If you have 1,000 computers and don’t want them all to power on at the same time, but rather come on at different times, you can use a simple Python script to do so.  I use this in an educational setting where each lab needs a different power setting so that they don’t all power on at once and crash the server when they all try to contact it at once.  It is also a little easier on the power grid.

This works well because my computers have a consistent naming convention of Building-Role-Room-ComputerNumber.  So if my building was A, role was student, room was W105, and computer was 03, the computer name would be A-Student-W105-03.  Now, I can split the computer name at the dash symbol and use the different components as my criteria.

So in the script, I just split the computer name and call upon certain elements to determine what power settings to apply.  Now I can send a single script to every computer and they will all get the appropriate settings.