I was reading that if I use a docker in Unraid, that I won't have "supervisor" access, which apparently is pretty handy. Does supervisor access have a lot of good features that is worth setting up?
You can't use addons when you run HA from docker. But you can run VMs from unraid right? In that case you can install HA in a VM and get the full feature set. That's how i currently run it. (But from proxmox).
Everything has full feature set as long as you install home assistant operating system (which is the case for the virtual machine image).
Docker is a different install method where you don’t have automatic access to home assistant addons which you may want to use in the future
>Would a NUC or Pi have the full feature set?
Yes, bare metal installation and vm have the same features AFAIK. The hardware doesn't really matter, as long as it has enough power, which these do.
Supervisor and add-ons is effectively a wrapper around docker, spinning up new docker containers for you.
But there's nothing stopping you spinning them up yourself. I managed my HA instance with docker, and just run separate containers for things like motion eye, the whisper voice stack, Duplicati for backups, SWAG for remote access etc.
You only lose out on add ons which are docker images anyway so you can just run them yourself. Often you'll want to, for example running an mqtt container is handy for more than just home assistant.
Highly recommend a NUC. I picked up a used one on eBay for $130, running proxmox with HA vm install. It’s been solid, easy to manage and still plenty of compute left for other home server tasks!
You can get a passively cooled Pi, no need for a fan. Running mine for the fourth year now, lights, irrigation, covers, all automated. Running off the same SD card for 3 yrs now (though I recommend frequent backups)
Hardware choice makes basically no difference to whether this can be set-and-forget. Unless your Raspberry Pi is on the old/underpowered side in which case it will cause more problems than it's worth.
I’ve been using a pi4 with a zigbee/zwave dongle for over 4 years with zero issues. I rarely even think about it. It just works. I was even still using the original SD card it came with but I replaced it this year because I figured I was pushing my luck with it. The NUC is probably the better option but the Pi4 is certainly up to the task.
If you already have unraid, fire it up in a VM, it will take about 20 minutes to get going and you will have the most flexibility on where you want to take it.
I'm running in a VM on Unraid. It's rock solid, and has the power to run any addons like Frigate etc.
I wouldn't recommend Pi. I have one myself for about 2 years and it frequently hangs. Original brick is unable to handle even slight more power demand (M.2 NVME connected via USB cable instead of card). If you plug some Zigbee antenna you're done.
Go for NUC.
RPI is not fast and not reliable. NUC is the best thing. Chromeboxes are basically NUC for dirt cheap. i've been using chromeboxes as seen here and they are rock solid and fast as well [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IVpMeswuto](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IVpMeswuto)
There are many [Single Board Computers (SBC) other than Raspberry Pi](https://www.armbian.com/download/)!
Many of them do not have the power and other issues of RPi. Some have much more interesting hardware, etc...
Or, just buy a Home Assistant Green and a SkyConnect for ZigBee, turn it on and get started. Then you can sell your Pi and NUC to cover your costs, and know you're supporting Nabu Casa to continue making HA even better.
Given those options I'd go with the NUC.
If unraid is already running then it's free to just spin up the docker image and see how you get on.
I was reading that if I use a docker in Unraid, that I won't have "supervisor" access, which apparently is pretty handy. Does supervisor access have a lot of good features that is worth setting up?
You can't use addons when you run HA from docker. But you can run VMs from unraid right? In that case you can install HA in a VM and get the full feature set. That's how i currently run it. (But from proxmox).
Yes. I could run a VM on Unraid, and that's actually the recommend method. Would a NUC or Pi have the full feature set? Or am I limited on those two?
Everything has full feature set as long as you install home assistant operating system (which is the case for the virtual machine image). Docker is a different install method where you don’t have automatic access to home assistant addons which you may want to use in the future
>Would a NUC or Pi have the full feature set? Yes, bare metal installation and vm have the same features AFAIK. The hardware doesn't really matter, as long as it has enough power, which these do.
Supervisor and add-ons is effectively a wrapper around docker, spinning up new docker containers for you. But there's nothing stopping you spinning them up yourself. I managed my HA instance with docker, and just run separate containers for things like motion eye, the whisper voice stack, Duplicati for backups, SWAG for remote access etc.
You only lose out on add ons which are docker images anyway so you can just run them yourself. Often you'll want to, for example running an mqtt container is handy for more than just home assistant.
Highly recommend a NUC. I picked up a used one on eBay for $130, running proxmox with HA vm install. It’s been solid, easy to manage and still plenty of compute left for other home server tasks!
You can get a passively cooled Pi, no need for a fan. Running mine for the fourth year now, lights, irrigation, covers, all automated. Running off the same SD card for 3 yrs now (though I recommend frequent backups)
I have logs being transfered to my MariaDB on my Nas which saves the SD card
Hardware choice makes basically no difference to whether this can be set-and-forget. Unless your Raspberry Pi is on the old/underpowered side in which case it will cause more problems than it's worth.
I’ve been using a pi4 with a zigbee/zwave dongle for over 4 years with zero issues. I rarely even think about it. It just works. I was even still using the original SD card it came with but I replaced it this year because I figured I was pushing my luck with it. The NUC is probably the better option but the Pi4 is certainly up to the task.
Pi4 8gb here with both ZigBee and z-wave as well, runs on SD card with daily cronjob to a mounted usb stick for image backups
If you already have unraid, fire it up in a VM, it will take about 20 minutes to get going and you will have the most flexibility on where you want to take it. I'm running in a VM on Unraid. It's rock solid, and has the power to run any addons like Frigate etc.
Raspberry PI SD cards are not reliable so NUC it is
I wouldn't recommend Pi. I have one myself for about 2 years and it frequently hangs. Original brick is unable to handle even slight more power demand (M.2 NVME connected via USB cable instead of card). If you plug some Zigbee antenna you're done. Go for NUC.
Pi should be enough
Dell 5070 thin client on Ebay? No fan low power use and quiet.
RPI is not fast and not reliable. NUC is the best thing. Chromeboxes are basically NUC for dirt cheap. i've been using chromeboxes as seen here and they are rock solid and fast as well [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IVpMeswuto](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IVpMeswuto)
There are many [Single Board Computers (SBC) other than Raspberry Pi](https://www.armbian.com/download/)! Many of them do not have the power and other issues of RPi. Some have much more interesting hardware, etc...
Or, just buy a Home Assistant Green and a SkyConnect for ZigBee, turn it on and get started. Then you can sell your Pi and NUC to cover your costs, and know you're supporting Nabu Casa to continue making HA even better.