAddict's that when a PowerBook or iBook goes to sleep it cuts the connection to the Internet and probably to everything else (USB, FireWire etc) in order to save power.
It would make sense.
Just trying to help.

In your energy saver settings, you can customize what goes to "sleep" and what doesn't. I have my machines set to turn the screen off after 15 minutes of inactivity, but the hard drive set to never sleep.... so NO, the machine is still very much active crunching units for SETI...
MUGWUMP, if you do set your machine up as a server and keep it running at night, you should think about joining the SETI@home team here at MacNN...
dave

I thought you meant to put the computer to sleep not to dim the screen.

lucylawless · Mar 8, 2001, 04:16 PM

Originally posted by Fyre4ce:
Remember that laptops have very poor hard disk performance. Just be aware of that if you're trying to run a server.

I second that. Admittedly, my bad experiences could be the result of one bad drive (Hitachi), but I tried running a hotline server from my Pismo 400, and it lasted for about 2 days before the hard drive died (bad block on surface) and had to be replaced. Besides that, it crashed about once a month before that happened. It could be that brand, or that drive, or the fact that it was small enough for a laptop....

mugwump · Mar 8, 2001, 07:44 PM

Funny, last week the $250,000 question on Who Wants to be a Millionare was "What is a mugwump?" No joke.

The answer they listed was someone who bolted from the Republican party in the 19th century. I got it from the movie Naked Lunch, which is somewhat based on the book.

Anyhoo, I wonder where a good resource is for web server questions. When someone mentioned that every OS X will be an Apache Web Server, I finally checked out the "web server" control panel in OS9.

Wow, what a concept that web sharing is. But how would I direct my domain name to it? To switch I have to list the ns1, ns2 name (not ip address). Do I just add ns1 and ns2 prefix to the static ip name found in the "copy web address" menu?? Geesh...but kewl.

Mar 8, 2001, 11:04 PM

Originally posted by denim:
Because it's
paid for

too slow for anything else

too old for current software

...perhaps?

He was talking about a G3/400, hardly a potential doorstop. As for "paid for," unless it's a really old PB, you can still sell it and put together a decent desktop server with a lot of fast HD drives. Pick up a sub-$100 clone, throw in a couple of 40GB HDs and you'd still come out ahead.

niacin · Mar 9, 2001, 10:02 AM

My Pismo/400 is connected to my dorm ethernet, and usually is never switched off, unless the computer hangs or I take the computer out
So far so good after almost half a year.

I think computers are built for this 24/7 treatment. That's why they have sleep modes - to allow them to rest when there's no activity..

ddiokno · May 30, 2001, 04:14 PM

bringing this back up to the top....
dave

jobsconscience · May 30, 2001, 05:03 PM

Originally posted by Binky:
He was talking about a G3/400, hardly a potential doorstop. As for "paid for," unless it's a really old PB, you can still sell it and put together a decent desktop server with a lot of fast HD drives. Pick up a sub-$100 clone, throw in a couple of 40GB HDs and you'd still come out ahead.

Although...can you run OSX on the clones?...If not then forget running Apache...