Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

HomeSeer in the Cloud

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    HomeSeer in the Cloud

    I have been thinking about a project for a while since I upgraded to HS3 this year. I was wondering if anyone else has tried this before.

    Since I now use the Insteon HUB as my PLM (which is IP based). I was thinking why not put my HS3 software in a AWS, Azure, or GoogleCompute cloud instance so I don't have to run a PC locally in my home. In essence all communication from my automation devices to HS3 is IP based (minus my Napco Gemini Alarm which is serial). So it seems possible to have the server run in the cloud and the devices connect via IP over a VPN tunnel.

    "Why" you ask? General interest to see if it would work, no need to run local PC (HW failures, power), I work in the networking/virtualization/cloud industry and seems like a cool project, plus all the cool kids are doing it

    Insteon HUB basically does the same thing but has limited event functionality. So run HS3 in the cloud, nail up an IPSEC tunnel for connectivity, and have my very own HS3 cloud server controlling my home.

    The concern I have is latency, plus I have 2 serial devices on-prem. But I was thinking install an IP-2-Serial converter on-prem so that the cloud instance can hit the IP (not sure my Napco plugin will work-which would be a showstopper for me).

    Anyways, an interesting project and was wondering if anyone has tried and failed and why?
    Or tried and running and how?

    Chuck

    #2
    Although that may may work, it's generally the reason why people move away from the likes of Vera, zipato and Fibaro.
    I found cloud based to be a pain in the arse to be honest. It was slower and kept letting me down.
    Having the hardware local is the way forward for me.

    But for others it may well suit them better to be cloud based.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

    Comment


      #3
      Just because it is cool does not mean it is necessarily a good idea!

      Reliance on an Internet connection to run my home is something I would never consider. If you look at the Homeseer.com web site, local control and not cloud based is one of HST's main selling points.
      Jon

      Comment


        #4
        Interesting. I was not aware of those other cloud players. Looks like a few of them use AWS. I have been a HS customer since the days when it was practically freeware, never really looked at anything else. I guess those guys commercialized my idea all ready. Oh well, I guess I won't strike it rich with that idea

        Thanks.

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by jon00 View Post
          Just because it is cool does not mean it is necessarily a good idea!

          Reliance on an Internet connection to run my home is something I would never consider. If you look at the Homeseer.com web site, local control and not cloud based is one of HST's main selling points.
          Good point Jon.

          I work for a virtualization company, so my point of view my be skewed.

          Thanks.

          Comment


            #6
            Whilst using BeNext that I have to say was the fastest cloud based system I've used I would often hit issues.
            I would be setting up events and wouldn't save due to a server issue or I would have downtime for maintenance. Problem with that was I had no choice when that was.

            Local hardware you are in control.
            I use virtualised stuff all the time and it has its place but in my eyes it's place is not in the control arena


            Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by gd1210 View Post
              Whilst using BeNext that I have to say was the fastest cloud based system I've used I would often hit issues.
              I would be setting up events and wouldn't save due to a server issue or I would have downtime for maintenance. Problem with that was I had no choice when that was.

              Local hardware you are in control.
              I use virtualised stuff all the time and it has its place but in my eyes it's place is not in the control arena


              Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
              Good point. Probably why industrial systems (SCADA and such) in power plants, and other similar industries still use legacy systems and have not "upgraded" to ethernet/ip and cloud. Sub-rate serial, low voltage, legacy has worked for a long, long time. I should take a lesson from history and stick with what works.

              Interesting point of view.

              Thanks.

              Comment


                #8
                I wouldn't let these reasons spoil your experiment. Go forth and let us know how it works out.
                💁‍♂️ Support & Customer Service 🙋‍♂️ Sales Questions 🛒 Shop HomeSeer Products

                Comment


                  #9
                  Yes today the car you drive or the plane you fly is using a direct wire approach to manage stuff serially...it is named the bus. That has not changed. What is changing is the management of the bus such that you will be not driving a car soon or flying a passenger plane with a pilot. I am old and still today enjoy driving an automobile and seeing my automation working in the house. I am not sure if I want to be a passenger of a plane driven by a computer in the cloud yet. It would be a win win for the airplane company though to automate.

                  In the middle 2000's "at work" we did look at moving processing to the cloud but at the time there wasn't yet an omnipresence. The cost of transport was taken in to consideration. While I mention this though we did move the presence of email to the internet for global access and it did work.

                  We are not yet to a point where the internet is just a utility connection to the house like electricity always running 100% of the time. We are getting there but it's not soup yet because most internet ISP's are wanting to manage that pipe from a profit prospective.

                  Old fashioned here a bit I would like an AI omnipresence in the house to manage the automation and use the cloud a la carte when needed but not depended on if that makes any sense.

                  I am doing weather and push the data that I get to Homeseer via a hosting service such that the physical weather station talks to software which uploads data to the internet where I can get it from anywhere.

                  That said if the connection to the hosting service goes down it doesn't do any harm cuz I can just go the weather console with the serial connect to the weather instruments and look see there at the weather.

                  BTW weird thing happened here last night. I have HS touchscreens everywhere (testing stuff) and I have three in the media / family room. We were watching a movie last night. The lights flashed for a quick second. The streaming movie paused and all of the touchscreens were running a clock screen saver. The three of them froze at 9:53 PM (touch was unresponsive) just in that room and none of the other 13 touchscreens froze. Never seen that before.
                  Last edited by Pete; August 20, 2016, 11:17 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


                    #10
                    HomeSeer in the Cloud

                    I think having HS3 running in the cloud as a backup would be a great idea. Like a backup generator that kicks in when the power goes out, the cloud based HS3 system could auto activate if the local system went down. The cloud HS3 system could also be used as a subsystem to perform certain tasks, perhaps power monitoring, security, and home entertainment. Things that are independent of typical automation activities.

                    Steve Q


                    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
                    HomeSeer Version: HS3 Pro Edition 3.0.0.368, Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 - Home, Number of Devices: 373, Number of Events: 666, Enabled Plug-Ins
                    2.0.83.0: BLRF, 2.0.10.0: BLUSBUIRT, 3.0.0.75: HSTouch Server, 3.0.0.58: mcsXap, 3.0.0.11: NetCAM, 3.0.0.36: X10, 3.0.1.25: Z-Wave,Alexa,HomeKit

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by Steve Q View Post
                      I think having HS3 running in the cloud as a backup would be a great idea. Like a backup generator that kicks in when the power goes out, the cloud based HS3 system could auto activate if the local system went down. The cloud HS3 system could also be used as a subsystem to perform certain tasks, perhaps power monitoring, security, and home entertainment. Things that are independent of typical automation activities.

                      Steve Q


                      Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
                      Just learned this the hard way as my computer died and buying a replacement. I think homeseer in the cloud as a bridge would be great. If anyone has successfully clouded their homeseer, please let me know.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by jayman13 View Post
                        Just learned this the hard way as my computer died and buying a replacement. I think homeseer in the cloud as a bridge would be great. If anyone has successfully clouded their homeseer, please let me know.
                        If you have heard of Windows servers, they backup them selves and other systems too. Just install HomeSeer and restore the backed up files! Chances of both systems failing at the same time are rare maybe never will. You are not alone. You always hear Backup! Backup and backup but who does? When it happened to me, Windows Server had all the files on an external harddrive so everything was smooth.

                        There are other points you would have to consider as this here as well ====> https://forums.homeseer.com/showpost...&postcount=103 and https://forums.homeseer.com/showthread.php?t=194615
                        although unrelated to the topic they may apply if looked at as a wide point of view.




                        Eman.
                        TinkerLand : Life's Choices,"No One Size Fits All"

                        Comment


                          #13
                          I'd prefer to keep mine local. After the major storms we had in the Northeast I had to fight to get my network connection restored. It was only out 9 days. Death by WAF could have easily happened in the first few hours of the outage.

                          Stuart

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Michael

                            Comment


                              #15

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X