Blogging Ottinger (tim)Reinstalling every year
I was listening to the Linux Link Tech Show’s March 15 show with Rick Timmis (I think). He was talking about how Microsoft support people recommend a complete wipe and reinstall of the servers once per year and often they schedule server reboots to happen overnight.
It seems that wiping out a hard disk and completely reinstalling the OS and all software, and all data, and then making it run is a disaster recovery process. By that measure, running windows for a whole year is a disaster!!
He contrasted it with a linux-based server customer who didn’t call back for a year. When they finally checked the uptime on the server, it had been in steady service (without ANY downtime) for nearly 500 days. They never called because they never needed anything.
Add to that the far better user experience of a modern linux desktop and you start to wonder why on earth people buy windows. Oh, yeah, it’s because the distribution channels don’t get much of a choice.
Well, if we can beat that barrier, there’s no stopping Linux. It’s already more credible, more stable, more powerful, cheaper, and more reliable than windows AND it’s an open world — no single vendor can cage you in. Freedom and quality at the same time… whooda figgered?
I agree and disagree. We have windows servers here at work that havent been rebooted in a year and we have no trouble with them. We sure in the heck dont re-image them once a year either. Its not cost effective. Even though they may recommend it, most companies arent doing it.
Comment by Steve — 2006-April-13 @ 10:51
oh yeah, the part that I agree on is that Linux being a stable platform. Upgrades and updates Linux has a handle on where Windows desires some instruction.
Comment by Steve — 2006-April-13 @ 10:52
I remember being told about nightly reboots and the like ‘way back when in pre-95 days maybe. Odd how nothing really changes. We joke at work about machines having “sleep deprivation” if they are on for more than 24 hours — but those are development machines, not servers.
I’m amazed at how fast machines slow down and what all you have to do to keep the speed up. They shouldn’t be running down like that. Barring hardware failure or disks running out of space, they should pretty much run like the day they were installed. When they don’t, it should be for reasons that re-imaging doesn’t solve. Nor rebooting.
Comment by Tim — 2006-April-14 @ 03:10