I have two separate machines, a Hometroller Zee S2 and a dedicated BI machine (a cheap $250 PC off of ebay). I would guess that with a higher end machine you could run both on one if you wanted, but this was just as easy and relatively cheap. The Zee S2 does all I could want at least for now.
Trying to pick a home automation system - BI integration is a must
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I think I’ll outgrow the 5 plugins on day 1..
ImperiHome
Blue Iris
Z Wave
DSC alarm
MyQ
I have a lot of unused machine left in my BI server.. running <20% cpu on an i7-7700 w/16GB and ssd.
Hmm..
Check these out then, and there a few other threads on the Homeseer forums that address this issue.
Can I run HS3 and Blue Iris on the same machine ? - HomeSeer Message Board
Computer/Server Requirements - HomeSeer Message Board
question: I have more of an Apple Homekit set-up with lots of Ecobee sensors, Hue lights, outlets, garage...was also looking at Honeywell Lyric as an alarm system....anyway to integrate Homekit with Blueiris?
... I notice some nerds have gotten all cams to show up in Home app on ios using Homebridge plugin..
...what do you guys think of Homekit and getting it working together with Blueiris?
also, our mailboxes keep getting broken into, and i have a PTZ 49225 that I have other cams trigger particular presets depending on where the motion triggers those other cams, but keep missing them when they're right at the mailboxes...would it help putting an external sensor of some kind right at the mailbox? are there any sort of wireless motion sensors out there? any wireless ir lights out there?
... I notice some nerds have gotten all cams to show up in Home app on ios using Homebridge plugin..
...what do you guys think of Homekit and getting it working together with Blueiris?
also, our mailboxes keep getting broken into, and i have a PTZ 49225 that I have other cams trigger particular presets depending on where the motion triggers those other cams, but keep missing them when they're right at the mailboxes...would it help putting an external sensor of some kind right at the mailbox? are there any sort of wireless motion sensors out there? any wireless ir lights out there?
What is your budget and what do you want to do? And do you want to do everything yourself or do you want support?
You haven't mentioned AV and one of the biggest benefits of an HA system is having it control your AV.
I have Control4 and you can integrate BI into C4. There is a basic BI driver that is free that lets you integrate all of your BI cameras into your C4 system and there is a more advanced driver that lets you create hot zones that do actions when you click on them. For example, let's say you have a fixed camera in BI in a room that displays a light and a fireplace. You could set it up to turn on the light or fireplace when you click on it. But cameras are a small fraction of all of the fun things that you can do in a HA system.
Control4 is not cheap, but it is cheaper than some of the dealer-sold alternatives like Crestron, and all hardware in C4 must be added by a dealer so it is not a fully DIY system. You can do pretty much all of the programming yourself, after hardware is added by your dealer. C4 is quite good for whole house audio and video distribution plus lighting, security, door locks, doorbell, window blinds, HVAC, pool, etc. It can control your AV devices via IR, IP or serial interfaces. High end systems will have matrix amplifiers driving speakers in each room and video matrix switches allowing any video source to be sent to any room. Centralized video is very expensive - but getting cheaper with new technology like Video Storm Net Play. In an ideal world you have lots of cabling in your house, including multiple LAN drops to each room that has AV equipment, ceiling speakers in each room, HDMI cables to each room, etc. You should think about the cabling that you want before your house is built. Also think about whether you want AV devices local in each room or do you want them hidden away somewhere.
C4 integrates well with most things out there today including Amazon Alexa. And everything in the system can be used to control everything else - so I use security system motion sensors to turn on lights. You can have a "Good night" routine that will turn of all lights, arm your alarm system, turn off all audio/video in the house, etc. And you could activate that Good Night scene from a voice command with Alexa, a button by your bed, a C4 remote control or an app on your phone. Amazon Alexa is WAY more useful when you can use it for HA, like turning lights on/off, closing blinds, locking doors, etc.
But a typical system would probably start at around $10k and go up from there. A bare minimum system would probably start at around $2-3K - that would get you an EA-3 controller, a remote control and a bit of work from your dealer for setup.
You haven't mentioned AV and one of the biggest benefits of an HA system is having it control your AV.
I have Control4 and you can integrate BI into C4. There is a basic BI driver that is free that lets you integrate all of your BI cameras into your C4 system and there is a more advanced driver that lets you create hot zones that do actions when you click on them. For example, let's say you have a fixed camera in BI in a room that displays a light and a fireplace. You could set it up to turn on the light or fireplace when you click on it. But cameras are a small fraction of all of the fun things that you can do in a HA system.
Control4 is not cheap, but it is cheaper than some of the dealer-sold alternatives like Crestron, and all hardware in C4 must be added by a dealer so it is not a fully DIY system. You can do pretty much all of the programming yourself, after hardware is added by your dealer. C4 is quite good for whole house audio and video distribution plus lighting, security, door locks, doorbell, window blinds, HVAC, pool, etc. It can control your AV devices via IR, IP or serial interfaces. High end systems will have matrix amplifiers driving speakers in each room and video matrix switches allowing any video source to be sent to any room. Centralized video is very expensive - but getting cheaper with new technology like Video Storm Net Play. In an ideal world you have lots of cabling in your house, including multiple LAN drops to each room that has AV equipment, ceiling speakers in each room, HDMI cables to each room, etc. You should think about the cabling that you want before your house is built. Also think about whether you want AV devices local in each room or do you want them hidden away somewhere.
C4 integrates well with most things out there today including Amazon Alexa. And everything in the system can be used to control everything else - so I use security system motion sensors to turn on lights. You can have a "Good night" routine that will turn of all lights, arm your alarm system, turn off all audio/video in the house, etc. And you could activate that Good Night scene from a voice command with Alexa, a button by your bed, a C4 remote control or an app on your phone. Amazon Alexa is WAY more useful when you can use it for HA, like turning lights on/off, closing blinds, locking doors, etc.
But a typical system would probably start at around $10k and go up from there. A bare minimum system would probably start at around $2-3K - that would get you an EA-3 controller, a remote control and a bit of work from your dealer for setup.
woolfman72
Getting the hang of it
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Harmony hub , smartthings and alexa can also control AV. For example we get up in the morning and say "alexa good morning" The living room lights come on, turns the tv on , sets the receiver to the input. Or "alexa turn on pandora" turns the receiver on and switches it to bluetooth input and alexa will stream pandora through it. "good night" turns all the lights off that i want off. Just an FYI.
It sounds like you have done a good job of making everything work together which is the trickiest part of HA. Systems like Control4 are expensive but they let you do everything all in one place/app and on one controller. But they break far too often as APIs change, etc.
I am moving from seven Harmony Hubs and doing some hacks running the harmony-api to using Control4 for as much as possible. I have had a C4 system for almost a decade but I haven't used it for AV until now. There are some benefits to it but it isn't cheap.
But it all depends on what you want to control, how much you want to do yourself and how much you want to spend. The OP didn't say if his budget for HA was $1000, $10,000 or $100,000.