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    Need a good way to have a backup system that's always ready to go...

    It's gotta be my luck, but everytime I leave for business, HS goes down one way or another.

    I have the HS PC on a WEMO switch which allows me to power cycle it in an emergency situation like this. Today it just wouldn't come back on.

    So now, I know I'll need to figure out how to have a redundant system.

    Option 1, buy another Homeseer USB stick and install it an instance of HS on my Blue Iris PC that's already always on and has been extremely stable. When the other one goes down, I'll grab the nightly backup from my NAS and drop it in the backup PC

    Option 2, run HS in a VM on the BI PC, periodically clone the VM when I make changes to the system. If something happens to the VM, just switch it to the clone and still be able to use the same USB stick...

    Is option 1 even possible, two different USB stick with the same Zwave network (only one will be running at any given time). This option is more ideal as it provides true redundant of independent hardware.

    Fortunately, I'm only away for a week this round. If I'm out of the country for much longer, this will be a problem.

    #2
    If you go for Option 2 (which would be my choice) then have a look at Altaro software. It is free for up to 2 VMs and works flawlessly for me. You can simply restore the VM with no hassle at all.
    I use it for a VM running Exchange and its got me out of the mire more than once.

    Comment


      #3
      I wonder if there is a way to run two instances of Homeseer and do an auto-failover? Have one instance running with all events disabled except one that monitors a heartbeat from the other instance. Bonus would be a way to auto return to normal mode when the main instance comes back up.

      Comment


        #4
        HS4 Pro, 4.2.19.0 Windows 10 pro, Supermicro LP Xeon

        Comment


          #5
          I run two locations each with Win10 home, HS3, and BI4. Very stable. I think I would spend my energy trying to figure out why your HS system is not stable. I generally prefer dealing with root causes rather than band aids.

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by rprade View Post
            You cannot have two identical Z-Wave controllers active at the same time. I would guess you could build a second controller from a backup of the first, as long as both were not active at the same time. A Z-Net was my solution, since an IP device can be connected easily to a backup server. This makes my Z-Wave network independent of the hardware HS resides on.

            To that end, everything connected to my HS system is done by IP. Z-Nets, OneWire servers, Arduinos and my Brultech energy monitor are all IP devices. This allows me to use a physical machine as my primary and to spin up a VM in the event the primary fails. I can and have moved to a VM remotely if/when my primary server fails.

            I have also invested in good hardware, so I haven’t seen O/S or hardware failures in years. HomeSeer has been very stable for quite a while and .435 has been extremely stable since May 10.
            +1 on that.

            In fact I was thinking one could run HS3 on a cloud server however, I'm thinking the lag might be too noticeable. Still it would be fun to try it if I had access to one.

            I'm moving to more and more toward building non-lighting devices around RaspBerryPi Zero W's. They are quick and cheep to build and can be tossed around like popcorn.

            Unless Amazon give Echo the ability to play announcements without manual intervention I'm going to be running Pi Zero around the house for voice alerts.

            As far as a hot standby for HS3 I think that could be automated to switch over when ones dies. The biggest issue would be keeping them in sync with little or no manual intervention.
            HomeSeer Version: HS3 Standard Edition 3.0.0.548
            Linux version: Linux auto 4.15.0-72-generic #81-Ubuntu SMP Tue Nov 26 12:20:02 UTC 2019 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
            Number of Devices: 484 | Number of Events: 776

            Enabled Plug-Ins: 3.0.0.13: AirplaySpeak | 2.0.61.0: BLBackup
            3.0.0.70: EasyTrigger | 1.3.7006.42100: LiftMaster MyQ
            4.2.3.0: mcsMQTT | 3.0.0.53: PHLocation2 | 0.0.0.47: Pushover 3P
            3.0.0.16: RaspberryIO | 3.0.1.262: Z-Wave

            Z-Net version: 1.0.23 for Inclusion Nodes
            SmartStick+: 6.04 (ZDK 6.81.3) on Server

            Comment


              #7
              If you don't have it on an UPS, I'd recommend adding one.

              Comment


                #8
                Last edited by Kerat; June 5, 2018, 07:58 PM.

                Comment


                  #9
                  I think RPi's and other credit card size computers, get a bad rap when running HS3. Since switching to HS3Stardard from the ZeeS2 and in the process building a totally new image with all of the latest patches, current mono build and now running a Z-NET rather than having the Z-Wave on the HS3 system it seems to me much more responsive when in normal operation. Sure it's still a bit slow when opening events for editing but I can live with that.

                  The only reasons I'm moving it to either the Rock64, RockPro64 or maybe even the new Tinker is 3 to 4 times the ram plus the eMMC memory, which is much less likely to get corrupted than an SD card, and being able to run the OS in 64bit mode. I expect it to be even more stable and responsive. If they come out with a RPi that has those features it would put the RPi back in the game. Total additional investment, around $250 including HS3Standard.

                  I do need to comeup with a good power backup for the HS3 system its self but it only has to supply about 3A @5V for a few minutes since it's on a RPi like device.
                  HomeSeer Version: HS3 Standard Edition 3.0.0.548
                  Linux version: Linux auto 4.15.0-72-generic #81-Ubuntu SMP Tue Nov 26 12:20:02 UTC 2019 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
                  Number of Devices: 484 | Number of Events: 776

                  Enabled Plug-Ins: 3.0.0.13: AirplaySpeak | 2.0.61.0: BLBackup
                  3.0.0.70: EasyTrigger | 1.3.7006.42100: LiftMaster MyQ
                  4.2.3.0: mcsMQTT | 3.0.0.53: PHLocation2 | 0.0.0.47: Pushover 3P
                  3.0.0.16: RaspberryIO | 3.0.1.262: Z-Wave

                  Z-Net version: 1.0.23 for Inclusion Nodes
                  SmartStick+: 6.04 (ZDK 6.81.3) on Server

                  Comment


                    #10

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Is there any know way to automate the Z-Wave and HS3 backup process? I've been looking but can't find anything. If not this would be a nice feature addition to have backups pushed to another server or at the very least a USB Stick, more reliable than a SD card, plug in to the Pi.
                      HomeSeer Version: HS3 Standard Edition 3.0.0.548
                      Linux version: Linux auto 4.15.0-72-generic #81-Ubuntu SMP Tue Nov 26 12:20:02 UTC 2019 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
                      Number of Devices: 484 | Number of Events: 776

                      Enabled Plug-Ins: 3.0.0.13: AirplaySpeak | 2.0.61.0: BLBackup
                      3.0.0.70: EasyTrigger | 1.3.7006.42100: LiftMaster MyQ
                      4.2.3.0: mcsMQTT | 3.0.0.53: PHLocation2 | 0.0.0.47: Pushover 3P
                      3.0.0.16: RaspberryIO | 3.0.1.262: Z-Wave

                      Z-Net version: 1.0.23 for Inclusion Nodes
                      SmartStick+: 6.04 (ZDK 6.81.3) on Server

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Just a few points on running HS3 on a single board computer.

                        The Raspberry Pi is an ideal candidate for HS3 both from a form factor and an energy efficiency point of view. Running 2-3 plugins it seems to perform satisfactorily.

                        The only problem I see is that you have a 1gb memory restriction and if one or more processes go rogue it is likely that your system will reach that capacity and crash before the system corrects itself. I've watched some really strange behaviour on the Raspberry Pi in relation to memory usage over a period of 30 days.

                        Personally I wouldn't leave my Raspberry Pi running on an older version of Mono. Minor problems tend to creep into the system and before you know it your system requires a major update instead of gradual incremental updates which in many cases will crash your system. Manually removing one version of Mono to replace it with another can be a real PITA.

                        In relation to the Rock64, yes it has 4gb of memory runs at 1.6ghz has four cores and USB3 but finding an acceptable version of Linux to run on it can be a minefield. I'm reading about so many issues from people running sudo apt-upgrade on their system only to find their system becomes crippled.

                        Yes if you find a stable version of Linux to run on it, fantastic but it's finding one that you can safely update/upgrade when necessary is the real challenge.

                        I'm running HS3 on both boards and so far so good but the above are just a summary of my experiences to date without getting too technical.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Is there any know way to automate the Z-Wave and HS3 backup process?

                          There are HS3 Linux scripts to automatically back up the Homeseer directory. Relating to a backup of the firmware of the ZWave device I am not aware of an automatic 3rd party back up program. That said HS3 automatically backs up the firmware of your ZWave stick and it is kept in the Homeseer directories. So a backup directory and new USB stick or GPIO card is easy. You just need to restore the ZWave device backup to the stick or GPIO card wherever it resides.

                          There is absolutely nothing cryptic relating to the use of a ZWave device. The ZWave nodes have always been kept on the device, Homeseer 3 has always kept a back of these nodes and another backup of the ZWave devices, events et al. Such that an entire backup of the Homeseer directory has always worked (even with a new ZWave hardware device).

                          Back in the HomeSeer 2 days only hardware issues that occurred taking down Homeseer 2 was Hard drive failure, power supply failure and exploding capacitor failure.

                          The DR recovery back up was a directory back up and an image of the hard drive partition.

                          I went to using a 20 Gb OS partition no matter how large the hard drive was and a tweaked and sized down Windows server. Today using same Lite Windows Server on a Virtual box except that it is 10Gb in size and only utilized to run Windows Only plugins / speech on my HS3 Pro box.

                          Over time went to building a second duplicate computer for Homeseer 2 using same motherboard and memory.

                          Last days of Homeseer 2 here went to DIY building an Atom based D525 computer (Foxconn motherboard) and using a Shuttle D525 computer. Both of these ran fine and are still running today. Also build two core duo lite computers using a BCM based mITX board which still run today. (4 of these still going).

                          With Homeseer 3 running in Linux I am doing the same today sort of.

                          The first HS3 box running in Linux was the Zee and it ran on the original RPi with the SD card. After 3-4 months the SD card started to fail. It was then I went to using an AMD cube computer running on a 32Gb SSD with 2Gb of RAM and concurrently started to test on the Pine64 Computer with 2Gb of RAM. Both had Ubuntu Linux 64bit OS running.. Note that I never had issues with the Ubuntu 64 bit server build for the Pine 64 and always have keep ti updated. I did have a problem using Samsung microSD cards failing after some time. Really on the RPi / Homeseer Lite computer you do not need more than an 8Gb MicroSD card. This is reasonably priced and an easy backup. A 32 SD card or even 16Gb SD card is way overkill for running Homeseer Lite.

                          Both of these computers are identically configured with Homeseer Lite. HomeSeer is installed in the root directory. DR back up is a directory and an image of the drive partition. That said as HomeSeer is just a directory on Linux it really doesn't matter for me relating to hardware connectivity. IE: I can copy the Homeseer directory to any of my laptops running Ubuntu and Homeseer will run the same. IE: relating to ZWave the nodes of ZWave are kept on the ZWave hardware whether it is a ZNet GPIO device or a USB ZWave stick. With the directory back up and ZWave stick you are always good to go.

                          If you want two identical ZWave hardware devices then you can copy out the node information from whatever ZWave device to another ZWave hardware device and have two. With the stick/gpio card you just remove it or disable it on the second computer.

                          On the ARM Rock 64 or in my case the Pine 64 it is the 2Gb of RAM that allows for a 64 bit OS. The 64 bit OS on Linux is much more plugnplay than it is on Windows. Linux does do a better and always has done better with memory management whether it is 32 bit or 64 bit. I do continue to state that Homeseer 3 runs faster and better in a 64 bit OS. It is also running latest version of Mono in 64 bit mode. There should be no reason to not utilize latest version of Mono with Homeseer 3.

                          The Rock64 / Pine64 computers allow the OS to run on an eMMC card which is much a much better OS medium than the SD card. My current touchscreens all boot via small eMMC cards and they are on 24/7 and doing well after running now for over 5 years.

                          I am still waiting for the update in Hardware on the Rock64 to include a battery for the RTC which was promised mid 2017. I keep bugging them and they keep stating it is coming. The current crop of Rock64's were MFG in 2017 and they have yet to update the hardware. Note I am picky about time here and automation.

                          I am today though running Homeseer 3 on an Intel based iSeries 3 (16Gb of RAM), Dual core AMD cube computer (2 Gb of RAM) and the Pine64 ARM based computer with 2Gb of RAM. All of these are running Ubuntu 16.04 64 bit with most current version of Mono and all do well with updates. I have repurposed all of my RPi's today for use with Homeseer.

                          The newer Rock64 Pro even has a SATA port which you can use now an M.2 removable sata card.

                          Here I am not knocking the $35 RPi. It's introduction and use has been revolutionary relating to a small reasonably priced computer.

                          On a side rant here relating to Kodi / Video and the Pine64 / Rock64....

                          Kodi is utilized as a benchmark today for small computers whatever CPU they use.

                          Rock 64 / Pine 64 video chips are a new design and that said they never did open up the development to make full use of the video chip pissing off the Kodi folks.

                          Basically the Rock64 folks mentioned it was a great 4K60P KODI machine which it is not and still today the Kodi developers are not talking to the Rock64 / Pine64 folks. The Rock 64 with 4Gb of RAM and a 32Gb eMMC would make for the ultimate tiny Linux KODI box.

                          Here have not used the Pine64 as any sort of video computer with a desktop or running Kodi.

                          My current crop of KODI boxes are all on Aopen Digital servers running Ubuntu 16.04 64 bit using Intel CPUs / SSD drives. I have no issues with these computers today. Basically here will never run Kodi on Windows or Android. That is me and my preferences to running a KODI appliance on Ubuntu.
                          Last edited by Pete; June 6, 2018, 07:45 AM.
                          - Pete

                          Auto mator
                          Homeseer 3 Pro - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e 64 bit Intel Haswell CPU 16Gb
                          Homeseer Zee2 (Lite) - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e - CherryTrail x5-Z8350 BeeLink 4Gb BT3 Pro
                          HS4 Lite - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenovo Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram

                          HS4 Pro - V4.1.18.1 - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenova Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram
                          HSTouch on Intel tabletop tablets (Jogglers) - Asus AIO - Windows 11

                          X10, UPB, Zigbee, ZWave and Wifi MQTT automation-Tasmota-Espurna. OmniPro 2, Russound zoned audio, Alexa, Cheaper RFID, W800 and Home Assistant

                          Comment


                            #14
                            As they say Pete whatever gets you through the day

                            Seriously though, hardware/software usage is a very subjective matter. If it ain't broken don't fix it and all that. I run Kodi on a FireTV stick and a home spun MSI Z370 Tomahawk over clocked to 4.9ghz with 32gb DDR4 memory and Ubuntu Bionic as of last week. Complete overkill I might add. Both meet the expectations so that's got to be a good thing.

                            Whatever system a user chooses to run HS3 on its got to be stable and tested for 24/7/365 usage and definitely needs some form of UPS for obvious reasons. The ability for a remote reboot is a must in the event of an outage and regular housekeeping in the form of updating/upgrading and a proper program of regular backups in the form of in system HS3 backups or disk image backups is the only guarantee that you will return to the point where you were before the disaster occurred.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              I run HS3 on a cherry trial mini PC. I bought it for it's small foot print an efficiency. It's biting me in the @$$ since the OS is I believe to be a custom Win 10. The MFG wouldn't release drivers for standard Win 10 PC.

                              all of my Network equipment are on dedicuted UPS's

                              I'm working on getting ride of that mini PC. I did not want it on my BI PC. I already have VMware Workstation installed on the BI PC that I use for testing so I thought of creating VM for BI w/o interfering with the main OS where BI resides.

                              It's an i7 6800 with 32Gb of ram so it's got plenty of wiggle room for an always on VM. I'm a Windows guy, didn't want to learn Pi just for HS3.

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