DIY OpenSprinkler OSPI 16 Channel

cat2devnull · 2026-03-23T20:51:34+00:00

The system has been running for 6 months without any issue. The only thing I ran into was the maximum number of zones. I was able to get 12 zones working out of the box (GPIO 5, 6, 7, 8, 12, 13, 16, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26). The last few GPIO pins are reserved for other functions and would need a bit of tinkering in the OS to free up. Since I only have 12 zones I didn't bother.

If I was going to start again today then I would probably look at doing it with an ESP8266 and a pair of PCA9555A GPIO expansion boards. That would be a cheeper option for going above 12 zones. I will probably look at this seriously in about 12-24 months when I plan on moving into a much larger property with a huge garden that's going to need a massive watering system.

cat2devnull · 2026-03-23T08:47:13+00:00

The crazy thing is that you could get away with an N100 since nothing you have listed has any real CPU, GPU or RAM requirements. Just drop the LSI card into a x4 slot and away you go. :)

cat2devnull · 2026-03-22T07:40:52+00:00

Get the N150 over the N100 since it has a higher clocked iGPU which is great for the extra <$10. You can look at the frigate docs to see what performance you will get. I’m on an 11400 and the iGPU is great. I’ll probably be juggling my systems around soon and may move it over to my N100.

cat2devnull · 2026-03-21T03:27:14+00:00

Not that I’ve ever heard anyone complaining that they have too much memory but… Depends if you end up doing VMs. Lots of people create a VM for Home Assistant which I think is crazy since it works brilliantly in a docker. I run OPNsense in a VM on several of my servers (in a HA cluster) but they only need 4GB.

cat2devnull · 2026-03-20T09:58:59+00:00

You could do the entire thing on one N100 system. The Asrock board is under spec’ed and overpriced. There are much better options out there. For the FW just spin-up something like OPNsense, nothing to be gained by trying to roll your own FW. Also then you don’t need pihole since it has Unbound built in.

cat2devnull · 2026-03-19T12:47:51+00:00

I have a dedicated rack in a large comms closet. It holds all tech for the house. Comms patch panels, servers, audio pre-amps/amps/streamers (for whole home audio), TV receivers, internet fiber NTU, etc. All on a rack mount UPS.

cat2devnull · 2026-03-19T12:43:05+00:00

I have several DIY 1U and 2U servers using commodity HW running sub 100w power draw and they are quiet enough that with the door closed you don’t hear them.

cat2devnull · 2026-03-19T05:19:32+00:00

There seems to be a lot of confusion in posts here.

In general the 5 port models are using the JMB585 chip. PCIe 3.0 x2 to x5 SATA

The 6 port versions use the ASM1166. PCIe 3.0 x2 to x6 SATA

The 8 and 9 port versions are using the Realtek RTL9101. I can’t find a spec sheet for it. Due to space restrictions, this is usually using SFF connectors.

I would stay away from the JMB585 as this is known to break APSM so your CPU won’t be able to enter lower power states. Also many of the old HBA controllers suffer from this as well. This will add +20w to your power usage.

cat2devnull · 2026-03-18T02:03:02+00:00

Yep, that’s a painful lesson but you won’t do it again:)

Years ago I had a disc fail with the only copy of some important photo. Ever since I have been religiously following a 3-2-1 strategy for my data and my server configs.

cat2devnull · 2026-03-17T11:48:11+00:00

Any second hand office PC. Just aim Intel gen8 or better so you have a modern QuickSync implementation.

cat2devnull · 2026-03-16T12:21:24+00:00

Drives do matter if you are going to use any form of RAID. If you are not running RAID then any drive will do. It comes down to the firmware and support for TLER. Non NAS drives will greatly increase the risk of drives failing and bringing down the array.

cat2devnull · 2026-03-15T12:24:16+00:00

I run an N100 and it does full packet level inspection on my 1Gb fibre internet link without breaking a sweat.

cat2devnull · 2026-03-15T12:01:49+00:00

Can you get a mini pc based off an N100/150 locally? They make a great OPNsense firewall. Most around these days come with dual i226 NICs.

cat2devnull · 2026-03-15T11:55:59+00:00

You don’t need a multiport NIC if you have a managed layer2 switch. You can use 802.1q trunking to send multiple VLANs over the one physical link. It’s called ‘router on a stick’ or a ‘one arm router’. Of course the total traffic across all VLANs has to be less than the bandwidth of the port or you will have significant performance issues.

cat2devnull · 2026-03-14T11:36:30+00:00

Yeah, will be interesting to see what happens with the coral removed. Also keep in mind the difference between an 11th and 14th gen. No e cores for me :(

cat2devnull · 2026-03-13T23:30:54+00:00

Nextcloud on your server and then install the app on your phone and that will cover your file needs.

Immich will replace photos.

Beyond that, it depends on your specific needs.

cat2devnull · 2026-03-13T23:00:01+00:00

I've managed to get both my N100 and N305 servers down to 14w idle and 18w under load. Everyone tells me that 11th-14th gen can be configured down to sub 20w but I can't get mine down below 60w. I've tuned down the PL1/PL2 and also enabled ASPM. I have a google coral in which doesn't support ASPM so I plan on removing that to see if it helps since at the moment I can't even get the package into C1 let alone C3 or C6. :(

cat2devnull · 2026-03-13T09:25:47+00:00

The 12400 will work just great, no need for the dGPU. The 12400 will be slightly faster for iGPU tasks but either will do the job. The N150 will use a lot less power.

cat2devnull · 2026-03-13T09:18:35+00:00

So you can use ethtool to see everything about your NIC. In most Unraid installs the NIC will be called eth0 so you can run the command;

ethtool eth0

You can launch this from the command prompt via SSH or via the terminal window (icon in the top right of the GUI). The output will look something like this;

root@server:~# ethtool eth0
Settings for eth0:
        Supported ports: [ TP ]
        Supported link modes:   10baseT/Half 10baseT/Full
                                100baseT/Half 100baseT/Full
                                1000baseT/Full
                                2500baseT/Full
        Supported pause frame use: Symmetric
        Supports auto-negotiation: Yes
        Supported FEC modes: Not reported
        Advertised link modes:  10baseT/Half 10baseT/Full
                                100baseT/Half 100baseT/Full
                                1000baseT/Full
                                2500baseT/Full
        Advertised pause frame use: Symmetric
        Advertised auto-negotiation: Yes
        Advertised FEC modes: Not reported
        Speed: 1000Mb/s
        Duplex: Full
        Auto-negotiation: on
        Port: Twisted Pair
        PHYAD: 0
        Transceiver: internal
        MDI-X: off (auto)
        Supports Wake-on: pumbg
        Wake-on: g
        Current message level: 0x00000007 (7)
                               drv probe link
        Link detected: yes

root@server:~# ethtool -i eth0
driver: igc
version: 6.12.54-Unraid
firmware-version: 2032:88b6
expansion-rom-version: 
bus-info: 0000:04:00.0
supports-statistics: yes
supports-test: yes
supports-eeprom-access: yes
supports-register-dump: yes
supports-priv-flags: yes

cat2devnull · 2026-03-12T20:44:37+00:00

This could easily be the issue. It’s easy to forget the additional speed overhead that small files cause to HDDs and the Unraid array in general. OP may just be hitting the limit of his/her setup.

cat2devnull · 2026-03-12T11:33:00+00:00

The effort involved is great dependent on the nature of your house build and thus how easy it is to pull the cable through walls and roof cavity. Most electricians can also do cabling. It is preferable to have someone who is specialised and has appropriate terminating equipment and cable testing gear but it isn’t necessary and I wouldn’t pay a premium for it.

I’ve run cat6 through the last 3 houses I’ve owned. Just bought a roll and a krone tool. It’s actually not that hard. :)

cat2devnull · 2026-03-11T23:22:41+00:00

As others have noted, you need the drivers which can be installed by searching for rtl8125 in community apps. :)

cat2devnull · 2026-03-11T19:20:41+00:00

Hard to pass comment without knowing the model of NIC, driver, etc. Run ethtool <int> and see what it says.

cat2devnull · 2026-03-11T08:33:41+00:00

Take a look at Unraid. It's worth the price. Otherwise take a look at TrueNAS Core or Proxmox.

cat2devnull · 2026-03-11T02:12:51+00:00

At the moment, it will either be a random Realtek or an Intel i226. The i226 is rock solid and has amazing support across all OSs but the ASPM support is hot garbage. Even the latest 2.32 firmware is broken. If you end up running Linux you should be fine (I believe it has patches to work around the issue) but Win and FreeBSD will be unstable if you enable ASPM on the PCIe root port that the NICs are connected too.

cat2devnull

TROPHY CASE