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Leaving mac pro on.

M

Macpropro80

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 31, 2009
408
0
This may sound like a stupid question but bare with me here. The Ubuntu computer next to my mac pro has a problem with wireless so I share my internet from my mac pro to it via ethernet. I have to download a large 20 gig file that will take about 2 days, on my ubuntu computer, and Im going to boston so lets say 4 days. Is it safe to leave my mac pro running for over 4 days straight? I don't want to overheat or anything.

Thanks.

I just love my mac pro and I want it to last, so I always ask before I do.

With my dell on the other hand, I could careless.
 
Macpropro80 said:
This may sound like a stupid question but bare with me here. The Ubuntu computer next to my mac pro has a problem with wireless so I share my internet from my mac pro to it via ethernet. I have to download a large 20 gig file that will take about 2 days, on my ubuntu computer, and Im going to boston so lets say 4 days. Is it safe to leave my mac pro running for over 4 days straight? I don't want to overheat or anything.

Thanks.

I just love my mac pro and I want it to last, so I always ask before I do.

With my dell on the other hand, I could careless.
Click to expand...

Leave it one month open, nothing is going to happen dont worry..
 
I haven't turned my mac pro off since I bought it back in September 2008 :) Only rebooted for updates..
 
I often leave my Mac Pro on for a week or more. You won't hurt it a bit.
 
Yup, mine has been on 24/7 since I bought it 3 years ago. I turned it off once to have Apple make good on their promise to sell me two 1GB sticks for the same price as four 512MB ones - about a week after I got it home.

If you need it to be on for some kind of connection make sure to set it to restart after a power failure.
 
I shut down my Mac Pro each time i am not using it. I live in Canada, it's not a country, it's winter. Each time i use my Mac Pro, i have to run my 10.000BTU Air Conditioner to the maximum. My room is cold as ice. Cold enough to make your tongue stick to metal. I sleep with a coat and using the computer with a coat... all this to avoid heat.

I take good care of it.
 
I don't think my Mac Pro has been off for more than 10 minutes at a time since I bought it in 2006. The machine is always on, never in sleep mode (though the screens and hard drives do go in to standby when idle).
 
You can keep your Mac Pro running for a long period of time but you have to take 3 things in consideration:

Temperature: Keep your Mac Pro cool with an air conditioner at a fixed temperature.

Energy: Get a powerful UPS Battery Surge to protect it against power failure.

Security: Make sure nobody will mess your computer, make sure your room is locked.
 
Macpropro80 said:
This may sound like a stupid question but bare with me here. The Ubuntu computer next to my mac pro has a problem with wireless so I share my internet from my mac pro to it via ethernet. I have to download a large 20 gig file that will take about 2 days, on my ubuntu computer, and Im going to boston so lets say 4 days. Is it safe to leave my mac pro running for over 4 days straight? I don't want to overheat or anything.

Thanks.

I just love my mac pro and I want it to last, so I always ask before I do.

With my dell on the other hand, I could careless.
Click to expand...


Odd question your asking

...but most people don't have a problem leaving their Window's PC on 24/7 and the Mac uses the same building blocks. So why should the uptime be different? Ain't you forgetting that the MP's a workstation, build to server standards, therefore shouldn't it be more than capable to be left on continuously...

:rolleyes:
 
One thing to consider when running apps that may use all 8 cores:

Your power bill. My energy bill is normally about $30-40 during the summer. Last summer, I was leaving my 8 core on 24/7 while it was running SETI and my bill went over $100 in July and August. That's what my bill was that I just paid for March. I stopped using SETI for those reasons and now I sleep it when I leave home. This thing is an energy hog.
 
I leave mine one 24/7, atleast 11 months of the year. For the other one, it's boxed up and in transit, to somewhere... I guess you could say my system is well travelled. Pity it can't earn air miles for me.
 
Let's see....the Mac Pro uses a server-grade logic board and processor(s), ECC memory and is one of the coolest-running and quiet workstations in the business. It was clearly designed for 24/7 reliability.

The only time I can think of when I actually shut the machine completely down was when I added an Airport card and couple of hard drives. That's about it.
 
Unbox your new Mac Pro, plug it in, turn it on, then leave it on until it's time to upgrade.

Real computers are made to run 24/7.
 
hexonxonx said:
One thing to consider when running apps that may use all 8 cores:

Your power bill. My energy bill is normally about $30-40 during the summer. Last summer, I was leaving my 8 core on 24/7 while it was running SETI and my bill went over $100 in July and August. That's what my bill was that I just paid for March. I stopped using SETI for those reasons and now I sleep it when I leave home. This thing is an energy hog.
Click to expand...

Drop it down to 3 or 4 cores to conserve the power. Or set boinc to 50% cpu usage. Been crunching world community grid since 2007 and my bill only went up 20 bucks. I think your power company screwed you. Some places allow you to average your bill to help you from a spiked bill. Worth looking into. BTW, did you folks at SETI ever find ET?
 
Do you need to shut it down and clean out the dust bunnies once in a while?

While I'm sure it depends on your environment, with other PC's I've owned in the past, this has been a regular maintenance task for a computer running 24/7. At least a quarterly inspection is a good idea to ensure you still have good airflow.

Someone I know had a PSU fail and the most likely cause was dust build up.
 
VirtualRain said:
Do you need to shut it down and clean out the dust bunnies once in a while?

While I'm sure it depends on your environment, with other PC's I've owned in the past, this has been a regular maintenance task for a computer running 24/7. At least a quarterly inspection is a good idea to ensure you still have good airflow.

Someone I know had a PSU fail and the most likely cause was dust build up.
Click to expand...

Yeah it's always a good idea to open up an computer once in awhile and clean it out.
 
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