Re: Web Enabled Time/Temp/Humidity and I/O Controller

[George <george@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

RickH wrote:
> On Nov 3, 8:30 am, George <geo...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> Robert Green wrote:
>>> "RickH" <passp...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>>> news:8577550c-ac5e-
>>> <stuff snipped>
>>> <<I ordered one to do remote power-up / boot-up of other computers in
>>> the home.  Computers that I occasionally need to get to over the
>>> Internet (to copy files from work etc) but dont want to leave running
>>> all day (for network and power reasons).>>
>>> Since the company that makes these is a server farm "balancer" I suspect
>>> that you're doing just what they designed this to do for themselves:
>>> monitoring and controlling computers.  Given how much power today's superhot
>>> CPU's can draw, I think the question of "leave them running" or "shut them
>>> off" has finally been settled in favor of  shutting them off, if only for
>>> power saving reasons.   It's kind of funny that 20 years ago the
>>> conservation side of that ON/OFF debate was hardly a factor.  Certainly not
>>> the emissions part of things.
>>> <<Still unsure about how to do this, will probably have to wire a relay
>>> to the actual on/off switch on the computer and have this little guy
>>> trigger a remote boot by paralleling said relay across the existing
>>> power button.  Once the remoter computer is powered and booted, I can
>>> use Windows remote desktop services to do a normal shutown when I'm
>>> done.>>
>> I think that is the long way around the block.. WOL is perfect for this.
>>
>>
>>
>>> I'd try to figure out how to use wake on LAN or Modem Ring.  Even the old
>>> 2001 PC's I've got have that capability.  When I used to use a similar
>>> wakeup method (anyone remember remote modem programs like "Reachout" and
>>> "PCAnywhere"?) I used an X-10 phone responder and an appliance module to
>>> start and stop the computer and set the BIOS to reboot on power blips.  Cost
>>> under $50 IIRC.  I hooked up the PC to the module, plugged the responder in
>>> and when I dialed my home phone, after 10 rings, it would pick up, beep
>>> three times and then I entered a secure code and then I could touch tone 1*
>>> to turn on the PC and 1# to turn it off and so on for up to 16 different
>>> devices.
>>> In your scenario you'd replace the X-10 module with a relay - I'd probably
>>> wire up a 2 gang plastic box with a line cord, a relay on one side (with a
>>> fuse on the relay line that would blow if 110VAC ever got cross-connected)
>>> and an outlet on the other.  I'll bet there are code-compliant components
>>> for this, so I leave it to other to chastize me for running LV and line
>>> voltage into the same box.
>>> <<I dont mind leaving this little guy "online" all the time but dont want to
>>> leave my large home computers online all the time.>>
>>> I can't blame you, but in your case, I'd probably still use X-10 and a phone
>>> responder if I still had a phone line simply because I'm still not sure how
>>> secure this is all going to be over the internet.  The house sending out
>>> warnings and information to me or the entire world isn't so bad, it's the
>>> whole world activating my PC's remotely that I would worry about.  Maybe
>>> I'll feel differently after seeing it an action.
>>> So far, I've been busy ordering parts for it, like the Honeywell Humidistat,
>>> the One-wire temp sensors and a solar panel + rechargeable battery to run it
>>> on.  I want my unit to run completely free-standing in a worst case
>>> scenario.  I figure in about two years, when they discover this recession
>>> was a tremor preceding the "big one" the house may need to fend for itself
>>> off the grid.  It's probably time to start a covert ops defense program and
>>> put a SCIF
>>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensitive_Compartmented_Information_Faci...
>>> in the basement where I can build my own version of the this:
>>> http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2008/12/israeli-auto-ki/
>>> The "pan, tilt, zoom and boom" ultimate security system.  (-:  Twenty years
>>> ago it was a deleted scene in the movie "Aliens" and now it's a reality.
>>> --
>>> Bobby G.- Hide quoted text -
>> - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -
>>
>> - Show quoted text -
>
>
> The problem is WOL still requires you to have at least one computer
> already powered up, then that computer can receive the WOL command to
> power up the other computer(s) provided the motherboards have WOL
> jacks.  I wanted a single computer dead until I power it up.
>

But it doesn't have to be much of a computer (such as a router). I can
do it by remotely logging into my router and issuing WOL for any MAC on
the LAN from its web interface.