Solution by challenge
Updates at 2 a.m. Asleep again by 5.
Leaving PCs on all night so patches can install wastes the rest of the night. Acquaintia wakes PCs for a maintenance window, keeps them awake through it, and lets them sleep when it closes.
The problem
Asleep PCs miss updates. Awake PCs waste the night.
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Patching needs PCs awake
A sleeping PC doesn’t install anything, so updates slip to the next morning, when people want to work.
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So PCs get left on
The easy answer is to keep every PC on overnight, for a window that lasts a few hours.
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And long jobs get cut short
A fixed shutdown can land in the middle of an install or a backup.
What does the work
The parts of Acquaintia that take this on.
How it is done
Awake for the window, and only the window.
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Set a maintenance window
Choose the days and hours on each policy, such as Wednesday from 2 to 5 a.m.
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PCs wake for it
On a Windows wake timer where the PC supports one, and with Wake-on-LAN from the Acquaintia server where it doesn’t.
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They stay awake through it
Power management steps aside while updates install, and Acquaintia won’t sleep a PC while Windows reports an update in progress.
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Then they sleep
When the window closes, idle PCs go back to sleep until business hours, or the next window.
Patch at 2 a.m., 15 seconds, with music. A sleeping office block wakes floor by floor at 02:00 for its maintenance window, shown on the Maintenance Window card as 2:00 to 5:00 AM with auto-wake, then goes back to sleep at 05:00.
On screen:
- 0:00 02:00, Wednesday. Every PC wakes to patch.
- 0:03 Set a maintenance window. Power management steps aside while updates install.
- 0:09 At 05:00, back to sleep. Patched, with nobody’s day interrupted.
- 0:11 Acquaintia. Updated overnight. Back asleep by morning.
One night, from 2 to 5.
A sleeping office block wakes floor by floor for its maintenance window, then goes back to sleep.
Questions
What wakes the PCs?
It depends on what each PC supports. PCs that use traditional sleep wake themselves on a Windows wake timer that Acquaintia sets, as long as wake timers are allowed in Windows power options. Modern Standby PCs ignore wake timers, so the Acquaintia server wakes them with Wake-on-LAN, which only works on PCs whose hardware supports it.
Does anything need setting up on the PCs?
For Wake-on-LAN, yes. The PC’s network adapter and firmware must support it, and it has to be turned on in both: in the BIOS or UEFI settings, and in the network adapter’s power settings in Windows. Not every PC supports it, and many can’t be woken over Wi-Fi, so check your models before you rely on it.
Patch on time without the all-nighter.
Book a demo and we’ll show you how a maintenance window and auto-wake fit your update schedule.
Other challenges
- Cut out-of-hours energy waste Stop powering PCs nobody is using at night and at weekends.
- Report PC carbon for net zero Estimated Scope 2 emissions for every PC and site.
- Manage power across every site Each site its own hours, tariff and policy, in one console.
- Acquaintia PC power management for Windows fleets: sleep, wake and the energy behind it.
- Healthcare Round-the-clock areas, shared workstations and offices that keep office hours.
- Education Shared PCs in labs, libraries and teaching rooms, empty for long stretches.