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



"Jules" <jules.richardsonnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:pan.2009.11.02.23.25.53.466407@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

<stuff snipped>

> These days my main server's just left on all the time, so for other "home
> monitoring" tasks I'm just looking for some form of digital I/O
> board that I can hook sensors to...

I've had a dual CPU, dual power supply RAID'ed server and decided it had to
go once I put a power meter on it and realized it was drawing nearly 200
watts.  I found some used laptops on Ebay, some hi-capacity USB drives and
have dropped the overall consumption to less than 20 watts without
sacrificing too much performance.  The laptops paid for themselves in short
order with the way electric rates have been climbing in the DC area.

It's no longer RAID'ed, although I could have gone that way, but that's not
too much of an issue with good backup procedures in place.  It's not like
I'm supporting some huge SQL database that needs to serve hundreds of users.
As long as it can support full motion HD video, I'm a happy camper,
especially at one tenth the cost of the previous solution.  Best part is
that I no longer need a UPS since the laptop will run for 2 hours on its own
battery if the power dies.  The next jump in power savings will be switch to
a NAS device where I might be able to achieve a savings of the same
magnitude as switching from a tower PC to a laptop.

I've just ordered some Honeywell humidity sensors for the "WebCon" project.
The lowest price I found was a Canadian seller on Ebay for $14 each.  Now I
am going to look for the One-wire temperature sensors, since that's one of
the unit's most appealing feature (to me, anyway): the support of eight temp
sensors.  An Ebay vendor in Hong Kong has them for 10 for $20.59 with free
shipping.  Also bought a packet of diodes and some 6 volt relays to
investigate the unit's ability to switch high-voltage devices.  I may want
to opto-isolate those connections.  I must admit, this feels like the
grown-up version of Tinkertoys!  (-:

--
Bobby G.




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