Reflections on Solar Hosting for Bees

It all started with a raffle ... a raffle between the beekeepers in exchange for a funny story - why do they need it.

Then the cockroaches in my head took control and briskly dialed a message saying that I needed this hive not for bees, but to put a monitoring server there ;-)

Further, the fantasy drew Raspberry blades instead of frames with honeycombs, but it turned out that such a solution already exists (in the photo above).

In fact, I began to think about the need for a web server with an RRD database from the moment of the first publication on the topic of bee monitoring four months ago.

Now that the first fruits are already there , the need for such a server is becoming more and more urgent.

Actually about it also the 13th article on Habr is narrating.

The distribution of hosting costs in Ukraine is as follows - for $ 30 a year, you can get a free domain name registration and a web server with a 4GB virtual disk.

So, to tie these numbers in relation to my task - even if you write the results of the Fourier transform four times per hour, it will come out about a kilobyte.

As a result, a 4GB base will be able to contain information about 400 hives per year.

To begin with, it seems to be ok, but there is one BUT - not all space will be given to you under the base (usually only a quarter).

If you increase your appetites somewhat, the price tag immediately passes over the hundred-dollar mark - it's a bit greasy for a free project.

In a word, here the toad already forms a coalition with cockroaches and google things like that.

Moreover, for one hundred square meters you can just buy four raspberries.

But God, what a hell it is to mess with them, to finish and invent something!

The solution should be as simple as possible, easily portable to a normal hosting and protected from power failures and Internet glitches.

In fact, about 15 years ago I was already dealing with the organization of a web server hosting at home, so I don’t see problems in forwarding the domain and IP.

So, my solution to the problem of choosing a platform is a motherboard based on a dual-core Celeron J1800 2.4 GHz with TDP 10W, but at least this one:

Having packed everything into the nettop case, I got a very compact system.

The server can be rotated on an SSD-drive, and backup to a classic 2.5 "HDD.

An additional plus - in many nettops the original power scheme is used - a “notebook” PSU and converters inside the system unit.

And so we got to the "sunny" part of the story.

No, the problem is not installing UPSs, even the smallest one will be able to “pull” such a system for hours, and in the hidden desire to make a stand-alone server, not connected at all by wires (yeah, that same hive in a clean field ;-).

In general, a 100-110W solar battery should be enough, paired with a battery from Tavria and a charge controller, this will serve as an excellent alternative to a wall outlet.

Internet problem? There is 100Mbit home Internet, and 4G in Kiev, God forbid everyone (you didn’t think that I really put everything in the field ;-)

I do not touch software issues for two reasons:

1. This is a topic of a separate holivar
2. Yes, and you don’t have to choose actually - see what the hoster uses, to which I will eventually come, and put the same thing (from the Linux family)

In short, the server configuration is Celeron J1800 2-core 2.4GHz, 4GB (2x2) DDR3 SO-DIMM, 32GB SSD-HD, 320GB HDD

Do you know what is most pleasant in this story?

Free cheese! All components are already in stock and their performance / stability is checked!

I hope that the thirteenth publication as a whole was a success!

And yes, Lets Fight in the comments!

With you was an electrician Andrei.