I’d look into arduino or rpi controlled relays. There’s also non-smart radio or IR remote controlled wall plugs that you can also adapt to be controlled by the arduino or rpi GPIO (if the relay cannot be used for AC). All you’ll need is to have a script that SSH’es into that on power-on and turn on your diskshelf on.
The problem is, this assumes the diskshelf can be powered on when the OS is already booted up (like if the shelf was self-contained and not a JBOD box). AFAIK, some will not play ball if they aren’t both powered on at the same time. Meaning that, in order to power on the server, you’ll likely need to use something like the same Pi with GPIO relays and turn on the server via WoL (or just have the power button on a relay too) and the diskshelf via the GPIO.
Jank, but should be cheap and not have to integrate it with other stuff (in case you don’t have a homeassistant server and you haven’t invested in zigbee stuff yet).
Completely off-topic rant (and the reason I'm replying to xnd, lmao)
This thread is gold and that lowtechmagazine is awesome! Glad I just discovered it.
I’m planning on going off-grid myself at some point. I have almost all my devices on DC and have external bricks. The article on that site was from 2016! Things have evolved a lot in the last 7 (almost 8) years.
You can get cheap(-ish) portable batteries like the bluetti eb3a (which I got for my cousin) and eb70s (which I have), which can be solar powered and give you 12v 10A ports, 100W USB-PD and has an AC inverter (the only problem is that they only take 200W max solar input and having 2 of them on 2 systems would be a bit expensive to swallow, but having just one and another cheaper option, like a jackery explorer 100 or anker 737 / powercore 24k for less demanding things, like lights and phones, or even a DIY distribution and a cheap lead acid battery instead).
I’m still debating how well a solar only system would perform (but in apartments, that’s the only way, unless you add things like pedal generators). Other good energy storage, if you have a safe place to use it, is hydrogen gas in tanks, that can be done with hydrolysis during peak sunny days and burnt when demand is high in a classical gas or methane generator - AND you also get heat during winter, win-win!).
But when I’m going to be in my own place (if ever), my monitor, a lamp, some of my SBCs, my L1 KVM, my speakers, all take 12V, then my PC and NAS take 19-21V (which can be delivered via USB-PD with an adapter) and many of my lights are USB or 2x / 3x AAA battery powered or 4x / 6x AA (I got NiMH rechargeable batteries, but can make some of them work directly on 5V or 9V USB if needed). The rest of my lab can be adapted from USB-PD to their requirements (like 9V and 15V, although they aren’t many).
I even have a manual washing machine (which TBH haven’t used in a while, my last place didn’t have a washing machine, which is why I bought it, but my current place has)! Can’t wash my large jackets or my blanket, but everything else (including bed sheets, one at a time) works. And a bathtub and dedicated plunger could do to wash these.
I have my big PC, which would be tough to power without using my bluetti’s inverter and I also have a mini-fridge (the 12v fridges were more expensive and didn’t have standing options, you can fit a lot more in a fridge with shelves than in a fridge with a top door). I was thinking of building a new PC and using 2x DC-DC adapters (like picoPSUs) to power the CPU and motherboard and have my GPU split from the main PSU. But the question would be how to power everything at once with just one button and how can I provide 12V 10A to each PSU (to get at least 240W). But that’s a story for another time.
Other than that, the only solely AC appliances I have is my AC. If I play my cards right, I could get a dedicated solar installation for it during summer, with an inverter and no battery power. As far as cooking goes, I like gas grills and gas stoves, but I’d look into solar cooking more (I already know there are solar kettles that take like 3 or 4 hours to get water to boil and they keep the water warm for many hours, I could use these for my morning coffee and subsequent routine teas). I lived without a microwave a few years, it wasn’t fun, but not the worst thing in the world, could get reaccustomed.
I was thinking of something similar to the window sills solar panels, but instead above-window adjustable solar panel installations (that would also function as a kind of external curtain at night and provide some rain protection to allow me to keep the window open during warn rainy days). And being adjustable, I could set their angle during winter for better efficiency. And if the height allows it, I could also do another one under my window (as long as it doesn’t interfere with the window bellow). The only problem here is that I live in a room having windows to the south and west, with the one in the south being shaded by a long hallway (so realistically I could only get less than 3 hours of sun during summer time - AND I have a tree right at the corner between the two windows, making my room the most shaded in the house).
