Well, I just put in an order for Keyestudio 5V DCAC 4-Channel Relay Shield Module Expansion Board for Raspberry Pi from Amazon. I figure the easiest way to develop an IP Power Strip is to use a Raspberry Pi for the "brains" and a shield/hat that has relays on it. Note that this one has a 10Amp limit on current through the relays. But, and here is the good thing, individual items that will be controlled don't have anything near the 10A limit. When they come in I will post updates as the project develops. I will post most of the updates and development on my other blog, RPi Experimenter.
I will need to setup a Docker container repository if I use Docker in a DevOps manner. Might be nice to get into that. I need to be able to use the IP Power Strip anywhere in the network, hence I will have a need for both WiFi and Ethernet (making it useful outside during Halloween/Christmas). It should be controllable from my Admin vlan even if it is plugged into a different vlan. The control must be smart, things have to be done in sequence and be able to be controlled by humans. Part of the problem is that I need some way of shutting down computer equipment and being able to bring it back up when power is supplied. Also, I need to know if the commands were received and processed and what was the result.
I should be able to use MQTT messages for status/commands. That would allow commands from the HA Server and from the home-assistant controllers. I need to think carefully about protecting the command flow, especially if it is going across WiFi - so encryption outside of WPA2?
So a Master control container, a Slave container (that controls the switching and responses), and a container that controls shutdown (and issues what is happening). So Docker it is then.
