Topic Closed

my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home

» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Operations   » Digital Cinema Forum   » Shut down the server the right way (Page 1)

This topic comprises 4 pages: 1  2  3  4

Author Topic: Shut down the server the right way Tommy Zackariasson Film Handler Posts: 31 From: Ed, Dalsland, Sweden Registered: Aug 2011 posted 02-10-2012 12:38 PM                     Hej We have a Dolby DSS-200 server and i wonder if there really is no way to shut it down in a better way than to just shut down the ups? This is how to do it according to the installer, but I dont believe it. Yesterday we had to cancel a show because the server did not boot up, fcheck returned an error 4 because of some corrupt files. The installer was here today and upgraded to fix it. I think that this happens because of the way we kill the server. Any ideas? /T  |  IP: Logged Tony Bandiera Jr Film God Posts: 3067 From: Moreland Idaho Registered: Apr 2004 posted 02-10-2012 01:16 PM                     Tommy: First off, why are you shutting down the server? If you search some threads here you'll find that it is NOT a good idea to keep shutting down the server, as the RAID drives WILL fail sooner. The drives will last a lot longer if they are kept spinning rather than being subject to on/off cycles. EDIT: Look HERE, bottom of page 5 and look at rest of thread from more info. That said, if you REALLY MUST shut down the server..on the DSS200, remove the face panel. At the bottom of the row of LEDs you'll see a recessed button. Use a pen or paper clip to push that button and it will initiate a shutdown. Push it again to power up again. I have been told by Dolby that simply unplugging the server's two power cords is an OK method as well. (Same effect as shutting off your UPS.) I think the corrupted files are from some other problem, such as shutting down during a RAID Verify or rebuild. Again, best advice is DO NOT shut down the server!! Most maintenance can even be done with the server on (replacing bad drives, replacing cooling fans, and even swapping a bad power supply.)  |  IP: Logged Jason Raftery Film Handler Posts: 72 From: San Diego, CA, USA Registered: May 2011 posted 02-10-2012 02:05 PM                     I have also wondered how best to force a graceful shutdown on the DSS100/200. There are occasions (albeit infrequent) where it makes sense to actually power the server off. As Dolby's servers are built on a Linux core, would a standard Linux command like "shutdown -h now" from the command line successfully power off the server? To expand on Tommy's question, I've been advised to reboot the servers once a week to keep them fresh and re-sync the clocks. While I can simply do a CTRL-ALT-DEL from the command prompt to initiate a restart manually, is there a way to automate this process and force a restart at a predetermined time or interval using cron or another Linux process?  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 02-10-2012 02:13 PM                        What Tony said. (Though there are legitimate reasons to power down a server, such as a planned building power outage, equipment moves, etc.) Another safe method to power down the server would be to do a ctrl-alt-del to initiate a reboot and just power down the equipment before it starts booting again. This is actually potentially dangerous if someone does it during a show (especially someone who is used to working with Windows systems, where ctrl-alt-del is used to call up the login box). And, yes, "shutdown -h now" works, too, but you would need a root shell to do that. I will not post the root password here, but it is not difficult to get if you really want it. If you get to that point, I would actually suggest editing /etc/inittab to remove the mapping of ctrl-alt-del to reboot the system (just comment out the line that begins with "ca").  |  IP: Logged Tommy Zackariasson Film Handler Posts: 31 From: Ed, Dalsland, Sweden Registered: Aug 2011 posted 02-10-2012 03:28 PM                     This is a server and servers are supposed to run 24-7 I understand that and it is not an issue if you run shows every day. But we (like I suppose thousands and thousands) theaters around the world run like one or two or maybe three shows a week and then it would be quite irresponible( with global warming and all that) to waste all that energy. It would be interesting to calculate how much energy is consumed for nothing this way globally. My point here is: Why is it that there is no shut down button in the gui? Like every other computer!  |  IP: Logged Tony Bandiera Jr Film God Posts: 3067 From: Moreland Idaho Registered: Apr 2004 posted 02-10-2012 05:03 PM                     The answer to your question of why there is no shutdown button is in the first line of your post: quote: Tommy Zackariasson This is a server and servers are supposed to run 24-7 While energy conservation is a noble cause let me ask you this: which is more irresponsible: Using the equipment as designed, minimizing unnecessary replacement of parts which consumes more resources, or leaving it on as designed and letting the idle power usage make less of an impact? Finally, why risk loss of MORE shows (you've already lost one) by doing something which is strongly discouraged, all in the name of "being green"? You need to pick your "battles" more carefully..like for example looking at your lighting and HVAC systems to see where conservation steps are needed, which will MORE than offset the power used by an idle server. I promise you that with minimal effort you will find waste in your lighting and HVAC systems which is FAR greater than the energy consumed by your server. One example: set your HVAC thermostats 2 degrees warmer in summer and colder in winter and the savings right there alone will buy you about 7 years of idle server power energy, no joke. Otherwise, just suffer the consequences of repeatedly shutting down the server without complaining about it.  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 02-10-2012 06:24 PM                     Tommy, As to your corrupt file issue...if you were running Dolby 4.3.0.36 through 4.3.4.x...then the problem was in the software and it would be random as to when it would come up corrupt. Starting with 4.3.5.6, the problem was fixed. The current release version of the Dolby software is 4.3.5.9 and is available to all systems in the field. If you are on ANY version of 4.3 already then one need not have a kdm for upgrade. It is a worthy upgrade for anyone. One also gets VNC capability too. 4.3.5.9 is available for download now for those authorized to the Dolby secure site. -Steve  |  IP: Logged Marco Giustini Film God Posts: 2713 From: Reading, UK Registered: Nov 2007 posted 02-11-2012 05:00 AM                     still, I do believe that a "shutdown" button would be appropriate. We all do shut our computers through "shutdown" I reckon. How many of you shut their linux/windows computers unplugging the mains cord? Hard drives will possibly have a bit more life if not power cycled, but i guess this would be true if you were to power them off several times a day - like power saving does. We are talking about once a day after 10 hours of service. Also, I wouldn't leave any equipment on unsupervised during the night. Yes, latest version is supposed to fix the corruption issue but I still think that a shutdown button wouldn't hurt. Also, the DSS200 I used did not initiate a shutdown sequence when the on/off button was pressed, but was powering down the unit immediately. Possibly something to be set in the software as you can do the same under windows.  |  IP: Logged Tommy Zackariasson Film Handler Posts: 31 From: Ed, Dalsland, Sweden Registered: Aug 2011 posted 02-11-2012 07:37 AM                     I agree with you Marco, it is no good to have equipment of any kind running unattended for days and days. I could make the reason-list very long but just to mention one: fire security! Some booths have a mainswitch with a keylock to turn off everything for security reasons. I bet this is a thing that will be fixed in future versions. Time will tell if I'm right. Steve, the version we got yesterday was 4.3.5.6 wonder why they didn't give us the current release, should I ask them to?  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 02-11-2012 09:49 AM                     Incorrect. Powering off hard drives once a day will noticeably decrease their life, and thus the life of the server before failure. Servers are meant to be left running 24/7. There is no legitimate fire hazard.  |  IP: Logged Antti Nayha Master Film Handler Posts: 268 From: Helsinki, Finland Registered: Oct 2008 posted 02-11-2012 10:25 AM                     Even if Tommy’s theatre really only runs 1–3 shows a week? That means the server’s uptime hours would be around 20 times less than in a 24/7 operation… I’m not questioning the basic 24/7 principle at all, just wondering if it still holds for such a low-usage venue.  |  IP: Logged Marco Giustini Film God Posts: 2713 From: Reading, UK Registered: Nov 2007 posted 02-11-2012 11:17 AM                     Brad, you say "noticeably". Does this mean that our personal computers (TV, laptops, set top box....) are doomed? In some countries I am not sure this would be allowed - because of fire safety. Anyway, a DSS200 is 250W rated. Keeping them ON 14 extra hours each day would be 1277KW used every year (based on the rated power of course). I do believe this figure should be taken into consideration. Back to topic, even though someone wanted to keep their servers on 24/7 I do believe that "reboot" and "shutdown" buttons would be very useful!  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 02-11-2012 11:36 AM                     Tommy, 4.3.5.9 is a relatively recent release (was posted end of last week or beginning of this week). I would definitely update to 4.3.5.9 as it is a stability increase. If you have a Cinedigm TCC system, I would consider it critical due to an issue started in TCC 3.2.4.0 Patch 10 and not corrected until patch 12.  |  IP: Logged Chris Slycord Film God Posts: 2986 From: 퍼항시, 경상푹도, South Korea Registered: Mar 2007 posted 02-11-2012 05:24 PM                     quote: Marco Giustini Does this mean that our personal computers (TV, laptops, set top box....) are doomed? Not comparable. Your laptop is highly unlikely to be reading/writing anywhere near as much as your digital cinema server.  |  IP: Logged Tony Bandiera Jr Film God Posts: 3067 From: Moreland Idaho Registered: Apr 2004 posted 02-11-2012 06:07 PM                     Tommy and Marco: I don't know why we seem to be failing to get through to you guys...is it a cultural difference or are you guys unwilling to listen to guys with a combined total of well over 100 years of experience in this industry? (Brad, Steve and me) I guess you guys know everything, and the server manufacturer is wrong, Brad is wrong, Steve is wrong, I am wrong, and thousands of venues who leave their servers running 24/7 are wrong..as are Disney, Six Flags, Knott's Berry Farm and most every other amusement park who leave their audio and video equipment powered 24/7. In the years I worked at Knott's with well over a thousand audio amps and other gear scattered throughout the park, I can't even fill the count on one HAND of equipment failures. Fire risk? Give me a break. Your theatre is more likely to suffer a fire from staff carelessness, someone sneaking a smoke or HVAC failure than your server going up in flames. Go ahead and do whatever the hell you want then, but DO NOT come back here whining because you had another server breakdown because you didn't listen. Oh, and Marco: your power figure is flawed because the idle server consumes less than the rated 250 watts. And did you read what I told Tommy? If you're worried about the power use, a simple audit of your lighting and HVAC will reveal changes that will save you FAR MORE energy that the server uses.  |  IP: Logged

All times are Central (GMT -6:00)

This topic comprises 4 pages: 1  2  3  4

Printer-friendly view of this topic

Hop To: Select a Forum: Category: Operations -------------------- Digital Cinema Forum Film Handlers' Forum Large Format Forum Ground Level Feature Info, Trailer Attachments & REAL Credit Offsets Category: Community -------------------- Film-Yak Film Handlers' Movie Reviews The Afterlife Bob Maar's Joke-A-Thon Category: Classified -------------------- Equipment and Supplies Wanted/For Sale Help Wanted/Seeking Employment Category: System -------------------- Software Beta Testing Forum

The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.