Cheapest platform on which to run MSR

[gwp1]

@black-cat TOTALLY agree on the SSD. I found a three-pack on AMZ for a very reasonable cost and haven't looked back. Everything runs much smoother/faster than on the SD card (for obvious reasons) and the knowledge that I'm not facing a SD card failure is reassuring.

[Talisker]

Thanks for all the suggestions and support. I have a 16 GB SSD coming (based on advice given). I was hoping to install the OS directly as I don't have a SD Card. Still, it's a small problem if that all that is stopping me. I was thinking of using (installing?) a Docker so that I can install other applications too, but would this be too much to bite off for a beginner?

[toggledbits]

@talisker said in Cheapest platform on which to run MSR:

I was thinking of using (installing?) a Docker so that I can install other applications too, but would this be too much to bite off for a beginner?

I recommend it. It takes away a lot of details. Install docker and docker-compose on the RPi like this:

sudo apt-get install docker docker-compose

I recommend using docker-compose to manage the container from the command line. The installation instructions (for Reactor on docker) give you a template docker-compose configuration file you can just copy-paste. It makes starting the Reactor container much less verbose, and it basically manages itself once started (including restarting at boot). Upgrades are this easy:

docker-compose down     # stop Reactor
docker-compose pull     # pull updated Reactor image
docker-compose up -d    # restart Reactor on new image

I guess you could also install Portainer for a GUI to manage docker, but I think that's more complicated. Put the three lines above in a script file and run it whenever you need to.

I would also recommend installing Geany if you plan on using the desktop GUI. It's a very easy programmer's text editor that does syntax highlighting, so it will help you make correct changes to Reactor's YAML configuration files, shell scripts, etc.

[toggledbits]

I want to add that I've been using a (Raspberry Pi) Compute Module 4 with 8GB EMMC on board (and no Wi-Fi), mounted on the RPi CM4 I/O Board, and it's a great combination and alternative. I mentioned that earlier in this thread when I first got it, and now it's been about six weeks and I've got some experience with it. The overall cost was comparable to the RPi 4B+ maker/consumer board with an added SSD and USB3.1 interface (around $45 for the CM4 and $40 for the I/O board, so US$85). The CM4's are more available right now (still hard to get, but much easier than the maker board) because RPi is giving manufacturing priority to CM4 to support industry. The I/O boards are easy to get and always have been. The I/O board offers two on-board HDMI interfaces, a PCIe (x1) ssocket (for many things, like another way to get storage), a gigabit Ethernet port, two USB 2.0 connectors (hmmmph, rather see 3.x), microSD socket (for non-EMMC models), two camera connectors, two display connectors, 28 x GPIO, and a battery-backed real time clock. You can power it with a 12VDC power supply (2.1mm positive tip barrel connector), so it's easy to get the power in that the board really needs, and on a connector I regard as more stable and durable for that purpose than USB micro. It also offers a Berg-style power connector for use with, for example, a small (MeanWell) switching PSU. It has a USB micro connector for connecting to a PC, where the system then looks like a Flash drive so you can do updates or make filesystem changes on a cold system.

Below are a couple of photos of my rig in a case I designed in Fusion 360 and 3D printed.

It's a bit (1-2cm) smaller than a Vera Plus in every dimension; for non-Vera readers, that's about the size of many 4-port Ethernet switches and small routers. It's fanless, and so far, I haven't seen the need for anything other than passive/convective cooling. But I will be adding heat sinks to the CM4, just for more headroom. The I/O board has a standard four-pin fan connector that works from the 12VDC supply.

What I especially like is that the eMMC storage is bus-connected to the CPU on the same card, so it's much faster than either MicroSD or SSD-over-USB. I haven't tested PCIe storage yet. The CM4 configuration is also much less fragile. I find the USB interface cable necessary for the SSD on the maker board setup to be unwieldy to cable manage, and I've learned not to move it at all when running or I'll cause disk faults and a kernel crash (i.e. it looks and acts like cobbled together bits, where the CM4+I/O looks purpose-built). The real time clock is also great to have; many of you may remember from Those Other Forums that I am firmly of the opinion that no serious IoT platform can be built without one (so that the time is very close to correct when the system cold boots after a power loss and network time is not yet available, and thus time-bsed automations don't go crazy due to a reset/default clock).

I highly recommend this approach to anyone. For CM4 configuration, I think the 2GB RAM/8GB eMMC (MSRP US$40 without Wi-Fi, US$45 with) is good for just a basic Reactor host, but the filesystem may end up a little tight if you also want to run Hass, InfluxDB, etc. (the OS itself takes almost half of my 8GB with the desktop GUI installed). I would go up to 16GB or 32GB eMMC for those, and 4GB RAM. The maximum manufactured configuration is 8GB RAM and 32GB eMMC, with an MSRP of US$90/95 without/with Wi-Fi. Run it on the 64-bit version of Raspbian Bullseye. Unless you have some reason to want Wi-Fi, I'd save the US$5 — running your IoT automations on Wi-Fi as primary network interface is not a good idea (IMO); the I/O board's gigabit Ethernet port is The Way. Full specs for the CM4 are here, and for the I/O board here.

Just so I've said it, I don't think the maker board configuration is bad at all, it's just in a close second place for me right now (because of the form factor issues and the real time clock). Six weeks ago I didn't have enough experience with the CM4 to declare it my favorite, but as of right now, that's where it is. But I would in no way shy away from the maker board or recommend against it. I've seen some tidy rigs put together with easily-printed cases for the maker board with an SSD, and some clever right-angle USB connectors to ease the USB cabling issue. But if you're comparing cost and convenience of the two configurations, I now think the CM4+I/O configuration edges out the maker board. The best configuration for you is the one you find most agreeable, always.

[Black Cat]

@toggledbits said in Cheapest platform on which to run MSR:

I guess you could also install Portainer for a GUI to manage docker, but I think that's more complicated

@toggledbits, more complicated is an understatement.
I'd like to hear from anyone who has done this and not experienced difficulties, I've been able to run either (Reactor or Portainer) but not both in Portainer Container. Over to the experts.....

[Black Cat]

@toggledbits said in Cheapest platform on which to run MSR:

I want to add that I've been using a (Raspberry Pi) Compute Module 4 with 8GB EMMC on board

Way to go, unfortunately for me, the CM4 I/O board is the only part available. The Compute Module 4 is OOS (all versions), sigh.....
BTW, I love the case.....makes it all look very professional.

[toggledbits]

@black-cat said in Cheapest platform on which to run MSR:

The Compute Module 4 is OOS

It's terrible right now, for sure. Just a reminder, rpilocator.com may be helpful. I'm asking him if he can add AU/NZ vendors, but I see PiAustralia has starter kits available (not just board, but a kit with a board). Pricey, but if you must have, maybe worth the premium.

For anyone it helps, it appears Semaf in Austria has stock of RPI 4B 2GB at the moment, and has since last night.

Update: Core Electronics (AU) also has the starter kit and the desktop kit in stock, and both come with a Pi 4 board.

[toggledbits]

If anyone is interested, I've published my model for the Compute Module 4 case on printables.com.

[Alan_F]

@black-cat I run Reactor and Portainer on a Pi4 without any issues.

The Pi is running Node-Red (bare metal), and in Docker: Teslamate (includes Teslamate, Grafana, Traefik, PostgreSQL, MQTT), Reactor (includes InfluxDB for Reactor, Chronograf, Telegraf), Gotify (a self-hosted notification platform), and a Tesla Powerwall integration (includes 2nd instances of Telegraf and InfluxDB, Grafana, and pypowerwall). Fifteen containers when you add Portainer itself. The Portainer GUI makes this all much easier to manage.

[Black Cat]

@Alan_F , thanks for the reply.
The difficulty I have is not running it but setting MSR configuration.
I haven't been able to locate where the config files reside. @toggledbits, could MSR have a goto button for setting the configs in the Tools page?
That would make setting configs extremely easy.

[toggledbits]

@black-cat said in Cheapest platform on which to run MSR:

I haven't been able to locate where the config files reside.

They live in the config subdirectory of the directory you created. You're using Portainer? Should be in the configuration of the existing container (it's a binding to /var/reactor inside the container).