Running Multiple HomeSeer Raspberry Pi Units in the House

[panda2297]

Note: I'm not trying to cross post here. I just realized that after posting, I posted to the migration forum and this question doesn't really involve migration. I don't see a way to delete my original post. If a mod sees this, feel free to delete the original post.

I been doing some testing here with HS3 Pro running on a Raspberry Pi3. I got to say that I am very impressed with the performance. Basically what I am doing is slowly decommissioning my old Mac server and running all my needed functions on multiple Raspberry Pis. This leads to HomeSeer running on a Raspberry Pi3.

I did the recommended install of using Jessie Lite and using Mono to install HS3 Pro on my Raspberry Pi3. It all works well and I am really pleased with the boot up performance. Since I received HS3 Pro, the only plugin I ever really dabbled with was Zwave. That's what I primarily use HomeSeer for Zwave and Alexa Integration. I'm thinking about maybe more plugins down the road. I know that there isn't a 5 plugin limit for HS3 Pro Linux like the Raspberry Pi Image. However, I have read that you really shouldn't go over 5 plugins, due to the limitations of the Raspberry Pi.

This leads me to a new question. Is it technically possible to add another HS3 Raspberry Pi and the two HS3 devices can "talk" to each other? I know that I would need another license and that is no problem for me. The RPI3 images are not too bad in price. My main objective would be for the second unit to see the first unit's zwave devices (or even virtual switches) and the plugins on the second unit can take advantage of the first devices.

[reidfo]

Not sure about running dual HS3 "brains." Depending on the plugins you're looking for you may be able to run some of them remotely on a separate Pi (just running Linux/Mono). Not all plugins can be remoted, but you might want to look into the ones you use.

See this thread:
https://forums.homeseer.com/showthread.php?t=168246

[randy]

In addition to what Reid wrote, the 5 plug-in limit was with HS shipping on the original Pi B+ with 512MB RAM. If you use a Pi3 with 1GB you probably can safely go above the original 5 plug-in limit of HS3 Lite with HS3 full.

[Pete]

++ on the above two posts.

Here doing similar to Reid with a sort of distributed processing of Homeseer plugins (mono plugin.exe) or even remote USB / Serial (sertonet) links in a sort of hub and spoke topology and started to push on the RPis multitasking them with multiple links to the mothership.

My current test POE RPi in the attic is doing Z-Wave, 1-Wire networking and NOAA satellite captures. The NOAA captures are posted on a PHP page and linked to the mothership. It is now running Apache2 / PHP.

I do have two HS3 boxes running. Currently they do not talk to each other but do share the same data (except for Z-Wave) to the test RPi in the attic.

Where I see utilization go up is more related to number of events, devices and added scripts to base with plugins. And as Rich just mentioned nested circular events that run endlessly never stopping...

[panda2297]

Thanks for the reply everyone. This is all in theory in case I go crazy with the plugins and depending on what they are, I am sure some plugins can work standalone.

My thoughts after I posted this is if I must access a zwave device from another, I can use MQTT or virtual switches over URL calls.

[panda2297]

In addition to what Reid wrote, the 5 plug-in limit was with HS shipping on the original Pi B+ with 512MB RAM. If you use a Pi3 with 1GB you probably can safely go above the original 5 plug-in limit of HS3 Lite with HS3 full.

Good to know rprade. When you say "HS3 Lite", are you talking about a lite version of Raspian? I wasn't aware of a lite version of Homeseer and was thinking maybe that is what you are referring to.

[randy]

Good to know rprade. When you say "HS3 Lite", are you talking about a lite version of Raspian? I wasn't aware of a lite version of Homeseer and was thinking maybe that is what you are referring to.

No It is the lightweight version of HS3 specifically for the Pi (or HomeTroller Zee). It is the version limited to 5 plug-ins. I don't know the "official" name.