Data Center Monitoring to Save You Time
Filed under: Data Center, environmental monitoring, SensorProbes
If you work in the IT field, chances are that you’re constantly busy putting out figurative fires, but you also know the importance of protecting your company’s network infrastructure and data center. Regardless of the size of your business, there aren’t enough hours in the day to continually monitor your data center. 
Assign those tasks to Ravica’s SensorProbe so you can focus on other facets of your job, like playing with your new email reporting software, Mailinizer Email Log Analyzer from Plixer International. Read more
Environmental Monitoring Makes Us Freeze
Filed under: environmental monitoring, Notifications, SensorProbes
To ensure that Ravica’s products are of high quality, we test the equipment. We want to confirm that our environmental monitoring sensors will work properly within the environments and requirements that our customers may have.
At present, we are testing the alarming features and the threshold parameters for our device’s temperature monitoring function. We want to ensure the device will alarm and send notifications when our office temperature drops below the set parameters.
However, we didn’t set the parameters for customary office temperatures. That would be too easy. Read more
Check Your Smoke Detectors during National Fire Prevention Month
Filed under: environmental monitoring, Security Monitoring, smoke detector
October is National Fire Prevention Month. This is a great opportunity to check all your current fire safety devices to keep your families, employees, and properties as safe as possible.
For traditional residential smoke detectors, the National Fire Protection Association recommends that you “change your battery when you change your clock” (twice yearly). They also recommend that you also test the smoke detectors monthly. Read more
Avoid Damage Caused by Data Center Humidity
Filed under: Data Center, environmental monitoring, humidity monitoring
Agricultural experts in my hometown regularly uttered the phrase, “It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity.” In the data center environment, humidity can be an overlooked hazard. Both heat and humidity are threats that require attention in data centers.
Understanding how humidity in data centers affects electronics is an obvious requirement for Data Center Managers because it has a direct effect on a company’s bottom line. Ensuring that your business has ideal data center humidity levels impacts the lifespan of equipment and can decrease utility costs. Read more
Monitor your Network with nProbe and nBox
It seems that today’s Network Managers are continually putting out fires while conquering challenges of modern technology. Networks have become more complex than ever before, requiring Network Managers to become even more proactive and efficient. 
Effectively monitoring and maintaining a network has become a requirement, and NetFlow allows that to happen successfully.
Luca Deri founded ntop in 1998 because he wanted to solve his employer’s network monitoring problems but had no tool to provide simple and efficient answers. Through ntop, he offers nProbe and nBox to serve as visual insight into network utilization. Read more
Kansas Department of Health & Environment’s IT Infrastructure Failure is Recovering
Filed under: Data Center, environmental monitoring, Notifications, SensorProbes
A recent news article reported on an IT infrastructure failure at Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE). The issue was compounded by the fact that it occurred as students were preparing to enter school and needed birth certificates, immunization
records, and other state documents. Because they were no longer electronically accessible, approximately 120,000 of these records had to be retrieved from storage in a central Kansas salt mine, no doubt adding significant man-hours to workers across Kansas.
According to the Healthcare IT News article, the technical problems stemmed from a storage area network (SAN) failure, the hardware which stored agency records. Read more
Ravica Environmental Sensors Are Alternative To “Glass Pavilion”
I recently learned of the existence of a glass house in Montecito, California designed by Los Angeles- based architect Steve Hermann. Considering that this is a glass house in which someone standing outside can see into multiple rooms (including bedrooms and
bathrooms), I question the validity of Mr. Hermann’s statement, “Here I have complete privacy.”
Albeit gorgeous, the home features glass exterior walls, allowing the occupant to be “one with nature.” But it also seems to allow the occupant to be “one with everyone else who is standing outside the house.”
This takes the concept of “neighborhood watch” to a new level. Read more
Ravica Environmental Monitors Begin Where Mayberry Ends
Filed under: environmental monitoring, Intelligent Sensors, motion detector, SensorProbes, smoke detector, water leak monitoring
Growing up in a small town had some advantages, including a feeling of security. For example, when our family would leave town on vacation, the police department kept an eye on our home. Patrol cars drove by our house periodically, day and night, ensuring that our home and possessions were safe. In this way, it was if our small town was in the very capable hands of our own Andy Griffith. These days, law enforcement departments don’t necessarily have the resources to protect property this way.
Fortunately, we can have that sense of trust with a Ravica environmental sensor. Ravica security monitors placed in your property can alert you to the presence of property hazards like smoke and water. While you are away, you can still feel secure knowing you will be alerted to hazards as soon as they happen.
Ravica’s Motion Sensor Cameras Prevent Tremendous Drain on Networks
Filed under: environmental monitoring, Intelligent Sensors, motion detector, Security Monitoring
It seems the need for preventative monitoring is everywhere.
Last week I noted a discussion with an associate who lost data due to a water leak in a data center. Not long after that discussion, I had a conversation with an IT Manager regarding business structure. During our conversation, he mentioned that his building’s security officers recently called him with complaints of slow internet connectivity. He used his company’s NetFlow monitoring tool to find the source of tremendous internet bandwidth streaming. Through the NetFlow Analyzer, he narrowed the focus to one specific security camera and realized the camera was constantly streaming images of an empty hallway. This streaming was pumping pictures to the network server and causing huge delays.
He further used his Scrutinizer Analyzer Read more
Environmental Monitoring Sensors: More Than Just Fancy Smoke Detectors
Filed under: environmental monitoring, humidity monitoring, SensorProbes, smoke detector, temperature monitoring, water leak monitoring
During a conversation this week, an associate of mine explained that his business is growing exponentially. His operation expanded from 5 locations to 18 locations in just 2 years. Considering the national economy during this last 2 years, I found this to be an astonishing and noble feat. But then he casually mentioned something else: one of his centers recently lost data due to a water leak. He mentioned it almost in passing, as if losses of this nature were to be occasionally expected.
Sadly, this type of water damage is fairly common. Not as common as the Old Spice Guy videos on YouTube, but common nonetheless. Read more