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Chat Area => General Discussion Area => Topic started by: TheBoy on 15 December 2011, 21:57:39

Title: Server uptime
Post by: TheBoy on 15 December 2011, 21:57:39
Blimey, logged on to one at work today, and I always run a few standard commands to check various bits, irrespective of the fault/planned work which is why I'm on.

One today had an uptime of 6.8yrs :o :o :o

This is a truely internet facing server that a fair few of UK internet users will use.  I guess its dropped off the patching lists ::)


But 6.8yrs for a fairly busy server is still amazing :o
Title: Re: Server uptime
Post by: cem_devecioglu on 15 December 2011, 22:13:04
6.8 years ..  :o  I bet its not a windows based server ;D
Title: Re: Server uptime
Post by: TheBoy on 15 December 2011, 22:18:03
6.8 years ..  :o  I bet its not a windows based server ;D
Err, no.

That said, my brother had an NT4 server, on a private network, manage 5yrs uptime :)
Title: Re: Server uptime
Post by: Martian on 16 December 2011, 17:36:50
6.8 years ..  :o  I bet its not a windows based server ;D
Err, no.

That said, my brother had an NT4 server, on a private network, manage 5yrs uptime :)
Many moons ago I had a 2K server (also running Exchange and a couple of other bits of mundane software) stuffed in the rack at Redbus for just under 4 years running 24/7 no problem. I still have the pics somewhere of the day I took it out of the rack after all that time running, and it was as spotlessly clean inside as the day I built it.

As far as Windows boxes being unreliable, they really only go wrong when the owner starts installing poorly written 3rd party crap.
Title: Re: Server uptime
Post by: TheBoy on 16 December 2011, 18:26:26
6.8 years ..  :o  I bet its not a windows based server ;D
Err, no.

That said, my brother had an NT4 server, on a private network, manage 5yrs uptime :)
Many moons ago I had a 2K server (also running Exchange and a couple of other bits of mundane software) stuffed in the rack at Redbus for just under 4 years running 24/7 no problem. I still have the pics somewhere of the day I took it out of the rack after all that time running, and it was as spotlessly clean inside as the day I built it.

As far as Windows boxes being unreliable, they really only go wrong when the owner starts installing poorly written 3rd party crap.
Couldn't agree more, although MS have been known to push out the occasional product that crashes things - less so in the server arena though.

Windows Server has 2 problems:
It's the same (but tweaked) kernel as desktop OS, which means it gets targetted by baddies.
It's the same (but tweaked) kernel as desktop OS, so any Tom, Dick and Harry can write substandard software that will run on the server OS.


Its very, very rare to see a Windows Server fall over nowadays.  TBH, not really since the days of NT 3.51 and NT4, although these were always as a result of duff drivers.  In fact its rare to see any Windows machine fall over, if it does its usually a result of crappy unsigned, backstreet drivers, or failing hardware.


My day job is TSS for thousands of servers, covering mostly Windows, Linux, Solaris and a little HP-UX.  Sticking with Windows for a moment, we tend to run this either directly on HP Proliant DL server hardware, or via a hypervisor running on HP Proliant BL blades.  This combination tends to give us very, very few problems, as the hardware is pretty robust, the drivers are tried and tested, and Windows is rock stable.

We tend to run Linux on the same hardware, not as stable, partly due to less mature drivers available for Linux, made worse by a licencing problem if drivers taint the kernel (many do).


The machine in the original post was an elderly Sun Sunfire 280R, running Solaris 8.  Shame Oracle (who bought Sun) can't make the current hardware reliable - I've spent all this week trying to build 5 Oracle blades across 3 chassis. 2 chassis had firmware issues that were not fixable by end user (ie, me) as Oracle don't make the firmwares available, 4 faulty blades, and now a faulty network module. FFS.
Title: Re: Server uptime
Post by: VXL V6 on 16 December 2011, 18:29:15
Biggest problem I ever see with unix servers is when some halfwit support person decides to solve an 'issue' by issuing a kill -9 command on the process, thereby leaving a zombie, usually a few hundred times over a period of time.

 >:(
Title: Re: Server uptime
Post by: TheBoy on 16 December 2011, 18:31:08
Biggest problem I ever see with unix servers is when some halfwit support person decides to solve an 'issue' by issuing a kill -9 command on the process, thereby leaving a zombie, usually a few hundred times over a period of time.

 >:(
Aye, if you're gonna do a kill -9, at least do a ptree first to kill the hung process, not a parent.
Title: Re: Server uptime
Post by: VXL V6 on 16 December 2011, 18:35:35
The machine in the original post was an elderly Sun Sunfire 280R, running Solaris 8.  Shame Oracle (who bought Sun) can't make the current hardware reliable - I've spent all this week trying to build 5 Oracle blades across 3 chassis. 2 chassis had firmware issues that were not fixable by end user (ie, me) as Oracle don't make the firmwares available, 4 faulty blades, and now a faulty network module. FFS.

Ah yes, the original Sun Hardware I used to look after (Sparc stations and servers) was rock solid in it's construction, I bet the Type 4 and 5 keyboards are still going now compared to the utter s_____ that gets shipped with any brand of PC now.

Mind you, I bet you wouldn't like the Sony Trinitron VDU's they used  ;D, I always seemed to end up having to lug them up eight flights of stairs to some design office then end up having to swap their other screens out as well because the screens were different shades.

Title: Re: Server uptime
Post by: albitz on 16 December 2011, 18:36:16
Absolutely. :y



 ??? ::) :o :P :-\ ;D
Title: Re: Server uptime
Post by: VXL V6 on 16 December 2011, 18:37:46
Biggest problem I ever see with unix servers is when some halfwit support person decides to solve an 'issue' by issuing a kill -9 command on the process, thereby leaving a zombie, usually a few hundred times over a period of time.

 >:(
Aye, if you're gonna do a kill -9, at least do a ptree first to kill the hung process, not a parent.
I should have said 'saw' as I don't really have much to do with Sun kit now, only a few Sun (Well Oracle now) PC type servers running Terminal Services and Sunray back ends and a few hundred Sunray thin clients.
Title: Re: Server uptime
Post by: TheBoy on 16 December 2011, 18:38:36
The machine in the original post was an elderly Sun Sunfire 280R, running Solaris 8.  Shame Oracle (who bought Sun) can't make the current hardware reliable - I've spent all this week trying to build 5 Oracle blades across 3 chassis. 2 chassis had firmware issues that were not fixable by end user (ie, me) as Oracle don't make the firmwares available, 4 faulty blades, and now a faulty network module. FFS.

Ah yes, the original Sun Hardware I used to look after (Sparc stations and servers) was rock solid in it's construction, I bet the Type 4 and 5 keyboards are still going now compared to the utter s_____ that gets shipped with any brand of PC now.

Mind you, I bet you wouldn't like the Sony Trinitron VDU's they used  ;D, I always seemed to end up having to lug them up eight flights of stairs to some design office then end up having to swap their other screens out as well because the screens were different shades.
We have very few Sun keyboards and VDUs here, as they are extras.  99.9% of our stuff is rack mounted with a serial connection up its jacksie (or LAN to NetMgmt port if its from this millenium ;D)
Title: Re: Server uptime
Post by: Ian_D on 16 December 2011, 18:39:04
6.8 years  :o

Thats bloody impressive!  :y

Dunno how long my home server has been running since last reboot, will check and see in a moment. However it has been turned on 24/7 (minus the few hrs when its been off for hardware changes / UPS upgrades etc) for almost 5 years. Its only a crappy IBM eServer too! x206 IIRC... Which reminds me, need to shove a new backup tape in - its VERY VERY overdue  :-X
Title: Re: Server uptime
Post by: VXL V6 on 16 December 2011, 18:40:46
The machine in the original post was an elderly Sun Sunfire 280R, running Solaris 8.  Shame Oracle (who bought Sun) can't make the current hardware reliable - I've spent all this week trying to build 5 Oracle blades across 3 chassis. 2 chassis had firmware issues that were not fixable by end user (ie, me) as Oracle don't make the firmwares available, 4 faulty blades, and now a faulty network module. FFS.

Ah yes, the original Sun Hardware I used to look after (Sparc stations and servers) was rock solid in it's construction, I bet the Type 4 and 5 keyboards are still going now compared to the utter s_____ that gets shipped with any brand of PC now.

Mind you, I bet you wouldn't like the Sony Trinitron VDU's they used  ;D, I always seemed to end up having to lug them up eight flights of stairs to some design office then end up having to swap their other screens out as well because the screens were different shades.
We have very few Sun keyboards and VDUs here, as they are extras.  99.9% of our stuff is rack mounted with a serial connection up its jacksie (or LAN to NetMgmt port if its from this millenium ;D)
You've just reminded me, I haven't patched the newest TS's ILO and configured the port into the ILO Vlan yet... ah well, what can possibly go wrong.  :-X
Title: Re: Server uptime
Post by: TheBoy on 16 December 2011, 18:42:08
6.8 years  :o

Thats bloody impressive!  :y

Dunno how long my home server has been running since last reboot, will check and see in a moment. However it has been turned on 24/7 (minus the few hrs when its been off for hardware changes / UPS upgrades etc) for almost 5 years. Its only a crappy IBM eServer too! x206 IIRC... Which reminds me, need to shove a new backup tape in - its VERY VERY overdue  :-X
I know none of the servers at home have long uptimes - the hypervisor that they all sit on has only been up approx 166 days.  Which is probably around the time when I swapped out the server hardware (July iirc)
Title: Re: Server uptime
Post by: TheBoy on 16 December 2011, 18:44:42
You've just reminded me, I haven't patched the newest TS's ILO and configured the port into the ILO Vlan yet... ah well, what can possibly go wrong.  :-X
iLO (as in HP) or ILOM (Sun).

HP iLOs tend to flash OK, although if its a B-class blade, if it fails, it needs BOTH motherboards replaced.  Sun ILOMs, well, I have a bit of a midas touch with them.  On SunFire T2000, I'm currently around a 30% success rate ::)
Title: Re: Server uptime
Post by: cleggy on 16 December 2011, 18:46:45
With MTBF figures like that the marketing boys should have a field day :y
Title: Re: Server uptime
Post by: VXL V6 on 16 December 2011, 18:55:54
With MTBF figures like that the marketing boys should have a field day :y

Thing is, if you never have to restart a server, hence it's discs constantly spin it will be less stressful than when it starts to spin them up. Things like power supplies are a lot happier running at a constant rather than having to start up a load of cold hardware with all of thier startup demands.
Title: Re: Server uptime
Post by: Ian_D on 16 December 2011, 20:08:38
6.8 years  :o

Thats bloody impressive!  :y

Dunno how long my home server has been running since last reboot, will check and see in a moment. However it has been turned on 24/7 (minus the few hrs when its been off for hardware changes / UPS upgrades etc) for almost 5 years. Its only a crappy IBM eServer too! x206 IIRC... Which reminds me, need to shove a new backup tape in - its VERY VERY overdue  :-X
I know none of the servers at home have long uptimes - the hypervisor that they all sit on has only been up approx 166 days.  Which is probably around the time when I swapped out the server hardware (July iirc)

Just looked and uptime is 140 days and 40 mins... Still not bad for home use I guess... (Windows 2003 on it). Want to get my hands on a better server to play about with hypervisors next - problem is finding a server which is A) Very Cheep B) Reliable C) Not too noisy and C) Supports VT

Oh and also one that doesn't turn my room into an oven!  ;)
Title: Re: Server uptime
Post by: TheBoy on 16 December 2011, 20:30:39
6.8 years  :o

Thats bloody impressive!  :y

Dunno how long my home server has been running since last reboot, will check and see in a moment. However it has been turned on 24/7 (minus the few hrs when its been off for hardware changes / UPS upgrades etc) for almost 5 years. Its only a crappy IBM eServer too! x206 IIRC... Which reminds me, need to shove a new backup tape in - its VERY VERY overdue  :-X
I know none of the servers at home have long uptimes - the hypervisor that they all sit on has only been up approx 166 days.  Which is probably around the time when I swapped out the server hardware (July iirc)

Just looked and uptime is 140 days and 40 mins... Still not bad for home use I guess... (Windows 2003 on it). Want to get my hands on a better server to play about with hypervisors next - problem is finding a server which is A) Very Cheep B) Reliable C) Not too noisy and C) Supports VT

Oh and also one that doesn't turn my room into an oven!  ;)
Guess you are not updating your W2K3 frequently then ;D
Title: Re: Server uptime
Post by: TheBoy on 16 December 2011, 20:40:57
I know the Windows server here has an uptime of about 16hrs, as it patched itself last night.

OOF server currently showing:
 20:39:33 up 60 days,  5:03,  1 user,  load average: 0.18, 0.15, 0.10
Title: Re: Server uptime
Post by: Ian_D on 16 December 2011, 21:47:49
6.8 years  :o

Thats bloody impressive!  :y

Dunno how long my home server has been running since last reboot, will check and see in a moment. However it has been turned on 24/7 (minus the few hrs when its been off for hardware changes / UPS upgrades etc) for almost 5 years. Its only a crappy IBM eServer too! x206 IIRC... Which reminds me, need to shove a new backup tape in - its VERY VERY overdue  :-X
I know none of the servers at home have long uptimes - the hypervisor that they all sit on has only been up approx 166 days.  Which is probably around the time when I swapped out the server hardware (July iirc)

Just looked and uptime is 140 days and 40 mins... Still not bad for home use I guess... (Windows 2003 on it). Want to get my hands on a better server to play about with hypervisors next - problem is finding a server which is A) Very Cheep B) Reliable C) Not too noisy and C) Supports VT

Oh and also one that doesn't turn my room into an oven!  ;)
Guess you are not updating your W2K3 frequently then ;D
No, thats a good point actually... however I will give updates a miss ATM, as theres only 400mb free on the C: drive  :-X
Title: Re: Server uptime
Post by: cem_devecioglu on 16 December 2011, 23:28:46
in the past , I have witnessed SQL server eating up memory and cpu resources (say nt4 and win2k and old version sql servers)
like a monster and slowing the system nearly to a halt.. but of course it depends on the type of transactions involved (also depending on the type of application)..  interestingly seen servers runninng sql server with low hardware resources on high number of users working without problem and monster servers dropping on their knees with a low number of users running transactions that require too many page locks..
 
also mail servers that nearly stop responding..
 
so I can say it depends on the type of application it serves..
Title: Re: Server uptime
Post by: TheBoy on 17 December 2011, 20:16:20
in the past , I have witnessed SQL server eating up memory and cpu resources (say nt4 and win2k and old version sql servers)
like a monster and slowing the system nearly to a halt.. but of course it depends on the type of transactions involved (also depending on the type of application)..  interestingly seen servers runninng sql server with low hardware resources on high number of users working without problem and monster servers dropping on their knees with a low number of users running transactions that require too many page locks..
 
also mail servers that nearly stop responding..
 
so I can say it depends on the type of application it serves..
MS SQL server was always designed to hog all unused memory for performance, thus if you ran other processes that suddenly needed memory, it would page like a sod. Certainly 2005 and 2008 seem better in this respect