Let me start from my current situation to let you understand my question:
- I’m automating most of my home with z-wave, transitioning from using exclusively z-wave.me to the z-way binding binding to OH2.2. i’m not ruling out the z-wave binding in the future… baby steps, i had most of my work already sorted on z-way, didn’t feel like throwing it away.
- in the process of trying to connect a broadlink rf universal controller through a beta binding
- in the process of adding tado heating functionality through it’s binding
- future plans of electric consumption and load control, most likely through some modbus din rail mounted electric meter
- i wouldn’t rule out some zigbee addition or some MQTT to some Shelly relay(possibly using the raspi as wifiAP to create an automation dedicated wifi subnetwork and maybe even hide its ssid
- integrated google home control
SO: Hardware for and to the openhab server- where i’m at
currently
- a RasPi 3
- with the razberry sheild connected to it
- with it’s microUSB PSU
- with a Lan cable conected to it
then i thought about microsd wear - so, le’ts get a sandisk ssd 30GB, and a sata adaptor
there is a cool X820 board addition for the raspberry, and you can add to it a metal casing with a fan (you can google it)
And in the near future a basic UPS is a must.
BUT -in terms of costs:
raspi + casing + ssd + ssd board will run you around 100- to 130 € depending on how good a deal you get, and the only reason i am using the gpio is for the raZberry board (i liked the idea of an enclosed unit with no stuff dongling around) - and the uZb stick is available on the market.
SO
in my tinkering dreams i’ve started to think about purchasing an android TV box, with s912 soc, 32GB of internal storage and 3 GB of DDR4 (that woudl run circles aroudnt he raspi’s performance, and i doubt i’d get much memory wear issues, no ram shortage)- approx cost 70€- install on it armbian, and get OH running on it from there. - much less bulky of a solution, tho i’m not a linux expert, so it will be a learning process, potentially a bricking one as well.
or maybe i could get a mini pc with similar performance and start from there too.
NOW: basic connections to it stay the same(lan, psu, hdmi), but i might end up having less USB ports and no GPIO connector comparted to the raspi
HENCE THE QUESTION
- exception made for bus cabled protocols (KNX, modbus etc), which anyhow offer some kind of LAN or Wifi interface aside from the USB ones, what fuctionalities/potential extentions/addons/integrations to OH does one loose having less USB ports and no GPIO ?
I’m not talking from a “weekend project perspective”, i’m not going to be controlling christamss tree lights from the gpio(no time, would be fun tho), i’m talking from the perspective of creating a stable server that one can park somwhere near the router, get the both and a google home powered by an UPS and rely on in daily life.
Foundation members and OH enthusiasts on the forum: what do yo use physical connections for? use cases please
TY!