HA Nuc Compatibility

Hardware
1

Hi all

I am VERY new to this subject but want to explore it further. I am looking at the below NUC as an alternative to a Rpi or using a Synology NAS. This to give me maximum flexibility as I develop things. Want to start with lighting and include heating and intruder alarm, cctv, etc to create more or less a smart environment eventually.

HAS-T4: Home Assistant Server - Home Assistant Blue / Yellow Alternative — Smart Home Shop UK

Does anyone have any experience of this seller and or product?
Not looking to make things over complicated where not necessary but want to ensure things work locally without a cloud dependancy.

Thanks.

2

It should do fine, but I would not trust eMMC storage for the long term as a primary boot, I would invest in a barebones NuC that gives you the option to install your own SSD for the boot instead of having it soldered onto the pcb.

I currently use a NUC5i7RYH that I got second hand a while back swapped into an Akasa passive cooled chassis (had to ask them to custom order a single unit at the time otherwise they need to sell some models in bulk for the cost of manufacture) running windows 11 as the host with HA running in headless mode in a virtualbox vm instance set to boot up when the NuC boots after any power loss and the UPS runs out of power.

I’m using an mbeat 7 port powered USB hub at the moment to pass my BT and Skyconnect usb’s through it and have it velcro’d to the side of my server cabinet to avoid signal reduction with everything else being wifi/network based for devices connected to it for monitoring and automation’s.

To connect to my HA instance when not home I just use the OpenVPN server on my main router (there is an option in the mobile app for the client side to bypass the VPN when connected to your wifi else you can setup a tasker config to automate toggle of the vpn based on connection state iirc).

I also have a synology NAS which I use for my camera feeds and just use the DSCam app when needing to check back the live feed though they are able to be pulled up in HA to allow my shelly button 1 doorbell automation to take a snapshot for the notification on the phone when its pressed which is nice.

I have some switch bots connected via BT for HA to control my HDMI switch and the light in the kitchen so they are all local, same with the aeotec motion sensors tied to them (also have a median entity setup for the temperature of the home for my AC unit as they have temperature sensors too) and the hue lights I am using at this time.

With the only other device currently connected via BT being the govee humidity sensor to toggle the smart plug for my dehumidifier on and off at set thresholds to help reduce mold build up in the bathroom.

So the only things I have that are and will be cloud reliant will be the air purifier that I have ordered and my tuya based lenvo smart plugs that I am going to swap at least one out for a zigbee based one when I can to automate handling restarting my NBN modem when internet goes down for more than 5min.

I have a pressure sensor pad coming that I will be tying to a leak sensor with the trigger set to bed occupancy state for some automation management and the next main projects I want to try do is figure out how I am going to automate the ceiling fan in the bathroom (may need to have a fresh line run to seperate it from the light its connected through) and a way to get mailbox notifications.

Long reply here, but wanted to share my experience with my NuC and HA overall so far and what I have going for folks like yourself as I delve deeper into the ecosystems myself.

1 Like
3

Thanks for the heads up re the eMMC.hadnt thought of that.
I would possibly go for the HA Yellow box but that seems difficult to source and an expensive RPi. So now looking at other NUCs.
You are obviously well advanced, impressive.

4

Yea the main point is to keep options available so you can replace parts as you need later so you don’t need to replace the entire thing unless its a full platform upgrade at the time for your needs.

You can look to facebook marketplace or such similar to your area to see whats available second hand and just add in the storage and ram and repaste them as needed.

Lots of gear I have I got second hand if not via a client that liquidated for my network gear and cabinet which they gave me for free since I was the main admin for the area heh.

edit:

Looking at that site and the options they have I would grab this one HAS-P1: Fanless Home Assistant Server Pre-installed, Intel CPU & SSD - — Smart Home Shop UK

1 Like
5

That’s not a NUC. I have several NUCs and none of them have an eMMC boot device. Not that I have a problem with eMMC’s, I just am not comfortable with not being able to unplug and replace my boot device.

You can buy used Intel NUCs on eBay for around $100. Add an M.2 SSD and some RAM and you have a very capable X86 mini-PC. Flashing Home Assistant (native x-86 binary) to the boot device is pretty straightforward. If you do get a NUC with an M.2 SSD boot device, you can get a USB to M.2 adapter to flash HAOS to it. Flash, install, boot up. Done.

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6

There is nothing magic about a NUC cf any other similar box. Lenovo, dell, they all do micro format PC’s.

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7

Pretty much, but with intel dropping direct production they struck a deal with Asus to make them instead so keep an eye out as they release ones they make to see what options are there come time.

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8

NUC is a trademark of Intel.

9

Yes we know that.