T500 powered on 24/7/365 - a disaster?

Hi,

I'm considering turning my T500 into an ITunes stream server...but question is if this is a bad idea - it has to be powered on 24/7/365. Will it catch fire or something like that ? I mean, of course we aren't talking server hardware and a harddrive might fail etc. But compared to any no-name none-server desktop: Is a notebook's hardware more likely to fail due to being constant powered?

Anyone has a notebook powered all the time? Perhaps as some small server?

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Werner

 

i use to switch on my R61 and T61 24/7 for half a year or so, the only thing that may get stressed over time is your fan, especially if the area where you use it have lot of dusts. This means you got to clean your fan every 2 or 3 weeks or so.

As long as you don't constantly accessing your hdd (are you going to listen to music all the time?), the hdd shouldn't have a problem with the laptop itself been on. If you are really paranoid, get a usb hdd (use 3.5 inch hdd that is designed for 24 hr security camera recording).

 

I had my old T21 on 24/7 for a period of 6 months at one point, although it was idle for pretty much 98% of that time. I did it at a point in time where I was just trying out crazy stuff with it and wondered if it could take it. It still works just fine. I'd say your T500 won't have any issues, but you will likely have to replace your fan earlier than you would if it was being put through a more 'normal' usage profile.

 

Wow - clean fans every 2-3 weeks? I for sure don't want to mess with that . Hmm interesting...I would consider a USB2 HDD but the drive should also be used for simple file-sharing. Everywhere I read that USB drives become very slow when accessed by more than 1 process. I dont want that limitation...

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Werner

 

I ran Seti@home and a few other of those type programs 24x7 on ThinkPads for several years. It never seemed to do them any harm. I did, however, set them up on their front edge (like a tent) so that they would have maximum air circulation when I wasn't actively using the keyboard and screen.

As with most things, YMMV

 

Alright, thanks for sharing...my T500 has SSD HDD and heat is no issue at all (I have only heard the fan one time during the past year). But then again, I have never had the notebook on power for more than 10 hours or so...

--
Werner

 

Keep in mind that the T21 was a far, far hotter system than the T500 as well; pushing the T21 a bit gave temps in the 75-80C range. Those old Coppermine processors ran hot.

 

Thanks for your replies all. I have decided to get me a new Lenovo and put the T500 up as a server. Sounds like it will be alright...Thanks.

 

Cleaning the fan every 2 to 3 weeks is only necessary if you have a very dusty area.

 

While I do not recommend using a notebook for 24/7 operation—they are not designed for this—I have several that do exactly this at home. That being said, I strongly concur with the above—notebook designs expect heat to be dissipated over the keyboard and a closed lid will short-circuit this.

 

I never ever turn off my Thinkpads (T40, T43, T61, T400, W500, and now T410 over the years), and have never experienced a problem.

While I guess they're not specifically designed TO be run 24/7, I think there's no real reason why they cannot.

 

Heck, my mother leaves her Dell Inspiron laptop on ALL day, for the last 2 years. If that Dell can take it, these Thinkpads sure as heck can

 

I used to leave my T61 on all the time for a nearly two years without a single problem. Just keep an eye on it and it should be just fine.

 

I ran my Acer netbook 24/7 for about 6 months with the CPU pegged at 100% for probably 90% of that, and it still works fine. Just be sure to leave the screen open; having it closed can cause the unit to overheat.

 

I have a T43P at work thats been turned on for almost 2½ years now, and its been rebooted 3 or 4 times, and it runs fine.