Back Together Although I am Looking Through Some New Projects

Well I did manage to get the rack back together once the window washers left.  In the process, I figured out which cables to disconnect from the equipment in the back.  I now have 5 cables coming in to a desktop patch panel and then connected into SW116, a managed GS108Tv2 switch.  From SW116, it goes to the rack.  This means that I have only two connections to the rack; one ethernet and one power.  I have also setup a connection that I can use to occupy the placement of a cable to my FLINT2 router.  I haven't removed the connection to the rack yet, but this should enable me to move the FLINT2 router to the area behind my rack.  What I want to be able to do is power down the rack but still allow my laptop to work and the table electronics to be worked on with connection to the apartment network.  I could still do this with the FLINT1 that I have in the living room if I wish instead.

So now that I have just admitted this, I don't know what I was thinking of moving the FLINT2 for.  Just shows that my mind is still stumbling over various configurations until I get to the right one. Other than bringing down equipment because it is not being used, I am mistified.

Everything is apart - what have I done?

 So they are coming tomorrow to clean our windows. This is an event that happens at least every three years.  So I have to have all of my things away from the windows for them to get to the windows.  That includes my HomeLab. Some changes that I have been doing have been leading up to this point.  While I have the rack off, I also need to have my ethernet cables and desk moved back from the window so they can get behind.  I don't know if you have ever thought through how to rearrange things but I have.  So I drew everything Ethernet wise into a table patch panel.  In turn I am using 0.5 ft patch cables to go from the patch panel to one of the GS108Tv2s.  That allows me to have all of my vlans active when everything is connected, allows one Ethernet cable to the rack (which I can unplug tonight), and makes for an easy way to move the equipment off of the window ledge.

So I have unplugged the rack and moved it out of the way. I have also unplugged the living room cable and the one to the AP.  Now after moving them out of the way I can get everything off of the window ledge.  So I am ready for the cleaning and will put everything back together later on.

IP Power Strip #09 - Maybe I am going about this all wrong

While scanning the available items on Amazon, I came across an industrial 8 channel relay box.  The box is powered using a Raspberry Pi Pico, which you provide.  All of the connections are covered and it appears that I would not have to do anything but connect wires to the system and to outlets.  I could actually get a 4-gang switch box and put four outlets in the box.  Over the next couple of days I will think about how this will affect my concerns about UL level protection.

Update: I have purchased the industrial 8 channel relay box powered by a Raspberry Pi Pico. This came in the mail and I have been reviewing the literature on how to make it work.  So far, I have only seen the micro Python code; can I do this in regular Python?  What about a MQTT like service? Can I plug in an Ethernet adapter into the external USB port so that I don't broadcast on WiFi?

IP Power Strip #08 - Safety Considerations

Normally I don't really get into safety considerations all that often.  However, when you deal with electricity you might get a fire if you don't adhere to some considerations. Just because you have equipment that is UL certified does not mean that it will be UL certified when the equipment is put together (that is a whole another process). I can safely say that I will take all the precautions that I can, but there is always the possibility that the item may heat up too much.  So thermal considerations will be an issue. I therefore need to consider what kinds of current and resulting heat signatures will come forth out of this project.  I am confident that whatever I come up with will be contained in my rack and isolated from the rest of the apartment - but I still need to be aware of what the temperature in the rack will be.

So lets talk about sizing for instance. I will need to have at least 8 outlets for the power strip. That will include outlets, an 8 part relay blank, a Raspberry Pi, internal wiring, Power switch, and fuse to limit current that is drawn. When testing the setup, I can breadboard the whole thing and measure current draw and measure heat within the setup. There are a number of questions which I must answer before proceeding.

• What kind of current draw can I expect?
• Can I set up the Raspberry Pi as a trip wire for when voltage is removed and brought back up?
• Can the Raspberry Pi be used as a mechanism to shutdown / restart elements of the rack when power is restored?
• How will I do the interface to the 8 part relay blank from the Raspberry Pi?
• Will I need to have an MQTT server in the setup?

The Raspberry Pi 3 typically draws between 300mA and 400mA at idle, but can reach 1.3A to 1.5A under heavy load with connected USB peripherals. While a 2.5A power supply is recommended to provide sufficient power for the board and USB devices, the board itself usually pulls less, rarely exceeding 1.3A in typical, high-load use cases. (AI generated)

• Idle Usage: ~250mA – 300mA (with Ethernet).
• Active Load (Stress): ~720mA – 950mA.
• Max Recommended PSU: 5V at 2.5A (to ensure enough for USB devices).

Taking a Breather from the HomeLab

I have been working on other items of late and have not been able to get back to the HomeLab.  Right now I am reviewing what should be done vs what I am envisioning should be done to the lab.  I need to get back into the swing of things so that I don't loose focus on the HomeLab as a hobby.

I am contemplating moving my Genealogy to a postgreSQL server, but that would vacate my backup strategy.  Right now I am backing up everything on a regular basis and having a portable basis.  The current version of Gramps does not seem to allow for GraphViz to work correctly; I might need to table the session and rethink what I am doing.

Update: nope, changing over Genealogy to a postgreSQL server is a terrible idea.  I am using an older version of Gramps and it is working correctly with GraphViz.

IP Power Strip #07 - Looking at alternatives for the IP Power Strip project

 I have recently discovered the whole Tasmota thing.  It occurred because I finally started setting up some Sonoff switches and Shelly pucks for use with my HA-IOT server.  When I finally pushed the first Tasmota load to a Sonoff switch and set it up as an extension cord.  When I went to Node Red and started controlling the switch, a lot of lights went on in my head.  

Up to this point I have been concentrating on the IP Power Strip as something being controlled by a Raspberry Pi.  Now, I don't need that.  I did however discover that China is going out of their way to prevent the Tasmota from being installed on their products, so OTA changes cannot occur.  They are interested in these products coming under their ecosystem and no other.  I discovered that with a Geeni smart power strip which I was unable to update from an OTA Tasmota push.  I have not at this point, looked into a physical connection with my development system.  I am pretty sure that the initial load onto this device will have had to be done by a physical connection.  I might have to unsolder something to do it.

This change has opened a whole different aspect to getting lights on and off.  I am anxious to get the Shelly pucks to work in my light switches.  As long as I have enough IP address space I should be good.

UPDATE: rejuvinated

IP Power Strip #06 - Strikedown in a Docker Container

 It occurs to me that the optimal way to implement the strikedown function is to have it in a Docker container.  I was able to locate a Python project from GitHub that does describe a method for launching such a shutdown sequence in a process and alludes to a Docker Container implementation:

- https://pypi.org/project/systemctl-mqtt/

- https://github.com/fphammerle/systemctl-mqtt

- https://github.com/fphammerle/systemctl-mqtt/blob/master/docker-compose.yml

The docker-compose file is especially relevant since it implies a docker container can be built from scratch.  I also note that this implementation requires access to python3-dbus, python3-gi, and python3-paho-mqtt which I believe are all lower level routines.  I will have to implement this container to determine if it meets my needs.

UPDATE: rejuvinated