If you’ve been under the impression these were true, don’t worry, you’re not alone.

These are the top 5 misconceptions that clients have about their technology.

Hear the facts, straight from one of our expert engineers.

It’s just not true that you need to keep servers cool to keep them running.

Take Google’s data centre in Belgium as an example, which contains no chilling equipment such as air-conditioning units.

Studies by Intel and Microsoft showed that most servers do fine with higher temperatures and outside air, easing fears about higher hardware failure rates. Dell recently said it would warranty its servers to operate in environments as warm as 45 degrees Celsius.

No more excuses for overusing the office aircon, then.

Sunlight itself has no effect on your laptop or PC.

Light may cause plastic casing to become discoloured over time, but this does not affect the performance of the machine.

The potentially problematic element of sunlight is heat. So long as your machine is not overheating, there’s no need to be concerned about the natural light from outside.

If you’ve purchased hardware intended for commercial use, the machine will likely be able to continue running for a lot longer than 5 years.

There may eventually come a time when new applications are no longer compatible with your machine and you’re therefore forced to make it obsolescent.

In our experience, the main reason people purchase new hardware is because it’s more cost efficient than upgrading/maintaining their current machines.

Shutting down has its benefits, most notably needing to use less power, but not any special qualities that preserves your machine.

The less time a machine is being used, the less stress is placed on the components and therefore the less likely they are to fail.

Yet, you can also use hibernation modes, which uses about the same amount of energy as being shut down.

Using this logic, if you want your laptop to last longer, then use it less!

If you suspect power supply problems in your Hong Kong office, the culprit is most likely some dodgy wiring and not the power supply.

Getting surge protection bars will help protect your devices against the sudden surges of the power lines being struck by lightning.

However, in Hong Kong the city infrastructure can handle such issues, so most of the time purchasing additional surge protection is unnecessary.

Written by Emma Evans