I currently run OH on a NUC class computer (ASUS something or other). I’d like to go with a OH3 server that can be powered with POE from ethernet. Anyone have thoughts? ARM or Intel? I definitely want fanless passive cooling. I’m not really a hardware DYI guy.
Immediate thought: Raspberry Pi with a POE shield.
Depending on your location, however, Raspberry Pi’s may be very difficult or even impossible to get hold of at the moment (unless paying too much…)
I wouldn’t think it’s a good idea per se to use PoE just because you can. It requires extra hardware on the device side to support PoE, and isn’t designed to power servers. It makes sense in business environments where you have many devices to support this off the shelf such as IP phones but just to power a single device and even more so a server it’s cheaper and saves more resources to get a standard PSU.
I have a Rpi4 with PoE hat running as a router.
It is just a experiment, but it has been running this winter without problems.
Very clean cabling (one) if you got a PoE capable switch.
I would say it is possible to run openHAB on it, as long as one can keep the power consumption low. That is, no power-hungry attachements such as disks.
And you have to put logs and databases in RAM to minimalize sd-card wear.
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Not strictly OH3, but I’ve got a couple of Odroid C4 machines running happily at clients sites on simple PoE to 12v adapters.
Something like these
Obviously not pulling any power other than the main board (and very occasionally a USB keyboard).
I only do this to save on power supplies in the cabinet.
A bonus is that with a managed network switch, we can power cycle the PoE outputs. (Not had to yet, as the Odroids haven’t hung at all)
We tried it originally because the PoE switch we had was being under used, so had plenty of spare capacity.