My laptop makes a great development platform.
I am not far enough a long to decide on a runtime platform.
So is everyone using an RPi for OpenHAB? I have an old Intel NUC celeron hanging around that might be a good fit?
…and I’m considering a Beaglebone Black.
I’m planning to install it on an existing HP N40L microserver running FreeBSD that’s running my ZFS RAID setup as it has enough spare cycles. Running ZFS means I can create snapshots. 
I’m using a small fanless i3 box running linux.
[url=http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00I05NH9S]http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00I05NH9S[/url]
I put a 128GB mSATA card (system), 8GB of RAM and a 1TB 5400rpm 2.5" laptop drive for the databases, running Ubuntu 14.04 (no GUI). It’s only 4" square and about 1.5" high. Draws about 40 watts.
It hosts my databases for the house, several other HA systems, whole house audio, media, file, email and web server, and extensive lighting (DMX and custom stuff). It still has tons of capacity (it’s still idle most of the time). Total cost was under $400 and it replaced everything in the house but laptops.
I’m using a small itx 8 core Avoton unRAID server with a KVM ubuntu server virtual machine.
Beaglebone Black arrived today!
I suggest you avoid a raspberry pi or even a beagle bone black. Not enough horse power and will take awhile to start. Guessed is using an odroid c1 and says it runs well. I am running my instance in a dedicated virtual machine which is on top of an 8 core amd server.
- Garrett
I’m planning to install it on an existing HP N40L microserver running FreeBSD that’s running my ZFS RAID setup as it has enough spare cycles. Running ZFS means I can create snapshots. :)[/quote]
I have a new HP Microserver sat in the box. I was thinking exactly the same as yourself. The only decision is whether to run it from the USB inside or use an SSD. As a novice to Linux it’s going to present a challenge (I’m MCSE accredited but that is no good here) so one I’ve picked a platform I’m likely to stick with it.
However, and it is a BIG however, I just can’t stop acquiring hardware and I really want to have a go at the Cubie Board 4. I mean wow! Can we actually use all 8 cores?
https://www.newit.co.uk/shop/Cubieboard4
I know this would need more tweaking and it will be a bit more to run (2.5amps DC = 30 watts) but it is a lot smaller (read easier to hide from the wife.) Tough choices!
If anyone else has any thoughts, please chime in I appreciate your comments.
On the subject of the Vera / OH integration and a proper forum, I am very pleased that there has been an official coming together and that @guessed has been given his own forum to look after. I would also like to thank the other devs that have worked so hard as they too deserve a mention. I am new here but have been watching the forums for months now and was concerned that all the effort that the devs had put in would be wasted if they jumped ship. The contributions to make this product what it can be from 3rd parties are very substantial and I see sinergie in the focus of the group. This is excellent for Vera commercially and allows others to expand their systems through scalable design with open source framework.
Perhaps Vera could consider manufacturing a world class standalone Z-Wave Bridge which could replace the Z-stick as a defacto Z wave device with proper antennae and a higher range/output?
Exciting times are ahead
For most people getting started I think the answer is going to be either to start off using a VM (eg. VirtualBox deployment of Ubuntu etc, or similar) or to re-use something they already have (like your HP Microserver)
Once you get a little mileage on it you’ll have a better sense for what you really need, how small you can go (etc).
I started mine on my Mac Mini, and it’s now moved to the Odroid C1 (for Low Power consumption). I still do the dev work against the Mac, but the deployed/Production version is on the C1 (with a bunch of fiddling to get that going up front)
However, and it is a BIG however, I just can't stop acquiring hardware and I really want to have a go at the Cubie Board 4. I mean wow! Can we actually use all 8 cores?https://www.newit.co.uk/shop/Cubieboard4
I know this would need more tweaking and it will be a bit more to run (2.5amps DC = 30 watts) but it is a lot smaller (read easier to hide from the wife.) Tough choices!
If anyone else has any thoughts, please chime in I appreciate your comments.
Must… resist… temptation to buy a ton of these small boards 
Perhaps Vera could consider manufacturing a world class standalone Z-Wave Bridge which could replace the Z-stick as a defacto Z wave device with proper antennae and a higher range/output?
That’s roughly what HomeSeer’s Z-NET appears to be. I chatted with the lad @CES and couldn’t get much detail on whether it formally implements Sigma’s Z/IP protocol or not, and whether there was an option to “extend” the internal option (or not)
The Aeon Z-Stick is also coming out with a new Rev in Spring/Summer (for latest Z-Wave chipset) and it didn’t appear to have an option to extend the antenna either.
Anyone using a Synology NAS to run openHAB?
I have a Synology NAS but I’ve found that the performance isn’t up to snuff:
- Moved Plex to a dedicated PC
- Moved off of, err, what is the video software… to Blue Iris
- Moved off of DariaDB to MySql on a dedicated PC
I wound up ordering a ODROID-C1; just a sucker for the form factor, I guess(ed)
It would seem that an MX-III Android TV box would be more than adequate if the ODROID-C1 works well with it.
For most people getting started I think the answer is going to be either to start off using a VM (eg. VirtualBox deployment of Ubuntu etc, or similar) or to re-use something they already have (like your HP Microserver)
Once you get a little mileage on it you’ll have a better sense for what you really need, how small you can go (etc).
I started mine on my Mac Mini, and it’s now moved to the Odroid C1 (for Low Power consumption). I still do the dev work against the Mac, but the deployed/Production version is on the C1 (with a bunch of fiddling to get that going up front)
However, and it is a BIG however, I just can't stop acquiring hardware and I really want to have a go at the Cubie Board 4. I mean wow! Can we actually use all 8 cores?https://www.newit.co.uk/shop/Cubieboard4
I know this would need more tweaking and it will be a bit more to run (2.5amps DC = 30 watts) but it is a lot smaller (read easier to hide from the wife.) Tough choices!
If anyone else has any thoughts, please chime in I appreciate your comments.
Must… resist… temptation to buy a ton of these small boards
Perhaps Vera could consider manufacturing a world class standalone Z-Wave Bridge which could replace the Z-stick as a defacto Z wave device with proper antennae and a higher range/output?
That’s roughly what HomeSeer’s Z-NET appears to be. I chatted with the lad @CES and couldn’t get much detail on whether it formally implements Sigma’s Z/IP protocol or not, and whether there was an option to “extend” the internal option (or not)
The Aeon Z-Stick is also coming out with a new Rev in Spring/Summer (for latest Z-Wave chipset) and it didn’t appear to have an option to extend the antenna either.[/quote]
Downloaded Open Box, so the fun starts this weekend and I will be using the Microserver. Thank you for your input
I’m considering running it on a Sitara platform that I developed myself, not too different from a beagle bone, so I’d be interested to hear about your reflections on its performance… I’m currently in testing phase on a core i5…
If I were to make a VM for openhab in esxi (i7 hex core, 24gb ddr3, plenty of storage) what type of specs should I give it? 1core, 2 core? 1-2gb? how much storage?
Think about your viable target options. The processor will likely be different (ARM-variant vs Intel), but most other things will be in the same territory.
Commodity, low-cost, 2 or 4 Core ARM devices, with 1-2GB RAM are available for $50-150 when fully equipped.
With that in mind, using a VM with 1-2 Cores, and 1GB RAM, will get you a great starter system. You can always tweak it up or down from there as needed… it’s just a VM.
Of course just to add to the conversation, I wonder what the performance on the new RASPi would be.
[quote=“Brientim, post:18, topic:185627”]Of course just to add to the conversation, I wonder what the performance on the new RASPi would be.
http://www.raspberrypi.org/raspberry-pi-2-on-sale/[/quote]
I like that they’ve finally made speed improvement, more options is a great thing for users.
Let’s hope they changed to gigE and much faster SDHC interfaces also, or it’ll be moot (choking on its IO lanes).
I have one i7 Windows PC that handles:
- Media Center / Media Browser HTPC (fed to 8 TV’s via HDMI splitter that turn on with motion)
- VoxCommando TTS (from Vera) and Speech Recognition
- iSpy controlling 10 x 720p IR Camera (and one Foscam camara as an audio/video baby monitor)
- Misc Tools:
** NZBGet
** Utorrent
** CouchPotato
** Sonarr
** DynDNS updater - Now, Adding OpenHab to relieve my Vera which flakes out about once a month (even with daily reboots) providing uncertainty in my 99% automated home
