Computer Build/Questions

[Big]

I am new to HomeSeer and I am going to start getting involved with it.

Is it better to have a dedicated build just for HomeSeer or can it be shared with Windows Home Server or any other type of servers?

[Pete]

Personally I've always run Homeseer on it's own box.

That said its been a W2003 box now for many years.

I tried to tweak out Windows Home Server 2011 and had issues getting it to run like the W2003 OS running HS Pro box. It wasn't worth the time and effort modifying the W2011 OS such that it was more a W7 box running HSPro.

Many folks have had good luck running HS in a VM.

[Big]

Personally I've always run Homeseer on it's own box.

That said its been a W2003 box now for many years.

I tried to tweak out Windows Home Server 2011 and had issues getting it to run like the W2003 OS running HS Pro box. It wasn't worth the time and effort modifying the W2011 OS such that it was more a W7 box running HSPro.

Many folks have had good luck running HS in a VM.

Thanks for the reply.
In that case, I will probably go with a dedicated win 7 64 bit machine

What type of build should I spec out? I'd prefer a low powered machine (green) if possible but do not want to have any delay issues.

Also, what kinds of serial (rs232) ports do you recommend? PCI or USB

[Raptor]

Hi,

i run HS Pro on a WHS 2005 machine and since upgrading to an i5 processor from an atom it is working much better,

that said, i am considering moving to a dedicated HS machine to simpliy everything. my box has 8 usb 2.0 and 3 rs232 ports.

raptor

[stevea]

Although I really hate to say it, you should spend some time reading threads here before deciding on Win7, especially 64-bit. There are a number of things that are a bit harder to get to work right with Win7, and it doesn't seem that Homeseer Tech will be bothering with documenting the details until HS3 comes out. I'm running Win7 32-bit, and had a devil of a time getting my TTS voices, Way2Call, and voice recognition to work. All but VR work now, but it was lots of trial and error.

Unfortunately, that means using WinXP, which is getting way long-in-the-tooth, with MS trying hard to drop support for it.

On the subject of building: I built my machine about 18 months ago around an Asus uATX board, 4GB memory, and an i5 (was going to go with an i3 but Microcenter had another of their great CPU deals going). I think it uses about 65-70 watts. That's much more than the Atom-based boxes that Pete posts about here, but still not much.

Steve

[Pete]

Yes; I would agree with Steve regarding the installation on a W7 32bit machine versus a W7 64bit machine.

Relating to serial / USB ports I have been using one USB port to a Digi 7 port USB hub to USB devices plus two Digi 8 port Edgeports for my serial connectivity.

I am currently playing with an industrial miniITX server board (core 2 quad) on another machine pushing the serial ports to about 32 ports trying to break HS.

[Big]

I have no problem using windows xp, I just assumed windows 7 would be better (never ASSuME).

Thanks for the heads up.

i'll look for an inexpensive rackmount case and an atom intel barebone build.

[wodin]

Mine runs fine on a dedicated Asus netbook with 2 GB Ram and Win7 32 on it. There are several advantages to this; HSPro is not very HW constrained and the 1.8 GHZ Atom has more than enough huevos, it has a built in UPS, and it's a simple matter to carry the whole thing to the location of the node to join it.

Oh yeah, did I mention, it's very cheap and very easy on the power bill!

[Big]

So if I build a PC build using an Atom it will run fine without any delays due to performance issues?

I like the idea of building a system that uses less draw but don't want to run into any future problems.

[drozwood90]

I personally gave up trying to build a machine. It takes a while to get it just right and I found generally not worth my time at this point.

I generally have a Do-All machine, and expect to spend $1500-$2K every 4-5 years.

This time, I went with a Dell T110 server. Shipped, it cost me ~$750. It has GOT to be the most powerful machine I've ever used. The Quad core+HT Xenon processors have TURBO and Underclocking.

At this point, I run Win7 (I didn't want to deal with Win2008R2 and Homeseer...although THAT is the only Dell recommended Microsoft OS). I also run 3-4 virtual machines. I have 6 hard drives in it. NOT including 4 of those drives, my machine will sit at about 80W - measured at the UPS Battery (I need to re-measure the power use with the new drives).

When I do something to compress a movie, it will use all 8 "cores" and kick on the Turbo. I end up compressing a DVD to IPOD format at some crazy number like 700FPS. Basically, it takes me about 5 minutes to compress a movie. DURING that time, the unit uses about 250W (never got a really good number).

So, for the money, I'd rather go for a Dell T110. It really doesn't use THAT much more power sitting there (80W Vs. an Atom based machine at 40W). I know you can go really crazy and build SUPER low power, but is it worth your time?

If so, go for it! I personally decided it was NOT worth my time.

--Dan

[thetonyg]

So if I build a PC build using an Atom it will run fine without any delays due to performance issues?

I like the idea of building a system that uses less draw but don't want to run into any future problems.

The guys who run more intensive plugins than I could comment for sure, but I'm running my HS install on a W2008 R2 64 bit box with Homeseer as a service. With a few Ultrajones plugins running, it runs just as well as it did on a quad core box with a fraction of the power.

No TTS or IVR here for WAF reasons. She seems to have a thing for Paul Bettany though, so if I could get a JARVIS voice font then maybe... just maybe...

Supermicro makes a nice 1U, shallow Atom D525 barebones with dual Intel NICs built in as well as IPMI. At about $370, it's more expensive than other Atom options, but still a pretty good deal if you need rackmount IMO.

[TeleFragger]

im running a 2.4ghz xeon quad core with 4gb ram... couldnt be happier...
i dont care about keeping power down too much as it is my do all machine..

has windows home server (2003 sbs version)
cctv
Homseer
WHS allows me to backup my pc's which i have done restores in the past and works great... also shares out my folders for the wife...

i couldnt be happier.. well if i only had a physically smaller footprint pc in there.. i have a full tower dell optiplex 745...

[Big]

How do most people handle HS Touch clients? Do you put them on a VM? If I go that route, will an Atom be able to hanlde multiple HSTouch VMs?

[TeleFragger]

How do most people handle HS Touch clients? Do you put them on a VM? If I go that route, will an Atom be able to hanlde multiple HSTouch VMs?

i dont have HS Touch.. so easy to figure.. i dont use it..

[drozwood90]

How do most people handle HS Touch clients? Do you put them on a VM? If I go that route, will an Atom be able to hanlde multiple HSTouch VMs?

I think Pete is the only one I know that uses VMs or terminal sessions (can't remember which he settled on).

Most, I think use IPODS, or Tablets. I think few use the Windows stuff, except on say, a family PC...

I could be wrong, but the above is my impression of what's out there.

I use a mix of old cellphones, tablets, ipods, etc. So, in my mix, I have WinCE, Android (various OS mixes), IPODS. I wanted the IPODS for bathrooms since they are small, and more of less sealed.

I was also thinking, they would be nice at exits, attached just above the light switches. Besides that, I think most of my setup is going to move to Android tablets. I originally was going to use USB to VGA adapters and extend the video to PC based touchscreens, however my server's video card does not support the USB to VGA cards. So, unless I put something together as a VIDEO server of sorts, I'm kinda stuck with android clients around the house. Not a big deal, and probably just as cost effective in the here and now. When I started, Android tablets were in the 400$ range. So, it was cheaper to build the video server. However, now pricing is so good, it's not worth trying to extend the video from a video server.

--Dan