Home Automation - Smartkit

And the Gen8 is proper server stable, don't regret the move.

Mine basically idles, and its running about 20 docker containers.
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VM in Unraid works for me. I had the unraid server already so simple to implement.
Docker in unraid also an option but then you cant have HASS.io.
 
calypso said:
VM in Unraid works for me. I had the unraid server already so simple to implement.
Docker in unraid also an option but then you cant have HASS.io.
Click to expand...

Quite honestly I would rather go without Hass.io than struggle with VM’s.
 
Tinuva said:
Fair enough, bought mine for $70 of ebay when they were getting rid of early development stock. That price you giving is expensive, I wouldnt buy at that price.

View attachment 746825
Click to expand...
Did some soul searching............and my soul is leaning towards a Synology NAS. My wallet is leaning towards sticking with the Pi....will have to see who wins.

I don't know much about docker (except that their logo is a whale), but I do like the idea of splitting your configs etc from your actual application file (not sure if it's the correct term). Also looking at things like Unifi and Unifi Video, these can also be setup in docker on the Synology.

I know docker on a PC or server will do the same/maybe even more, but what's nice about the synology is redundancy on the drives and that I do not have to manage the OS. Yes, all these things are possible on a server, but I'm more interested in the automation and electronics than the IT stuff, so if the IT stuff can be managed without my effort or lack of skill........the price on the synology starts to look justified.

Thoughts?
 
mtlost said:
Did some soul searching............and my soul is leaning towards a Synology NAS. My wallet is leaning towards sticking with the Pi....will have to see who wins.

I don't know much about docker (except that their logo is a whale), but I do like the idea of splitting your configs etc from your actual application file (not sure if it's the correct term). Also looking at things like Unifi and Unifi Video, these can also be setup in docker on the Synology.

I know docker on a PC or server will do the same/maybe even more, but what's nice about the synology is redundancy on the drives and that I do not have to manage the OS. Yes, all these things are possible on a server, but I'm more interested in the automation and electronics than the IT stuff, so if the IT stuff can be managed without my effort or lack of skill........the price on the synology starts to look justified.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
The synology is amazing. Their OS is actually what makes it amazing for me. However be warned, do NOT open the web interface to the world (ie. port forward from your router). There are bots that scan the world and there are often exploits that get admin access to your synology. If you must have it open, use a vpn or behind a reverse proxy like nginx/traefik which hides the synology os signature.

That said, docker works great on Synology although it has its own types of issues, but mostly it just works.

Do make sure to upgrade the memory on the Synology device you choose, 2GB ram is far too little once you have many dockers running.
 
mtlost said:
Did some soul searching............and my soul is leaning towards a Synology NAS. My wallet is leaning towards sticking with the Pi....will have to see who wins.

I don't know much about docker (except that their logo is a whale), but I do like the idea of splitting your configs etc from your actual application file (not sure if it's the correct term). Also looking at things like Unifi and Unifi Video, these can also be setup in docker on the Synology.

I know docker on a PC or server will do the same/maybe even more, but what's nice about the synology is redundancy on the drives and that I do not have to manage the OS. Yes, all these things are possible on a server, but I'm more interested in the automation and electronics than the IT stuff, so if the IT stuff can be managed without my effort or lack of skill........the price on the synology starts to look justified.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

Same problems here. I've been running my Pi3b+ for a year now and it works, but I have corrupted an SD card along the way and every now and then something goes wrong in my history and nothing gets recorded for hours at a time.

Generally snappy enough though -- all my automations keep on running.

I've actually been thinking of just moving the DB off the Pi into a docker running on an old Windows notebook. In my mind having the history is less important -- so if the PC goes down (power outage for example) the Pi can continue doing it's thing.

I run my Pi off a CCTV power supply with 2x 12v batteries so it can run a couple of hours, which is quite useful. The old notebook's battery is pretty much gone, though, so it shut downs almost immediately.
 
mtlost said:
Did some soul searching............and my soul is leaning towards a Synology NAS. My wallet is leaning towards sticking with the Pi....will have to see who wins.

I don't know much about docker (except that their logo is a whale), but I do like the idea of splitting your configs etc from your actual application file (not sure if it's the correct term). Also looking at things like Unifi and Unifi Video, these can also be setup in docker on the Synology.

I know docker on a PC or server will do the same/maybe even more, but what's nice about the synology is redundancy on the drives and that I do not have to manage the OS. Yes, all these things are possible on a server, but I'm more interested in the automation and electronics than the IT stuff, so if the IT stuff can be managed without my effort or lack of skill........the price on the synology starts to look justified.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

I went the XPEnology route. Instead of the pricey Synology hardware, I used off-the-shelf PC components. Much cheaper. I then installed XPEnology.

If you are not familiar with it, XPEnology is a bootloader that enables you to install the official Synology OS on non-Synology hardware. OS updates come from Synology. You are running the official OS with no changes.

Takes a bit more effort to install, but it MUCH easier on your wallet.

https://xpenology.org/
 
BetaProject said:
How about a Pi 4? Run off a USB hdd, and you have a low power device more than capable of running HassIO, and you don't need to worry about SD cards dying on you.
Click to expand...

This remains an option.

calypso said:
VM in Unraid works for me. I had the unraid server already so simple to implement.
Docker in unraid also an option but then you cant have HASS.io.
Click to expand...

SauRoNZA said:
Can’t go wrong with an HP Microserver.

Cheaper and more powerful than all these NAS drives and can happily do a better job.
Click to expand...

VM, unraid, all things I have no clue how to use and I agree, they are probably the best option......IF you know how to maintain them.

Breaking one thing that can break everything and you don't know how to fix it and al of a sudden all your cameras, security systems, automation etc isn't working. Now you have to start from scratch because you don't have the knowledge to fix something in the OS or server side that you broke by accident (or krap waar dit nie jeuk nie). We all know how long it can take to get everything back up and running and even if you have backups of everything, these things always happen when you don't have time.

I guess, I'm just looking for a platform that will work and if I for example break home assistant, Unifi and other dockers will continue to do their thing......independent of each other.
 
BetaProject said:
I went the XPEnology route. Instead of the pricey Synology hardware, I used off-the-shelf PC components. Much cheaper. I then installed XPEnology.

If you are not familiar with it, XPEnology is a bootloader that enables you to install the official Synology OS on non-Synology hardware. OS updates come from Synology. You are running the official OS with no changes.

Takes a bit more effort to install, but it MUCH easier on your wallet.

https://xpenology.org/
Click to expand...

In that case Unraid seems a much better solution for very little money.

I’ve not used Xpenology specifically but I have used Synology and it seems quite lacking compared to Unraid.

Find for a super consumer, but not so great if you want to get a bit more hardcore hands on.
 
BetaProject said:
I went the XPEnology route. Instead of the pricey Synology hardware, I used off-the-shelf PC components. Much cheaper. I then installed XPEnology.

If you are not familiar with it, XPEnology is a bootloader that enables you to install the official Synology OS on non-Synology hardware. OS updates come from Synology. You are running the official OS with no changes.

Takes a bit more effort to install, but it MUCH easier on your wallet.

https://xpenology.org/
Click to expand...
What specs are the hardware?

Nice thing about this approach is if Synology isn't working out for you, you have the hardware to go some other route.....I'll look into this a bit further.

Thanx
 
SauRoNZA said:
In that case Unraid seems a much better solution for very little money.

I’ve not used Xpenology specifically but I have used Synology and it seems quite lacking compared to Unraid.

Find for a super consumer, but not so great if you want to get a bit more hardcore hands on.
Click to expand...

Quite right. Synology is great if you want to just switch on and forget about it. Unraid is much more technical and tinker-worthy (is that a word?).
 
SauRoNZA said:
In that case Unraid seems a much better solution for very little money.

I’ve not used Xpenology specifically but I have used Synology and it seems quite lacking compared to Unraid.

Find for a super consumer, but not so great if you want to get a bit more hardcore hands on.
Click to expand...
How is the synology leaking compared to unraid? Like what specifically is missing. I can do everything on it that I used to do on my Linux fileserver. I did have to find the synology os way in some minor cases only.
 
SauRoNZA said:
In that case Unraid seems a much better solution for very little money.

I’ve not used Xpenology specifically but I have used Synology and it seems quite lacking compared to Unraid.

Find for a super consumer, but not so great if you want to get a bit more hardcore hands on.
Click to expand...
How is the synology leaking compared to unraid? Like what specifically is missing. I can do everything on it that I used to do on my Linux fileserver. I did have to find the synology os way in some minor cases only.
 
mtlost said:
What specs are the hardware?

Nice thing about this approach is if Synology isn't working out for you, you have the hardware to go some other route.....I'll look into this a bit further.

Thanx
Click to expand...

I'm running on a machine with 4GB RAM, an old 2.44GHz dual core cpu and several terabytes of disk space. It is hidden away in my garage, and just chugs away, serving files and running maybe 10 docker containers (including the HassIO containers), along with Plex Media Server.

There is a Synology package for HassIO. Install it, and it takes care of the Docker containers.
 
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