I deal with computers and large systems on a daily basis and consider myself a pretty knowledgeable guy when it comes to this subject. I do recognize that there are a lot of things that I have ‘heard’ about, but don’t really know much about. One such subject is the whole ‘Wake-on-LAN’ functionality that has been built into computers and operating systems for the last few years, yet remains a mystery to many folks.

Wikipedia defines Wake-on-LAN as:

Wake on LAN (WOL, sometimes WoL) is an Ethernet computer networking standard that allows a shut-down computer to be booted remotely.

Okay, I know that, but how do I actually implement it?

Today, I came across an article that details exactly how to use this feature on a PC running Windows, or on a Mac. Lifehacker’s feature story titled “Access Your Computer Anytime and Save Energy with Wake-on-LAN” is one of the best primers as to how to set this up and actually use it. I have multiple computers on my home network that go into ‘sleep mode’ when not used for extensive periods of time, and being able to wake them up remotely to use services on them would be of great use to me. And being able to remotely ‘turn on’ a computer that has been shutdown would be of tremendous use, especially for some computers that won’t turn themselves back to their last power state after a power failure.

Lifehacker Feature: Access Your Computer Anytime and Save Energy with Wake-on-LAN