Make environmental alarming more obvious
Filed under: Data Center, Intelligent Sensors, SensorProbes, environmental monitoring
Many times we see the monitoring equipment placed into a data center, where it does its job and becomes lost in the sea of electronic gear. It sends out alerts for temperature, humidity, smoke, gas, water etc., via email or syslogs and that is fine and good.
I have a suggestion. For $125.00 we can add a strobe light and audible alarm device to your BitSight or SecurityProbe.
If you leave it in the data room, no one will see or possible hear it. If you put it in the hallway like we did, it will catch everyone’s attention when something goes on.
If something goes wrong in our data room. Everyone will know!
- Mike
The SensorProbe can Tweet!
Filed under: environmental monitoring, humidity monitoring, temperature monitoring
I don’t want to ride on the coat tails of Jon’s post about being able to send temperature alerts via Skype, but I guess I have no choice. I quickly wanted to point out that you can also send Twitter alerts form your SensorProbe. I imagined this as a second wave alert. Kinda that last ditch effort before the ship goes down. Ok, maybe I am being a bit over dramatic but in reality, this can be a great way to do a broadcast alert.
The process is easy. Browse to TwitterMail, insert your twitter username and password to get your TwitterMail address instantly. Then go to your SensorProbe and create an email alert. Alert goes off, email is sent and Twitter is fed. Make sure that everyone that is supposed to recive these messages are followers of your Twitter account.
Server room temperature alerts via Skype
Filed under: Data Center, Security Monitoring, environmental monitoring, humidity monitoring, temperature monitoring
You probably already know that the SecurityProbe environmental and security monitoring system can send various types of alerts, including email, SMS, MMS, SNMP Traps and text-to-speech alerts. Heck, it can even send you a fax with the appropriate additional GSM/GPRS modem attached. But did you know that since last year the SecurityProbe (sorry BitSight users, this is a SecurityProbe only feature) has had the ability to send out notifications via a Skype account? Yup. That means Skype SMS messages or Skype phone calls.
You’ll need a dedicated Skype account for you SecurityProbe and a PC running Windows Notification, but this is a hugely helpful feature for those with SecurityProbes in off-site locations.
So no longer are users depending on email notifications alone to let them know when servers start overheating and shutting down over the weekend, because an air conditioner failure. The real beauty of the SecurityProbe’s Notification Wizard is that you can always take your chances with e-mail up to a point, but say two hours go by and no one on the email list has acknowledged the alert. At that point you can set the notifications to escalate and start calling using the Skype feature.
This is just another one of the many ways the SecurityProbe can help with event notification. Did the power go out? Is the humidity way too high? Is air not flowing to a part of the server room with known hot spots? Don’t wait until users start complaining of application unavailability before you start investigating the problem. Let Ravica temperature and environmental monitoring solutions tip you off as soon as issues crop up.
~ Jon Mills
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Storing documents requires careful handling
Filed under: environmental monitoring, humidity monitoring, temperature monitoring
Who would have thought that dirt, dust, metal clips, staples, pins, rubber bands or even tape can trigger chemical decay of documents. Even things such as Post-it notes or enclosures made from under-purified wood pulp can cause problems, let alone airborne pollutants or sunlight. If you’re interested, this document on “long term document storage” was helpful.
Even if you envelope documents individually, using acid-free paper folders, there are still issues to be concerned about. Overly hot and dry conditions can cause documents to become brittle. If the air is too humid, mold could start to grow. Proper air circulation and packaging helps prevent pockets of condensation.
Neglected environmental conditions, as witnessed by the Russian State Library, can lead to irreversible damage of important historical information. Environmental monitoring probes from Ravica watch all of these conditions and can sit on the network, enabling you to view measurements via a web browser and receive threshold notifications via email, SNMP trap, etc.
-Mike
Humidity Monitoring – Unforseen danger in your server room
Filed under: Data Center, Intelligent Sensors, SensorProbes, environmental monitoring, humidity monitoring
I was working with a client who had to replace multiple mother boards in their server room. I was surprised that he had to replace so many, so I gently asked, “What happened?”
He said he knew I would ask him that question. Over the weekend, the air conditioning unit for their server failed. It didn’t stop, it just stopped pushing out cold air. The room didn’t get too hot (thank goodness), but it produced a lot of moisture.
Apparently, it produced too much moisture, which caused condensation on the server rack that was closest to the air conditioning unit. The end result was multiple mother boards failing.
We spent the next few minutes going over the cost of the replacement boards and drives. I then let him know that we had a humidity probe that would alert him when humidity reaches a certain level. I suggested that he add it to his order and not take the risk of loosing another segment of his server room. He thought that it was a good idea and bought two!
“Relative humidity should be maintained at a level between 30%-50%. Failure to adhere to these particular specifications could result in serious corrosion of the copper wires that are contained within the UTP and STP. Such corrosion would deter efficient functioning of the network.” – Excerpt from Cisco Networking Academy book material. So I guess the old saying, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” holds true. Take the time to monitor for humidity. It could help save your equipment.
- Jimmy D
Smoke detector configuration settings for your SensorProbe
Filed under: Data Center, SensorProbes, environmental monitoring, smoke detector
Because of the similarities in how the smoke detector and dry contact sensors work, when a smoke detector sensor is connected to any of the Ravica SensorProbe models it will be recognized as dry contact sensor. The real differences lie in how the user configures and labels the sensor.
Therefore, when connecting a new smoke detector sensor, change the description to “Smoke Detector” or something similar, then update the web interface settings for the smoke detector to reflect the options below.
Direction: Input
Normal State: Open/+5 Volts
Output Level: Low/GND
Congratulations! You now have a properly configured smoke detector sensor watching over you.
Other valuable tips for configuring your Ravica environmental monitoring systems can be found on our support FAQ.
~ Jon Mills
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SNMP pollable temperature and humidity probes
Filed under: Data Center, Intelligent Sensors, SensorProbes, environmental monitoring, temperature monitoring
Viewing trends of environmental conditions can be very helpful. The BitSight comes with its own graphical trends for displaying temperature, humidity, etc. over time.
Did you know that these appliances support SNMP and that there is an OID available to gather the sensor measurements? Well, there is and you can use MRTG, Denika or other programs to gather it. Check out this Denika humidity trend graph we created by polling the SNMP OID on the BitSight:
MRTG (Multi-Router Traffic Grapher)
Denika Performance Trender
Notice above that you can highlight any spike and drill in for greater detail.
- Mike
Monitoring water leaks during hurricane season
Filed under: Intelligent Sensors, SensorProbes, environmental monitoring, water leak monitoring
It’s official, hurricane season is upon us. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration lists June 1st as the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season. The end of this particularly dangerous portion of the calendar year has been moving ever outward and now comes to a close at the end of November.
Bonnie Schneider reports for CNN that as of as early as Thursday, May 28th, the first Tropical Depression had already formed just over 300 miles south of Providence, Rhode Island. Winds, however, did not exceed 35 mph. This early storm turned out to be little more than a hazard to nearby fishing vessels, but could the early storm activity be an omen of future seasonal dangers? According to hurricane expert Robbie Berg of the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida, “A flurry of activity in late May or early June is not a sign of what’s to come.”
It’s good to know that despite the early indications of an active 2009 hurricane season, there is no reason for a Swine Flu like panic. However, regardless of whether this year will be any worse or better than the typical hurricane season, it is important for those in storm prone areas to take their normal yearly precautions. It could be said that any hurricane season is a bad hurricane season.
For those of us up here in the great state of Maine, we don’t have to worry as much. However, there are many of us that enjoy summers in Maine and winters in any one of the southern states. Recently, I helped a customer configure an environmental system for his summer home in Florida to watch for any water leaks, during the months when he was not there.
The system was simple to design and implement. Basically, a few water sensors were strategically placed around the house; one in the basement, two on the first floor and one in the attic. The customer liked the portability and size of the BitSight2; so with four sensors to attach, he needed two SensorProbes. We gave both BitSights external IPs on his home network and loaded them on the Internet, where he could hit them from his home in Maine.
Now, in the event that he has leaking or flooding on any floor of his summer home, the BitSight will alarm him immediately. Luckily for him, he has neighbors that live there year-round. So he can call someone to check things out, if his sensors alarm him, all the while being 3,000 miles away.
The BitSight2 line of environmental monitoring sensors are great for data centers and offices, but the size and flexibility of these entry level units makes them suitable for home use as well.
Are you putting measures in place to watch your home for water leaks, while you are away this hurricane season?
~ Jon Mills
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Running a computer in a sub-zero environment
Filed under: Data Center, Intelligent Sensors, SensorProbes, environmental monitoring, temperature monitoring
I just saw a post on Slashdot that was asking the question, “How to Run a Computer in a Sub-Zero Environment?” Since network design is a passion of mine, this exercise interested me. It was a simple question, definitely not common. Even here in Maine, we are always trying to cool down our servers. I never considered someone might need to do the opposite.
Anonymous Coward (7548) gave us a real world answer. “Putting heaters (computers) in an environment meant to be cold is just adding to the cooling workload. If the computer is at any decent operating temperature, it’s going to be heating up the immediate surrounding area, and you don’t want that.” He advised people to mount the computer outside of the cold environment and put the sensor probes inside.
Although this appeared to be a sensible idea, the discussion added a new variable – building size. People were quick to point out that the original question required that he needed monitoring for a warehouse. Most warehouses are large, some larger then a football field. Clearly the above approach would not be applicable.
Embedding the PC inside of the sub-zero environment presents another issue – condensation. How are we going to protect the electronics?
BobPaul (710574) points out:
“Since cold air has a lower capacity to hold water, warming the air should decrease the relative humidity of the air, bringing you farther from the dew point and make condensation less likely. Just let everything sit in the cooler to get nice and cold before you turn anything on and I think it should be just fine.”
This response produced quite a bit of traffic. Quite a few people disagreed with BobPauls theory. Although this could be an answer, its validity is still in question.
The best solution to humidity was pointed out by Detritus (11846). He points out that “Military equipment often uses conformal coating, which is a spray-on plastic coating that protects the components from the environment.” This method encases the electronics protecting it from moisture. To the best of my knowledge, it doesn’t provide any thermal benefit, nor is it a life long solution. I would make sure to have a humidity sensor in the enclosure to ensure longevity.
The last post that I read made the solution clear. munpfazy (694689) writes, “For what it’s worth, we’ve always built room-temperature enclosures to house electronics gear and PCs for the work we do in Antarctica.” You can’t get much colder than that.
My conclusion, build small micro enclosures for the computer that includes the required environmental conditioning and monitoring equipment.
Let me know what you think . . .
- Jimmy D
Temperature monitoring and coffee
Filed under: SensorProbes, environmental monitoring, temperature monitoring
It being National Donut Day today, I thought I would swing by my local Dunkin’ Donuts this morning. I was pleasantly surprised to find that my normal morning coffee came with a FREE donut to commemorate this fine holiday.
Okay… so maybe National Donut Day is not high on everyone’s list of favorite days of the year. It certainly doesn’t cause millions of us worldwide to call our loved ones and send expensive bouquets of flowers, like other commercial holidays. But it does promote donut eating and for many of us, in turn, coffee drinking.
A good cup of Joe can really get the blood pumping – quite literally. Studies have shown that caffeine can increase the heart rate, as well as the core body temperature. If you are like those of us in the Ravica office, and deal with over active air conditioning units in your work space, sometimes a cup of coffee just does the trick.
So if your working in a cold storage facility, warehouse with limited heating capacity, temperature control medical facility, or the Ravica headquarters, go grab a cup of coffee and maybe the readings on your BitSight2 won’t feel quite so cold. Don’t forget to enjoy National Donut Day while you’re at it!
~ Jon Mills
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