Leaving Workstation running overnight

[g00gl3]

I have a question about leaving workstations running overnight, and I have not found a clear answer online yet. A few people told me that they are leaving their workstations running overnight once they are done using them. Generally I turn off my workstation once I am done using it. Then I did some research online and opinions seem to be split. There are pros and cons to leaving workstations running all the time, but I cannot find any clear evidence or research on this topic. 

 

So, my ultimate question is... What exactly are the pros and cons of leaving a workstation running overnight and is there any clear research on this topic.

 

[SeanAngelo]

1 minute ago, g00gl3 said:

I have a question about leaving workstations running overnight, and I have not found a clear answer online yet. A few people told me that they are leaving their workstations running overnight once they are done using them. Generally I turn off my workstation once I am done using it. Then I did some research online and opinions seem to be split. There are pros and cons to leaving workstations running all the time, but I cannot find any clear evidence or research on this topic. 

 

So, my ultimate question is... What exactly are the pros and cons of leaving a workstation running overnight and is there any clear research on this topic.

 

what are you gonna be doing that it needs to be running overnight?

[Praesi]

Pro´s and Con´s are the same like with any other PC. My WS runs for Days if needed. If not i turn it off. Simple.

[SpaceGhostC2C]

What do you mean by worskstation running overnight? Is it a PC that you consider a workstation doing stuff overnight? Or do you simply mean leaving your computer on at work, just idling, when going home?

[NoobCase]

Mine is on 24/7 as I need to remote  in in case of emergencies. 

[sazrocks]

Well I fold so my computer is usually on 24/7, but besides that my AV runs a full scan on every single file overnight.

[Sniperfox47]

Pros: It's available in the night for Windows 10 to do background stuff like defragmenting, virus scans, indexing, and automatic updates during those periods when you're not using, rather than trying to do that stuff when you are using it because it doesn't have any other choice. If your boot drive is a hard drive you also don't need to wait for it to boot up/resume.

 

Windows 7 and 8 did have background scheduling for some stuff too, but it was usually less in your face than Windows 10 so it wasn't such a big deal.

 

Cons: it uses more power when it's on, even when idle, so it does cost money to leave it running, even though not directly.

 

[g00gl3]

15 hours ago, SeanAngelo said:

what are you gonna be doing that it needs to be running overnight?

Just leaving it on, leaving applications running and locking windows. Usually not running anything intense. 

[g00gl3]

15 hours ago, SpaceGhostC2C said:

What do you mean by worskstation running overnight? Is it a PC that you consider a workstation doing stuff overnight? Or do you simply mean leaving your computer on at work, just idling, when going home?

By workstation I mean like a simulation workstation, like, 2 xeon cpus, 128gb ram, quadro etc.... Usually it is just idling and very rarely running something overnight.

[SeanAngelo]

8 minutes ago, g00gl3 said:

Just leaving it on, leaving applications running and locking windows. Usually not running anything intense. 

then theres no point.

[SpaceGhostC2C]

40 minutes ago, g00gl3 said:

By workstation I mean like a simulation workstation, like, 2 xeon cpus, 128gb ram, quadro etc.... Usually it is just idling and very rarely running something overnight.

There are barely any pros or cons then. You spend electricity while idling, which shouldn't be much, but more than zero. On the other hand, you save starting it up each time you are going to use it.

Other than convenience and the energy bill, I can't think of much else that could matter.