Outline of desktop power management system and policy

User operation

The systems remain fully managed and can potentially have remote users etc. As such the general policy still remains that individuals leave machines on at all times in order not to affect other users or system administration tasks.

Should a machine be off when you need it then:

  • If you are at the machine simply press the power button on the front and wait for the machine to boot up - this will typically take about a minute
  • If you are away from the machine visit the list of machines page, locate the machine you wish to turn on in the list, and click the Wake Up link for that machine - a wake up of the machine will be triggered and the machine should be accessible within a minute or so

If in either case the machine does not come on it most likely indicates a hardware fault or fundamental problem, in which case report the issue to @email as usual.

Automatic Operations

An automatic system is in place to implement the following policies:

  • Monday - Friday, between 8am and 10am: The machines will remain on, and in particular, if the machine is off it will come on automatically (except over certain closure periods, e.g. 24th December to 1st January).
  • Monday - Thursday, between midnight and 8am: If the machine is not in use (i.e. no logged in users or user processes of any kind) then the machine will turn itself off.
  • Monday - Wednesday and Friday, between 10am and midnight: If the machine is not in use (i.e. no logged in users or user processes of any kind) then the machine will turn itself off.
  • Thursday 10am - Friday 8am: On thursday evening desktops perform a backup of their scratch partition. As such these machines will shutdown after 10am if not in use as on other weekdays, but will then start up again for 6pm and remain on until their backup slot has arrived and the backup completes (backup slots start between 6:30pm and 11:45pm depending on the particular machine).
  • Saturday and Sunday: If the machine is not in use (i.e. no logged in users or user processes of any kind) then the machine will turn itself off.

Note: should an individual wake a machine up in any of the default off periods the machine will remain on for at least 10 minutes regardless of whether anyone begins to use the machine. If someone begins to use the machine during that time the machine will then remain on as per the above policies. If later the machine becomes unused again then it will shutdown within 15 minutes.

Please contact us with feedback and comments about this page. Last updated on 25 Mar 2022 15:43.