Laptop into 24/7 server?

[MGreen]

I have recently stopped paying monthly for server hosting as I lost my job and couldn't afford it. My minecraft server went down because of this and I want to bring it back up.

I thought maybe I could turn my laptop into a 24/7 running server as its basically unused and I could assign most of the ram to the minecraft server. However I want to know what steps do I need to take to make it 24/7. I've written a script to restart my server if it stops or crashes but I want to limit the amount of time it stops or crashes. How do I keep my forever changing ip the same? I just need advice as to if its even possible 

 

Thanks!

[jared404]

To keep your IP avoid restarting your modem/router you can use dynamic dns services that just keep track of your changing ip as well.

In your bios enable power on after power loss to keep the system online as much as possible

[Julian5]

keep in mind laptops are not meant for 24/7 use and will strongly decrease liftime, also keep and eye on the temps and good luck with DOS attacks from kids.

[MGreen]

11 minutes ago, crashahotrod said:

To keep your IP avoid restarting your modem/router you can use dynamic dns services that just keep track of your changing ip as well.

In your bios enable power on after power loss to keep the system online as much as possible

Yes I know these things but I'm asking for solutions as to how I can overcome these problems

[SLAYR]

2 hours ago, MGreen said:

Yes I know these things but I'm asking for solutions as to how I can overcome these problems

Take out the battery. Charging them for long times can ruin a Li-Ion batery.

[MGreen]

5 minutes ago, SLAYR said:

Take out the battery. Charging them for long times can ruin a Li-Ion batery.

I've got a timer plug, 4 hours on charge 4 hours off charge *repeat*

[SLAYR]

11 minutes ago, MGreen said:

I've got a timer plug, 4 hours on charge 4 hours off charge *repeat*

Even with that most laptops are power efficient enough to run longer then four hours especially if you aren't doing anything on it, meaning that you may have a large charge on that battery for quite a while, and will wear out the battery causing it to hold less and less of a charge.

 

If you are really concerned with power a laptop charger is usally 65-95w at full load, idling you will see a lot less. 

 

Another suggestion would be to disable actions that occur when you close it such as sleep/hibernate modes, so you can have it closed, but still running.

[ssfdre38]

here is what i will say, use a laptop that you dont mind that get the ware and tare and make sure you have the ram space for it.

[tt2468]

2 hours ago, SLAYR said:

Even with that most laptops are power efficient enough to run longer then four hours especially if you aren't doing anything on it, meaning that you may have a large charge on that battery for quite a while, and will wear out the battery causing it to hold less and less of a charge.

 

If you are really concerned with power a laptop charger is usally 65-95w at full load, idling you will see a lot less. 

 

Another suggestion would be to disable actions that occur when you close it such as sleep/hibernate modes, so you can have it closed, but still running.

You must be living in the past. Batteries have charge controllers to prevent overcharging. If a li-ion battery gets overcharged, it explodes. There is no reason that leaving the laptop on power would destroy the battery. Though there is also no reason to leave the battery in.

[SLAYR]

11 minutes ago, tt2468 said:

You must be living in the past. Batteries have charge controllers to prevent overcharging. If a li-ion battery gets overcharged, it explodes. There is no reason that leaving the laptop on power would destroy the battery. Though there is also no reason to leave the battery in.

Overcharging isn't an issue, the problem is that Li-ion batteries don't like to be constantly charged up, after a few weeks of being plugged in constantly the battery will not as much of a charge.

[samiscool51]

37 minutes ago, SLAYR said:

Overcharging isn't an issue, the problem is that Li-ion batteries don't like to be constantly charged up, after a few weeks of being plugged in constantly the battery will not as much of a charge.

i've done that with my laptop and i has not lost it's charge ever since i got it (it got it about 2 years ago), it can still hold up to ~4+hrs on a full charge while idle and ~2hrs under load, i left it on on charge for about a month (accidentally, i went on my honey moon with my wife and forgot to turn off the laptop), i was expecting it's capacity to lower a lot, but it stayed the same and it worked like nothing went wrong....

it was a dell Laltitude E6330 and i keep it in power saver normally (not for this story tho, i didn't bother with it because i had my charger on hand)

[AshleyAshes]

7 hours ago, crashahotrod said:

In your bios enable power on after power loss to keep the system online as much as possible

I'm about 99% sure laptops don't have that feature since they, well, you know, laptops.

That said a 'Laptop Server' has it's own UPS built in and it'll outlast most UPS too so it'd survive most short power interruptions without ever shutting down.

[MGreen]

18 hours ago, AshleyAshes said:

I'm about 99% sure laptops don't have that feature since they, well, you know, laptops.

That said a 'Laptop Server' has it's own UPS built in and it'll outlast most UPS too so it'd survive most short power interruptions without ever shutting down.

How can I protect from 'DOS' attacks etc then like someone else said 

[ssfdre38]

you really cant unless you dont give out your ip address or url that you have to the server. a DDoS or a DoS is all connection based into your network so even if you block it at the firewall level its still connections that is coming into your network

[Munich]

2 hours ago, MGreen said:

How can I protect from 'DOS' attacks etc then like someone else said 

You can get a DDOS protected IP from a provider like buyvm, and route/tunnel that protected IP over to your home IP. This will need some sysadmin knowledge to setup though, but many gameservers do this. Only BuyVM knows your Home IP, and you will give players the DDOS protected IP. You'll still need to spend about $10/month for this. Also keep in mind that it will add a little bit of latency, but if you live close to their locations, latency increase will be only 20ms max.

[Munich]

Double posted, sorry!

[Dark]

On 10/25/2016 at 9:27 PM, SLAYR said:

Overcharging isn't an issue, the problem is that Li-ion batteries don't like to be constantly charged up, after a few weeks of being plugged in constantly the battery will not as much of a charge.

Lithium ion battery lifespan is rated in discharge cycles. 

 

A controller manages the state of charge and with li-ion's slow natural drain it is unlikely to spend much time actually charging to remain full. 

[AshleyAshes]

On ‎10‎/‎25‎/‎2016 at 9:27 PM, SLAYR said:

Overcharging isn't an issue, the problem is that Li-ion batteries don't like to be constantly charged up, after a few weeks of being plugged in constantly the battery will not as much of a charge.

Yeah, that's not how lithium ion batteries work at all.  A few weeks of a LiIon powered device being plugged in and fully charged has a negligible effect on the capacity of the battery.

As personal example, my laptop sits on the couch and spends weeks sometimes on the AC adaptor and the laptop is six years old, I only replaced the battery about six months ago.  (I just use it for internet on the couch, why would I not keep it plugged in?)  My Tablet sits on the wall as a glorified kitchen timer, with an induction charger against it for months at a time, still holds a charge.

 

...Also, APC and many other uninterruptable power supply companies sell uninterruptable power supplies with Lithium Ion batteries as the battery source.

[SLAYR]

2 hours ago, Dark said:

Lithium ion battery lifespan is rated in discharge cycles. 

 

A controller manages the state of charge and with li-ion's slow natural drain it is unlikely to spend much time actually charging to remain full. 

 

36 minutes ago, AshleyAshes said:

Yeah, that's not how lithium ion batteries work at all.  A few weeks of a LiIon powered device being plugged in and fully charged has a negligible effect on the capacity of the battery.

As personal example, my laptop sits on the couch and spends weeks sometimes on the AC adaptor and the laptop is six years old, I only replaced the battery about six months ago.  (I just use it for internet on the couch, why would I not keep it plugged in?)  My Tablet sits on the wall as a glorified kitchen timer, with an induction charger against it for months at a time, still holds a charge.

 

...Also, APC and many other uninterruptable power supply companies sell uninterruptable power supplies with Lithium Ion batteries as the battery source.

http://m.powerelectronics.com/site-files/powerelectronics.com/files/archive/powerelectronics.com/portable_power_management/battery_charger_ics/804PET22li-ion-battery-life.pdf

 

Quote from source.

Laptops typically run warm or even hot, raising the battery temperature, and the charger is maintaining the battery near 100% charge. Both of these conditions shorten battery life, which could be as short as six months to a year. If possible, the user should be instructed to remove the battery and use the ac adapter for powering the laptop when used as a desktop com- puter.  

The Issue with Li-ion batteries is that they don't like to be at 100% charge, it means that the battery degrades faster when it is fully charged then it would at 20-30% charge. This degredation isn't noticable for a while since it is so small, this source says that it will take at least 6 months to a year to see a noticable amount of degredation. I admit I overestimated the rate of degradation.

 

Point still being that a Li-ion battery will degrade faster when exposed to heat and is constantly charged at 100%.

[AshleyAshes]

7 hours ago, SLAYR said:

 

http://m.powerelectronics.com/site-files/powerelectronics.com/files/archive/powerelectronics.com/portable_power_management/battery_charger_ics/804PET22li-ion-battery-life.pdf

 

Quote from source.

Laptops typically run warm or even hot, raising the battery temperature, and the charger is maintaining the battery near 100% charge. Both of these conditions shorten battery life, which could be as short as six months to a year. If possible, the user should be instructed to remove the battery and use the ac adapter for powering the laptop when used as a desktop com- puter.  

The Issue with Li-ion batteries is that they don't like to be at 100% charge, it means that the battery degrades faster when it is fully charged then it would at 20-30% charge. This degredation isn't noticable for a while since it is so small, this source says that it will take at least 6 months to a year to see a noticable amount of degredation. I admit I overestimated the rate of degradation.

 

This is not exactly a terribly reputable looking website and your PDF file there gives no useful hard numbers.

You know that giant $17000 rack mounted battery from LTT's Holy Shit segment was LiIon, right?