What PC/Mini PC to use to run HS Software

[Willie]

I have looked for hours on the message board? To find current information on a good Mini PC to run the HS software. Could someone give me a few suggestions.....Thanks

[Pete]

Welcome to the Homeseer forum Willie!

Many users here have had good luck with running Windows / Linux on the new batch of Intel mini PCs. Many are running Intel NUC mini PCs.

In the pure linux world you can utilize an ARM based mini PC like the Raspberry Pi.

Here my base is two.

1 - Intel iSeries with 16Gb of RAM using an mITX format motherboard DIY in my own minicase. I use this computer for Homeseer Pro. You do not need an iSeries PC to run Homeseer Pro. I run more than Homeseer on this computer

2 - RPi2, Pine64 , Xi5A mini cube PC for running Homeseer Zee Lite.

Google Amazon and you will see many mini pc's. Look for Intel CPUs with intel based chip sets. There really is no best PC for Homeseer as it will run on anything. Think about future expansion of your Homeseer automation relating to sizing your CPU / RAM.

Think also about your budget for automation. It is more than the computer. Your automation budget should include switches or whatever plugins, additional hard ware controllers et al. IE: 20 automated switches at $50 bucks a pop will put you at $1000. Also depends on technology you want to utilize.

Here I mix X10, UPB, Z-Wave and Zigbee technologies. Many folks on the forum utilize Z-Wave for all of the automation technology. It is up to you what you want to use and do with Homeseer.

[Bill Brower]

Consider an i5 laptop. Quite reasonable in price and will run for hours during a power outage. This is what I bought and then just upgraded to an SSD (personal preference).

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[cowinger]

Consider an i5 laptop. Quite reasonable in price and will run for hours during a power outage. This is what I bought and then just upgraded to an SSD (personal preference).

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

+1 I have the exact same laptop and it is fantastic for HS3. Very fast. Battery will last about 6 hours I think. I only had to use it on battery for 3 hours during an outage but it still had plenty of battery left.

[Kerat]

What PC/Mini PC to use to run HS Software

Personally, I run HS3 on an RPI 3. I am running HS3 for Linux standard (no limit on total number of plugins). There were a few problems I had to overcome with replacing ARM compiled executables but that was not too difficult. My configuration is relatively well suited for smaller deployments. It also reduces my overall power consumption to run home automation. Lastly, and RPI3 is dirt cheap for a 1.2 GHz quad core CPU and 1 GB OF RAM.

My HA network deployment is pretty small. I have some 253 total devices, 140 events, and 7 plugins. My HA network currently consists of Z-wave controlled lighting, dry contact, door, motion, HVAC control unit, and ceiling fans. I have 32 z-wave nodes, and am working on finishing out with 33 more z-wave controlled devices.
I am also managing and monitoring my network devices, Kodi HT applications. I currently use only about 50% of the resources on the RPI.

I would like to tie a security system, sprinkler control, weather station, whole home audio, and security video monitoring system into HS3.

I expect that I will need to move into a bigger system at some point. I will likely stand up a single self built miniPC platform like a multi-core Intel/AMD system or build an ESXi hypervisor VM host server and move all my server systems to VMs.
You can build out a mini ITX based dual core AMD PC with 8GB of RAM for around $220.

HS3 is pretty lite on system resource requirements by itself. The thing you need to account for is growth as your HA network and plugin use expands so does the consumption of server resources resources.

If your goal is to buy a PC instead of build, I would look into a gigabyte or Asus mini PC on an i5 Intel CPU or a 4 core or better series AMD. I would recommend 8GB RAM. Also, go with an SSD hard drive.


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[butka]

Add me to the list of Raspberry Pi3 users running HS3 standard. I just bought HS3 last week and migrated my Openhab setup. The Pi is barely being taxed.

For install, I actually installed the HS3-pi3 image for evaluation, then decided to go with HS3 standard due to the plugin limit on the Pi version of the software. The "upgrade" to HS3 standard was pretty easy and from reading other's posts on installing HS3 standard on a pi, installing the HS3-rpi3 image seems like the easier route. I was going to do a how-to writeup when I have time.

[davros]

Where are you guys getting your data from re windows pc recommendations?

I5, 16GB of ram, SSD?


Seriously? This thing uses bugger all CPU and no memory to speak of and has almost no IO. It'll run on any piece of crap hardware you can buy today that will run win 10. Celeron with 4GB is fine... heck, I run a D510 atom board and it worked fine with 2Gb and a crappy old 2 1/2" hdd and rarely see over 15% cpu

In short, get the cheapest, smallest, low power, all in one win 10 pc you can find and use that.

Oh, kerat, my HA system is the one thing I would not virtualise...too many physical connections (USB, serial, audio) to go under esxi. I love esxi, have 3 esxi hosts and 15+VM's across them...but HS is staying stand alone.

[sparkman]

Where are you guys getting your data from re windows pc recommendations?

I5, 16GB of ram, SSD?


Seriously? This thing uses bugger all CPU and no memory to speak of and has almost no IO. It'll run on any piece of crap hardware you can buy today that will run win 10. Celeron with 4GB is fine... heck, I run a D510 atom board and it worked fine with 2Gb and a crappy old 2 1/2" hdd and rarely see over 15% cpu

In short, get the cheapest, smallest, low power, all in one win 10 pc you can find and use that.

Oh, kerat, my HA system is the one thing I would not virtualise...too many physical connections (USB, serial, audio) to go under esxi. I love esxi, have 3 esxi hosts and 15+VM's across them...but HS is staying stand alone.

It depends on how many plugins you are running and other factors. I used to run on something similar to a D510 and 2 GB with a regular hard drive, but now have an I7 with 8 GB and an SSD and HS3 runs much more reliably. I would see above 80% CPU on my old system regularly, but now rarely see over 5%. I do run a lot of plugins and I went with an I7 because I was thinking about running Blue Iris on the same system.


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[waynehead99]

What PC/Mini PC to use to run HS Software

This is the downside of HA. Each person and house is different and requires different. I agree HS is low utilization on a computer itself, but it also depends on how big you plan to get. Plugins are the memory hogs in this arena. I have 20 plugins running roughly and that eats up a good chunk of memory. My setup also is script heavy now which has its pros and cons depending on what your goal is.

Do I need an i7 with 32 gigs of ram?? No and I doubt anyone does, strictly for HA unless the system is going to be multi purpose. But I will say I went from an older duo core with 4 gigs of ram to an 8 core AMD (last gen and because it was cheap) and doubled my memory to 8 gigs. I run SQL express as well capturing everything that happens in the house and it's also my Domain controller. The system hardly breaths hard ever.

I initially did virtualization and as stated above, the amount of physical connections was making it tough to maintain, but it was still doable. But I'm also the type that likes to stand something up and forget about it maintenance wise.

Personally when I went to the newer chip, I did notice an improvement in my bigger scripts finishing quicker, which did allow me to adjust some of my delays in my events down that I needed to wait for them to finish. Plus overall, my system does seem more reliable.

But I guess I gotta ask, does a multi core CPU really matter to HS (I suspect the answer is no, but I could be wrong).

[davros]

Agree with a multi role server, esp. the likes of blue iris which is CPU hog (full disclosure: I run Milestone Xprotext in a VM for my house cams), but for most use cases the celerons are plenty powerful even for multi role.

[Kerat]

What PC/Mini PC to use to run HS Software

Where are you guys getting your data from re windows pc recommendations?

I5, 16GB of ram, SSD?


Seriously? This thing uses bugger all CPU and no memory to speak of and has almost no IO. It'll run on any piece of crap hardware you can buy today that will run win 10. Celeron with 4GB is fine... heck, I run a D510 atom board and it worked fine with 2Gb and a crappy old 2 1/2" hdd and rarely see over 15% cpu

In short, get the cheapest, smallest, low power, all in one win 10 pc you can find and use that.

Oh, kerat, my HA system is the one thing I would not virtualise...too many physical connections (USB, serial, audio) to go under esxi. I love esxi, have 3 esxi hosts and 15+VM's across them...but HS is staying stand alone.

I can agree that HS3's requirements are very low. As stated before I run HS3 standard for Linux on a $35 Linux based RPI3. The system is pretty beefy (ARM 1.2 GHz quad core with 1 GB of RAM) for that price. HS3 runs like a champ, consumes some 90 MB of RAM. I could move up to an Asus TinkerBoard (ARM 1.8 GHz with 2 GB of RAM) for $60.

The trade off when going cheap is limited available resources as you expand plugins or tie in additional services. Examples:

1. Add a SQL DB on the system to capture all your log events, 2GB of RAM and that old 5900 RPM spinner drive is not going to be enough.

2. Stand up a blue iris NVR on the same system, the 2GB OF RAM and that old 5900 RPM spinner drive will likely not be enough.

3. Think about maintenance and security. Add A/V software, automated
Backups, or implement automated patch management, CPU and RAM on low end systems are going to hit above 75% utilization for an extended period of time during maintenance operations. You could try to schedule those maintenance routines outside of normal operating times but you still have to address them in some way. A quad core CPU, 120 GB SSD HDD, and 8GB of RAM is not a huge additional expense if you are already spending the money on a NUC, Zotac, or Asus mini PC or laptop.

I have heard the hosting HS3 on a VM is difficult, but I still think it would be interesting to do.


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[davros]

Yep, Linux runs on an oily rag...as opposed to bloated old M$.

1. Agree 4GB is a reasonable amount - Win 10 takes loads for itself now. The SQL impact is surprising. Do you have any links for this? I'd think a 5400-5900 (green) drive would have plenty of iops for HS (mostly small writes). Not like it's doing much.

2. 5900 is fine (even preferred) for DVR use as it's almost all large sequential writes. 7200-10k are heat and power hogs. Granted, recall can be slower but most people rarely recall or scrub through old video.

3. AV and backups etc. True, some these can also be hogs, and use as much as they can get, but again, I run AV and Acronis and a bunch of other crap at 3am.

Fwiw, I also transcode 3 IP cam video (sub)streams using VLC on this D510 and it barely breaks a sweat (20% until and a few 100 MB ram).

I guess my point is, and as requested by the OP, modern hardware (ie. any celeron you can get from the shop) is way powerful enough for HS. Sure, buy and i5 or i7 and 16GB if you want, but it's not needed.



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[CeeTee]

[Pete]

Yes here last version of HS2 built a few Atom D525 / 4 Gb machines. Worked great.

Concurrent with said builds also built a few PCs using BCM mITX motherboards. (commercial style).

I put one of the Atom D525 motherboards in one of two carpcs. It has done well over the years.

Used an AMD E350 with 8Gb for an 8 drive NAS using an LSi 8 port SATA card. Been doing fine over the years.

Fast forward to HS3. Built a few HS3 computers.

For HS3 Pro built two iSeries 16Gb Linux Ubuntu 16.04 64 bit machines.

One is running W7 64 bit (for a Homeseer user) and the other is running Ubuntu 16.04 for myself.

On the HS3 Lite (Zee2 software) started here with first one running on an RPi. Updated it to an RPi2 (with GPIO Z-Wave / PiFace RTC). Then moved ZeeLite to testing on a Pine64 2Gb machine running Ubuntu 16.04 64 bit and circles around the RPi3 and the Xi5A (dual AMD, 2Gb and SSD drive). I changed the old RPi2 to a Z-Wave slave in the attic and it does well.

Newest HSTouch computer is a PipoX7 dual core Atom (4 pseudo cores) with 2 Gb of RAM connected to a 17" multitouch openframe touchscreen running W10, Kodi, Homeseer Touch, Kinect plugin, Alexa Plugin, HDHome run streaming, et al. Fast and low power PC. Only issue with it is that it has a built in USB NIC which I can put to sleep but WOL doesn't work.

Favorite computer is the iSeries 16Gb machine running Ubuntu 16.04 64 bit and a Windows server VB for Microsoft SAPI.

Concurrent with said builds just built a Zoneminder CCTV server on a multicore / 32Gb 2 U Dell server. It is the fastest Zoneminder server I have built to date. Big, loud and uses much power though. It is in a rack in the basement of the two story home. Never seen or heard. That said it was purchased in an auction dirt cheap...~100 USD with a bunch of other servers and cisco switches (pallet of stuff).

Just built another one (Intel ISeries with 16Gb of RAM) for another Homeseer user. This one is running an 8 drive NAS, HSPro in Ubuntu, WeeWx, KODI, CCTV back end stuff, HS3 Pro, W7 64 bit Oracle VB...list goes on and on. It is doing well.

Future build plans are for a faster less power consuming iSeries with 32Gb of RAM running Linux and Wintel (VBs).

All said (above) HS3 runs today in Linux and Windows. In Linux HS3 runs with Intel or ARM based CPUs. Computers today are faster and can multitask just fine. It really depends on how much you want to do with HS3. HS3 while it is one program it isn't just one program.

[Monk]

I just put together a system with an i5 6500(Quad Core)and 16GB ram. Windows 10 installed and slowly converting over from HS2 -> HS3.
Its a bit overkill but what the heck.