Longest‑Running Computer Systems: Real‑World Server Uptime Stories

Recently a Zhihu question sparked discussion about the longest continuously running computers or servers, prompting a collection of representative user experiences.

Friend 罗健 reports a Red Hat Linux 5.4 server in a provincial telecom data center that has been operating since 2009, totaling 14 years of uptime, surviving brief power incidents thanks to dual‑grid supply. He also mentions a 7×24 base‑station equipment designed for 20 years of continuous operation, kept confidential.

Friend 白乌鸦 shares memories of an Antarctic research station computer (286/386) that has run for decades, and a personal server that has been up for over 20 years running DOS 5.0, Novell networking, and a proprietary database, never rebooted due to redundancy and UPS backup.

He explains that the operator can recite the byte size of every file in DOS 5.0, and prefers to keep the system unchanged because it meets all current needs.

Friend BG6CQ notes two Linux servers installed in 2007 that have never been restarted, one serving as a school network authentication portal and the other as a PPTP VPN server, both 32‑bit kernels with uptime counters that overflow after 497 days.

Friend 大杨 mentions his own server that has been running for nearly three years, accompanied by a screenshot.

Friend hihahuha describes a Windows 2003 database server placed in a data center around 2005, which remained up for more than a decade until a UPS failure during the pandemic prevented its restart.

Friend 知者不知 reports a production‑environment device that has accumulated 4,822 days of uptime, roughly 13 years.

Friend Rearc cites a Sun 280R Solaris 9 system with 10 years (3,737 days) of uptime and mentions rumors of a Sun server that operated for 19 years.

Friend penddy points out the Guinness‑record‑like achievement of NASA’s Voyager 2 computer command system, running close to 47 years, and Voyager 1’s 46‑year continuous operation.

Friend scim adds that a HP RX8640 server has logged over 3,000 days of uptime before retirement.

Friend 凉了 emphasizes an operations principle: "If you can avoid moving, don’t move."

Friend 懒得勤快 humorously claims that the online game Earth Online’s server uptime exceeds 40 billion years.