Using Standby on Home Automation Server

[Phil Clayton]

Question is will an event wake up a computer running HomeSeer from "Standby" mode ?
I love the idea of newer computers that will goto "Standby" mode and thus only draw about 3 watts current in this idle state.
Wondering if I can run HomeSeer on such a Motherboard, and wake up the computer when an event is to take place or another action.

I see WOL (Wake on Lan) wakes up the MB if I try to acces it from the network.
However I have not tried running HS on the newer MB yet.

My present HS setup runs on a VIA C7 Setup that only draws 23 watts in idle mode, but the board does not support Standby mode.
It has run for years this way, but the newer MB has my interest.

Any suggestions?
Will HS wake up a Mother board in Standby state ?

Thanks, Phil

 

[electron]

The problem is that Homeseer does a lot of stuff in the background, even if no 'events' are being triggered, so there is no way of putting it into standby, without halting Homeseer's operations.

 

[drozwood90]

If you want "ultra" low power, you might need to run a Dockstar with...I think it's Misterhouse (is that the Linux Automation Package?).

Or, use only "hardware" like and Elk, or HAI or something...

Other then that, if you have OTHER PC's doing "server" things, you can run virtual machines. Then, you are only paying for a single machine to do the job of 3-4 or more lower end PCs.

Just some thoughts...

--Dan

 

[sic0048]

Yeah,

I would recommend NOT using standby/sleep on any computer based automation system (for the main computer). There are plenty low powered machines/chips available today that should allow you to build a capable machine drawing a small amount of power. But putting the machine to sleep is just asking for problems IMHO.

Brian

 

[Phil Clayton]

Thanks, I realize you are correct. Homeseer can not work in a standby mode.
Guess I should be happy my present system only draws 23 watts under full load now using the VIA processor.
My previous Motherboard needed about 45 watts to run HomeSeer on

The problem is that Homeseer does a lot of stuff in the background, even if no 'events' are being triggered, so there is no way of putting it into standby, without halting Homeseer's operations.

 

[Phil Clayton]

Agree the Automation server needs to stay running. The Hard Drive on my existing HS Server does spindown after several minutes, so this helps a bit, and it has run this way for over a year now.
My Home Media Server however goes to standby mode after 30 minutes of non use, and it wakes easily if I access media files on it from the other media player devices on my LAN.

Yeah,

I would recommend NOT using standby/sleep on any computer based automation system (for the main computer). There are plenty low powered machines/chips available today that should allow you to build a capable machine drawing a small amount of power. But putting the machine to sleep is just asking for problems IMHO.

Brian

 

[Phil Clayton]

Agree. The VIA C7 processor and Motherboard and hard drive I use draws a consistant 23 watts while running my Automation software.
I considered an Intel Atom Motherboard, but it does not look like it would use that much less energy, so I'll stay with what I already have.

Yeah,

I would recommend NOT using standby/sleep on any computer based automation system (for the main computer). There are plenty low powered machines/chips available today that should allow you to build a capable machine drawing a small amount of power. But putting the machine to sleep is just asking for problems IMHO.

Brian

 

[tmbrown97]

I just run my HA on top of my HP MediaSmart Windows Home Server... but I'm considering moving to a Fit2PC I have laying around with a solid-state drive so I know there's no moving parts, and even lass chance of failure.