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Two-site smart farm — network topology and WAN/edge reference (Mermaid)

Purpose: A reference-only view of how WAN, two physical sites, field RF, and DC electrical context fit together for the East Tennessee two-site scenario. Not a deployed design—labels are logical. Diagrams use Mermaid (enabled in mkdocs.yml via mkdocs-mermaid2-plugin).

Execution-oriented topology (three views) — reference vs pilot vs degraded with trust boundaries and WAN vs local survivable paths: Execution topology package — two-site smart farm (Mermaid). Use that page first for ops and runbook alignment; this page keeps telemetry plane, DC, and HaLow vs mesh overlays.

Provenance batch (PDFs + captures): Electrical, networking, and Starlink — inbox batch (2026-04-23). Canonical stack narrative (no diagrams): Reference architecture — 5-acre home base + 120-acre farm, Field telemetry reference architecture — homestead + 120-acre farm.

Reading the sources

  • Victron Wiring Unlimited — DC busses, Lynx distribution, inverter/charger integration patterns (see PDF extract in batch note).
  • Starlink spec PDFs — Mini vs Standard / 4× kit hardware facts for uplink planning (not coverage guarantees at your coordinates).
  • Morse Micro MM6108 / MM8108 datasheets — Wi‑Fi HaLow (802.11ah) RF positioning for long-range Wi‑Fi options at sub‑GHz; still orthogonal to Meshtastic/LoRa in most farm stacks.
  • NREL off-grid solar modules — generic design/O&M framing (Haiti training context); use for discipline, not TN parcel defaults.
  • Meshtastic captures — power + getting started for field mesh posture.

Interpretation: Starlink (or any satellite/fixed wireless uplink) is shown as the shared Internet path for discussion; fiber/cable may exist at SITE_HOME only—verify per address. SITE_HOME and SITE_FARM are not bridged at L2 across COMMUTE_ONE_WAY; use VPN, overlay, or cloud for logical reunification.

```mermaid flowchart TB subgraph internet["Internet / cloud"] cloud(["SaaS / APIs / optional cloud broker"]) end

subgraph wan["WAN access layer"] starlink["Starlink terminal\n(spec: Mini vs Standard kit — see batch PDFs)"] wan_router["Edge router / firewall\n(VLANs, VPN, policy — TBD)"] starlink --> wan_router end

subgraph home["SITE_HOME — control center (~5 ac scenario)"] homelan["LAN: HA / NOC / office / workshop\nMQTT client, TSDB ingest, backups"] dc_bus["DC plant (solar/battery/inverter)\nsee Victron Wiring Unlimited"] wan_router --> homelan dc_bus -.->|"AC tie / critical loads"| homelan end

subgraph farm["SITE_FARM — production (~120 ac scenario)"] farmlan["Site LAN / field gateways\nweaker or no wireline"] field_rf["Field RF: Meshtastic / LoRaWAN / cameras\n(gateways → backhaul)"] farmlan --> field_rf end

wan_router -->|"VPN / SD-WAN / tunnel\n(not a single flat LAN)"| farmlan homelan -->|"Records / dashboards"| cloud farmlan -->|"Telemetry egress"| cloud field_rf -->|"Via gateway"| farmlan ```

2. Telemetry and application data plane (logical)

Interpretation: Matches the roles table on Field telemetry reference architecture—transport (MQTT) is not automatically authority for compliance records.

```mermaid flowchart LR subgraph farm_edge["SITE_FARM edges"] sensors["Sensors / actuators\nMODBUS / GPIO / LoRa / etc."] gw["Field gateway(s)\nMQTT publish"] sensors --> gw end

subgraph transport["Message plane"] broker["MQTT broker\n(BROKER_LABEL)"] gw -->|"TLS / private net"| broker end

subgraph home_core["SITE_HOME services"] ha["Home Assistant / automations"] sor["SOR / TSDB / DB\n(durable history — policy)"] farmos["farmOS / records UI"] broker --> ha broker --> sor ha --> farmos end

subgraph humans["Operators"] phone["Alerts / phone"] sor --> phone farmos --> phone end ```

3. DC electrical context (coupled PV/battery/inverter)

Interpretation: Abstract pattern from DC-coupled training materials—Victron book details Lynx, BMS, Multi/Quattro integration. Your conductor sizes, fusing, and grounding are not stated here.

```mermaid flowchart TB subgraph sources["DC sources"] pv["PV array\n(charge controllers)"] alt["Alternator / genset\n(optional)"] end

subgraph storage["Storage"] batt["Battery bank\n(BMS)"] end

subgraph distribution["DC distribution"] bus["Bus / fused distribution\n(e.g. Lynx-class — see Victron extract)"] end

subgraph ac["AC integration"] inv["Inverter/charger\n(AC loads + grid/gen port)"] ac_loads["AC loads\n(home / barn)"] end

pv --> bus alt --> bus bus --> batt bus --> inv inv --> ac_loads ```

4. Optional — long-range Wi‑Fi HaLow vs field mesh (decision overlay)

Interpretation: 802.11ah (HaLow) and Meshtastic/LoRa solve different problems—throughput vs very low-rate telemetry; coexistence is planning, not one radio.

```mermaid flowchart LR subgraph halow["802.11ah HaLow (e.g. Morse Micro silicon)"] mm["MM6108/MM8108-class PHY\n(sub-GHz Wi-Fi)"] end

subgraph mesh["Sub-GHz mesh / LPWAN"] mesht["Meshtastic\n(device network)"] loraw["LoRaWAN\n(gateway uplink)"] end

subgraph use["Typical farm fit"] u1["Higher IP throughput\nlong Wi-Fi links"] u2["Low-power sensor backhaul\n& messaging"] u3["Sensors to gateway\ncloud or on-prem"] end

mm --> u1 mesht --> u2 loraw --> u3 ```

Limits

  • No public IP, VLAN ID, or radio channel choices for your sites—those are deployment decisions.
  • Starlink terms, availability, and performance vary—treat PDFs as hardware references.
  • Mermaid renders on the MkDocs site; Obsidian may need a Mermaid plugin for the same diagrams in vault view.