Dedicated Hardware

[kwilcox]

I'm thinking of running HCA on a low power dedicated appliance with SSD such as a SolidLogic Atom machine like the selection found here (http://www.logicsupply.com/categories/by_processor/intel_atom?gclid=COqPksSe16ACFQfyDAod6DOGBg). Does anybody at HCA or any users for that matter have experience with performance on these platforms? How about others? To me, this could become the hardware basis of a commercially installed HC appliance based on HCA.

I'm thinking something that electricians could install as part of a whole home system along with UPB or Insteon switches.

Thoughts on what I should try? Anybody doing this today? I control UPB, Insteon and Wireless X10 devices (via a W800RF32).

[KHarms]

While not this exact processor, I do run my own home on a dediated headless machine. Works fine.

[kwilcox]

Good to hear. Well, I do have an atom based netbook. I guess I can try that first to see if it has what it takes before investing.

[kwilcox]

Ok, I have HCA 9 running on my Samsung NC10 netbook. My USB Insteon 2414U plugs in directly while my SA Serial PIM has a Prolific PL2303 Serial-USB converter set to COM3, and my W800RF32 has a Prolific PL2303 Serial-USB converter set to COM4.

This netbook is based on the Intel D945GSEJT board that contains a 1.6 GHz Atom N270 and 512MB of memory. It runs XP Home edition. HCA is having zero issues running my highly automated house on this platform. Consequently, I have a SolidLogic Johnstown T-1610 on order. I ordered it with no disk drive since I can locate a 16GB SSD for less then they sell it for. Total hardware price will be < $400. Power requirements are so low that the system doesn't even need a fan.

[kwilcox]

Purchased the SolidLogic system. With a special $70 SSD deal on NewEgg, it was $300 shipped. I'm up and running on it now and I couldn't be happier.

[kwilcox]

Forgot to mention, I run a SH 2414U Insteon controller, a SAI Serial UPB PIM and a serial W800RF32. Since this system is USB only, I convert the Serial devices to USB with two Prolific PL2303 serial-USB converters.

The only issue was that HCA would not recognize the 2414U controller unless it was the first device added.

[orcusomega]

In order to run some of the more complex commands for my home automation system, I needed a more robust solution than running the X10 software in VMWare. That said, I picked up this hardware a long time ago for a different project, and put it to use here. Here are the specs and part numbers:


M350 Universal Mini-ITX enclosure
M350 wall mounting bracket
Intel D945GSEJT mini-ITX
* Intel Atom 270 @ 1x 1.60GHz
* 3 rear USB, 4 on-board
* VGA, DVI and LVDSl - YES Support for TWO DISPLAYS on-board!
* 1 x SODIMM (DDR2), up to 2Gb
* 1 x 1x 10/100/1000 Mbit LAN
* Realtek High Definition Audio
* 1SATA, 1 PATA
* miniPCI-E
* PCI
* Power: 12V on-board
2GB DDR2 SODIMM
802.11 b/g PCI-E wireless card
PCI Riser card
picoPSU-150-XT, 102W Power Kit

I have an overview in YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUpB8I70CIg

I hope this helps - its pretty convenient, being as it is so small, I actually have it mounted to the underside of my home office desk (it has built-in wifi, so all I need is a power and USB cable. It is currently connected to my CM15A, but I just started moving to Insteon, since the X10 modules are less reliable, and since it looks like X10 is faltering, at least in their PLC business...

Bob