Why You Shouldn't Reboot Unix Servers

GMGruman writes "It's a persistent myth: reboot your Unix box when something goes wrong or to clean it out. Paul Venezia explains why you should almost never reboot a Unix server, unlike say Windows."

Comments

Uptime

[cdoggyd]

Because you won't be able to brag about your uptime numbers.

Re:Uptime

[Anrego]

I once had to move my router (486 running slackware and with a multi-year uptime) across the room it was in. It was connected to a UPS, however the cable going from the UPS to the computer was wrapped through the leg of the table it was sitting on.

I actually _removed the table leg_ so I could hawl the 486 still plugged into the UPS across the room and quickly plug it in before it powered down!

and then we had the first real substantial power failure in years like a few months later.. and the thing had to go down :(

But yeah.. now I reboot frequently to verify that everything still comes up properly.

Persistent myth?

[6031769]

This is not a myth I had heard before. In fact, none of the *nix sysadmins I know would dream of rebooting the box to clear a problem except as a last resort. Where has this come from?

Re:Persistent myth?

[afabbro]

This is not a myth I had heard before.

+1. This article should be held up as a perfect example of building a strawman.

"It's a persistent myth that some natural phenomena travel faster than the speed of light, but at least one physicist says it's impossible..."

"It's a persistent myth that calling free() after malloc() is unnecessary, but some software engineers disagree..."

"It's a persistent myth that only the beating of tom-toms restores the sun after an eclipse. But is that really true?"

Uh.. no

[Anrego]

I for one believe in frequent-ish reboots.

I agree it shouldn't be relied upon as a troubleshooting step (you need to know what broke, why, and why it won't happen again). That said, if you go years without rebooting a machine... there is a good chance that if you ever do (to replace hardware for instance) it won't come back up without issue. Verifying that the system still boots correctly is imo a good idea.

Also, all that fancy high availability failover stuff... it's good to verify that it's still working as well.

The "my servers been up 3 years" e-pene days are gone folks.

slashdot: *world link farmers

[Anonymous Coward]

i'm really tired of this semi-technical stuff on slashdot that seems aimed at semi-competent manager-types.

Counter point -- pre-emptive reboot

[Syncerus]

One minor point of disagreement. I'm a fan of the pre-emptive reboot at specific intervals, whether the interval be 30 days, 60 days, or 90 days is up to you. In the past, I've found the pre-emptive reboot will trigger hidden system problems, but at a time when you're actually ready for them, rather than at a time when they happen spontaneously ( 2:30 in the morning ).

New rule for Slashdot

[aztektum]

/. editors: I propose a new rule. Submissions with links to PCWorld, InfoWorld, PCMagazine, Computerworld, CNet, or any other technology periodical you'd see in the check out line of a Walgreens be immediately deleted with prejudice.

They're the Oprah Magazine of the tech world. They exist to sell ads by writing articles with grabby headlines and little substance.