WeMo Devices - Cheap way to remotely reboot / turn on and off PC

I use IPMI on many of our servers, you get access to the console and you can control power on the system as well. There are some motherboards that support add-on cards. I usually use Supermicro motherboards and you can get them on the Atom series and up processors. The great thing about the console, it is like logging on directly at the system and not via an RDP session. I will be putting together a dedicated box for BlueIris (or whatever I use in the future) with IPMI. A great thing about it is, you plug the box in and you can install the OS and everything from anywhere with access to the IPMI. It allows you to use virtual devices such as an ISO, CD, DVD, etc located on another computer.
 
I know you can do that with commercial servers, used to do it all the time at work as it lets you connect in as though you were in front of the server, but did not know you can buy a board to do that. Do you have more info on it. Also, if you want BlueIris cheap, WrightwoodSurveillance has it for $39.99.
 
A friend bought these

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004V946JC/ref=pe_385040_30332200_pe_309540_26725410_item

and

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005KSBU2Y/ref=pe_385040_30332200_pe_309540_26725410_item

The price of a supermicro board with it built in is not terrible. It adds about $50-100 to the price, but it is worth it for management capabilities. There is a vendor in Atlanta that I get most of the servers for work from. They are very reasonable and have only had 1 or 2 issues with a server in 7 years.

http://www.apaqdigital.com/
 
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That web enabled power switch is pretty interesting.

I wouldn't mind having a smaller "home version" with 4 sockets for a modem, router & couple switches.

They have their bases covered with power schedules & power cycling; so that you are not limited to manual on/off (modem and/or router down = no way to turn power back on manually)
 
IPMI looks very useful. I hope this kind of thing becomes standard in the future, because there isn't a lot you can do with just a web power switch if your server decides it wants user input before it will boot up.
 
I can remotely reboot my router, through its default UI, but not my modem.

People with some home automation box & switches probably have a simpler job of executing a small manual program or scene, where power to an outlet is turned off for a few minutes and restored; then going through programming that digital loggers power strip. It is not what I would call intuitive.
 
I have a BI installation at a remote cabin. The original setup there was webcam software with a Windows 98 PC. It FTPed a picture every hour to a web page. After a week or so, it would lock up and require a reboot. This was all through a dialup connection. Our solution was a $10 timer. At 4:00 am, it shut everything down, and returned power 30 minutes later. Simple. Effective. Cost efficient. Now the Windows 8 machine just runs. It has been running now for 2 months with no problems.

But, I do like these solutions. The only problem is that the cabin is on satellite modem, and they won't take incoming connections.
 
TVille said:
I have a BI installation at a remote cabin. The original setup there was webcam software with a Windows 98 PC. It FTPed a picture every hour to a web page. After a week or so, it would lock up and require a reboot. This was all through a dialup connection. Our solution was a $10 timer. At 4:00 am, it shut everything down, and returned power 30 minutes later. Simple. Effective. Cost efficient. Now the Windows 8 machine just runs. It has been running now for 2 months with no problems.

But, I do like these solutions. The only problem is that the cabin is on satellite modem, and they won't take incoming connections.
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My dad has a cabin with an old WildBlue satellite modem. It takes incoming connections just fine :) But if you need a way to do an incoming connection with an ISP that blocks such things, there are several tools that will create a virtual LAN for you by tunneling out. Problem is you need a reliable PC to use any of them:

Comodo Unite
LogMeIn Hamachi
NeoRouter if you prefer to run your own gateway server

I'd love to find an easy and reliable method of VPN'ing out from behind an internet connection that won't accept incoming connections. But so far the only way I've had any success with is those software solutions that require the PC to already be working.
 
bp2008 said:
My dad has a cabin with an old WildBlue satellite modem. It takes incoming connections just fine :) But if you need a way to do an incoming connection with an ISP that blocks such things, there are several tools that will create a virtual LAN for you by tunneling out. Problem is you need a reliable PC to use any of them:

Comodo Unite
LogMeIn Hamachi
NeoRouter if you prefer to run your own gateway server

I'd love to find an easy and reliable method of VPN'ing out from behind an internet connection that won't accept incoming connections. But so far the only way I've had any success with is those software solutions that require the PC to already be working.
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This is through HugheNet. They block LogMeIn however TeamViewer appears to work, although needing patience is an understatement....
 
Hah tell me about it. WildBlue never blocked anything. Ditch Hughesnet if you can and get one of those new systems with higher speed and higher caps. Those plans are sadly not available in Wyoming yet, last I checked.
 
I have several Wemo devices at my house. I use the light switch on the stairwell light that leads to my bedroom. I also have the "plug" switches on my fish tanks to cycle the lights on and off. They are scheduled to go on and off in time with sunrise and sunset. It is PERFECT for this application. I also have a few of the lightbulbs and they are fine... I mean what can you really say about a light bulb? The dimmer is nice I guess!
 
Few tricks I use on my network. Magic packet sender will wake up a computer that is shutdown.
I you are logged into a computer and only have the logoff option. Goto CMD and type "shutdown /r" and it will reboot. If you want it to reboot NOW just type "shutdown /r /t 0"
 
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Where are IP based power control device for under $50? Plenty of switched PDUs out there but I don't want to pay that much for just 1 port...
 
afddwfadwfadwf said:
Where are IP based power control device for under $50? Plenty of switched PDUs out there but I don't want to pay that much for just 1 port...
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I use this for under $10 shipped to remotely turn a PC off and back on that collects data from my weather station and pushes data to Weather Underground.
https://www.itead.cc/sonoff-wifi-wireless-switch.html
App on my iphone to turn something one and off. Can be configured to turn on the output when power is applied. Works well.
 
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Plasman said:
Do the above devices require port forwarding to get Android access so that I can reboot the BI PC from vacation if it hangs? I had been planning on getting this IP Power Switch device which allows the port to be specified: https://www.amazon.com/3Gstore-Remote-Power-IP-Switch/dp/B00LLVQ9OI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1465835739&sr=8-1&keywords=UIS-522b

But a cheaper, simpler device like Wemo or Sonoff would be welcome. Opinions?
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I can only reply about the Sonoff device and for that one I did NOT have to do any port forwarding.
 
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