PC "always on"

badbob · 23 Dec 2007 at 23:39

How would you setup a PC that no matter what it's always on and idling away? I know a UPS will protect it against power outages, but what if the power is out for half a day, the UPS will shut the computer down. Can the UPS power the PC back up?

Mattus · 23 Dec 2007 at 23:43

I don't know much about UPSs, but I do know that many motherboards can be set so that in the event of a power outage, the board will automatically restart the system when AC power comes back online.

helmutcheese · 23 Dec 2007 at 23:44

Very rare in this day and age to get powerouts, can happen though.

You would need to look at UPS that have X hours of use.

I personally dont see why any home user (no matter what excuse they make) needs this 24/7, 365 days a year running.

jak731 · 23 Dec 2007 at 23:45

having your own generator to power your pc and a UPS to allow you time to switch between the mains and the generator may be an idea. i have no idea if it is possible or how much it could cost though

PhillyDee · 23 Dec 2007 at 23:45

Could be after CCTV while they are holiday . . . .

jaric · 23 Dec 2007 at 23:47

There is usually an option in the BIOS that you can set which determines the behaviour after a power loss. Normally you have the options - off/on/last state. If you set it to on then when the power returns the PC should power back up automatically.

badbob · 24 Dec 2007 at 00:19

helmutcheese said:
I personally dont see why any home user (no matter what excuse they make) needs this 24/7, 365 days a year running.

It's a CI home audio Squeezebox server, no matter what when he uses the SB it'll be ready. I've got a SB server myself UPS too but haven't played around with powering on after UPS has shut off the PC due to run down battery

Very rare in this day and age to get powerouts, can happen though.

10 outages in a day, and was burning discs off and transferring data over the LAN.

dss · 24 Dec 2007 at 09:24

yeh, i live in a village where powerecuts are fairly common, it's annoying

Edinho · 24 Dec 2007 at 09:29

dss said:
yeh, i live in a village where powerecuts are fairly common, it's annoying

Same here. Tends to happen in more inclement weather. Being a village probably doesnt have the backup that a city has, and is more prone to a cable downed by a tree or lightening.

Best would be to have some sort of set up where if there is a cut the pc remains off until reest by a breaker. Would be the safest and less likely to come back to a smoldering house.

Phil2008 · 24 Dec 2007 at 11:24

badbob said:
How would you setup a PC that no matter what it's always on and idling away? I know a UPS will protect it against power outages, but what if the power is out for half a day, the UPS will shut the computer down. Can the UPS power the PC back up?

I can remember reading somewhere that my belkin 1200va can turn my system back on when the power is restored, but I havent tried this.

YZFAndy · 24 Dec 2007 at 18:18

At work we have an Epos system witch is tills that are basically PC’s with a server and a credit card server. Can’t afford for this lot to go down during working hours so they are all on quite big UPS’s.
The most we get out of even a very low spec system (low power 850Mhz Mini ATX) is about 30 minutes, but that is powering the PC, touch screen monitor with credit card wedge, printer and barcode scanners. I guess the pc running of it only would keep it going for an hour but half a day to keep a system powered up would involve a UPS the size of a fridge.
Most modern good quality UPS’s can be connected to the Pc by either USB or a serial port and with the aid of windows power management can control shutdown if the UPS is going flat and power up. Most modern mother boards do have an option in power management for “All ways on” state so that the system will all ways start if there is a loss in power.