Continuous data upload in sleep mode?

[brianz]

Hi, I have a question.

I have a software application that collects data via USB from other nearby hardware (a weather station console) in my office and continuously uploads it to a website. I am going out of town and would thus like to monitor this data on the website, but I don't relish the idea of leaving my extremely resource intensive PC on 24/7 for two weeks simply for the uploading.

Is there any way to put in a low power state, such as sleep or hybrid sleep, without disrupting the data collection and uploading? Or is that a pipe dream?

Thanks for any suggestions.

Brian

 

[Golden]

Hi Brianz,

The obvious thing that springs to mind is turning off the monitor/monitors. Do you have a feel what uses the resources on your PC at the moment?

Consider turning off Windows automatic updates whilst you are away : some updates force a reboot of your PC which may intefere with the data collection programme.

Regards,
Golden

 

[brianz]

Hi Brianz,

The obvious thing that springs to mind is turning off the monitor/monitors. Do you have a feel what uses the resources on your PC at the moment?

Consider turning off Windows automatic updates whilst you are away : some updates force a reboot of your PC which may intefere with the data collection programme.

Regards,
Golden

Thanks Golden. I'll definitely keep the monitor powered off. Good idea on Windows updates.

The PC is a high end audio/video machine with four fans, 12 GB RAM, and GTX 470 graphics card. In summer, the whole room gets notably warmer when it's on. I'm sure it'll be fine if I leave it on for a couple weeks, but it feels like a major appliance...

 

[logicearth]

Get a slightly under powered computer to do that task? Dunno..

 

[carwiz]

+1 on Golden's suggestions. Also, is the PC on a power backup system? If optioned with a smart link, these will shut down a PC too. You can change the power off function for the UPS and/or Windows to power back on after a loss of power. Your weather software would need to be in the Start-up group.

On a side bar, what weather station are you using? I've been looking at those for a while but I want to collect the data on-site. Even though my rain gauge has been empty for quite some time and I know it's HOT, I'd still like to track the weather.

 

[Britton30]

I leave mine on 24/7 with no problems. The disabling updates is a good suggestion and all other automated tasks except for virus scans. Win 7's auto defrag could be disabled while you are away too.

 

[GEWB]

Thanks Golden. I'll definitely keep the monitor powered off. Good idea on Windows updates.

The PC is a high end audio/video machine with four fans, 12 GB RAM, and GTX 470 graphics card. In summer, the whole room gets notably warmer when it's on. I'm sure it'll be fine if I leave it on for a couple weeks, but it feels like a major appliance...

I'll expand on the suggestion from Golden - you need to turn off ALL updates from ALL programs (e.g., Abode stuff like Flash and Reader, any antivirus program updates, etc.).

I would take the system off line from the Internet by unplugging it from your modem/router/access point (whatever). If you use a firewall like ZoneAlarm, enable the Internet lock as one more step.

Given your brief description of the system, your mobo/CPU may have CPU speed throttling based on load - it would be in the BIOS setup. Enable it (or verify it is enabled) to throttle back the CPU speed thus using less power under light load.

Regards,
GEWB

 

[brianz]

Good idea on the backup power supply, I've been too lazy to look into it. Maybe I should build another barebones PC to work as a server for all my A/V and data collection/uploading...

Carwiz, it's a Davis Vantage Vue. Good prosumer level type of station and display. I use their Weatherlink software and just set up my station on Wunderground to get data automatically, so that I can peek at precipitation levels when I travel. It's fun to store data, compare year-over-year data, and of course build snazzy charts. And it's given my wife lots of material for her stand-up act with friends and family...

 

[Golden]

Hi,

One of the things you might want to experiment with is the Power Options settings. These allow you set various states for the processor, the colloing and so on and so forth. Gieven that the PC sounds as if it doesn't actually have a huge workload, these might be ideal for your purposes. There are quite a few settings you can manipulate.

Regards,
Golden

 

[MacGyvr]

A better solution than turning off Windows Updates is to put your weather software in startup so that the machine can continue to updated, reboot and continue performing your task. I NEVER advocate turning off Windows Updates even for a short time.