I hope this question is appropriate for this forum and not ‘off-topic.’ I would assume it’s okay, given it’s related to mAirList.
Many believe that Windows is much less stable than Linux and thus requires reboots often. But is this really true? Let’s say you had a on-air machine configured for mAirList and it ran no other apps. In other words, an appliance computer. How often would a reboot be necessary?
My IT friends claim that such a machine could easily run well over a year without a reboot, given the machine was properly configured, used properly, and that mAirList contained no memory leaks. From my experiences, I would tend to agree.
So, do we really need to reboot Windows as often as many claim we should?
Simple answer: no, unless it suddenly slows down or starts to misbehave for no obvious reason. And with your earlier caveats about being PROPERLY set up still applying, naturally (!).
A friend of mine would regularly have Windows machines running 24/7 for literally months without a reboot back in the day; before the times where Windows Updates (or your AV program, orAbode Reader, or …) would more often than not require a reboot.
our Linux machines run at least since (can’t really remember) 2-3 years without reboot. And the last reboot was due to an image backup I made.
Our Windows machines are setup with only what is required, however the .net runtime crap (as an example) crashes for no obvious reason every 3 month or so, completely stalling the machine. Even remote login is no longer possible.
That’s why we have a backup playout machine running in hot standby mode that immediately takes over if silence is detected.
We’ve had a Windows (2000) system running constantly now since 2002 - it’s starting to show signs of wishing it was dead but it’s definitely possible with the right settings and maintenance!
No, Alec, not incredible: just properly maintained and cared for!
Most of the crashes etc. on home PCs are ultimately down to lack of one or the other.
It does of course help that since Win2k is ‘off maintenance’ now, you don’t get Windows Update needing a reboot every so often. Plus, it’s likely that the PC in question is only connected to local PCs/servers, or is dedicated as (for example) a print or disk server. Those are the computers that tend to just run, and run, and run, and …
I remember Win2k being a very solid system and, until XP got a better reputation, it was the OS of choice for me - despite the slower boot-up time on a home machine, the rewards were a stable machine with not too much happening “under the hood” so the machine didn’t complain too much. I think, generally, if you run Win2k then the weakest link is usually the power company supplying your electricity
Good points from both of you. Kinda’ makes the point that a stable system can me configured, provided mAirlist runs on a dedicated machine, not one that also serves as a web server, email server, FTP server, word processor, etc.
