Virtually unlimited expandability for the SecurityProbe . . . connect up to 600 sensors to one unit!
Filed under: General, Ravica News, SensorProbes, environmental monitoring
The majority of Ravica customers that I talk with are looking to monitor a small number of specific environmental conditions—sometimes that is monitoring the temperature and humidity in the data center or detecting water leaks in a second home. For these applications, the BitSight2 and BitSight8 sensor probe models are great environmental monitoring solutions at an affordable price. However, there are times when a customer has a need to monitor many, many more conditions and input devices. For these customers, I’d like to cover the expandability features of the newest SecurityProbe model.
In the past, some of the SecurityProbe advantages included; advanced notification options, great video capabilities and the ability to connect up to 8 sensor probes per unit. The newest SecurityProbe retains all of these great features and adds four RJ-45 expansion ports to the front of the box which allows the connection of up to four expansion units. There are two expansion units options available: the E-opto16 and the E-sensor8.
With the E-opto16, you get 16 isolated dry contact inputs. A typical application for this expansion module would be to connect the dry contact to alarm panels and create custom alerts for each of the alarms. For example, one could have a dry contact connected to the fire alarm, another to the security alarm, and another to the AED cabinet. Each dry contact could then be set up to automatically call the respective emergency operator, in these cases the fire department, police, or paramedics. An unlimited number of E-opto16’s can be daisy-chained to accommodate up to 600 different dry contact inputs.
If you are more interested in increasing the number of intelligent sensors that can be monitored, there is the E-sensor8 that adds 8 sensor ports. Like the E-opto16, the E-sensor8 can be daisy-chained to allow the monitoring of up to 600 sensors through a single SecurityProbe. The two expansion units are also compatible with each other , giving the user complete control in designing the combination of dry contacts and sensors that works for their unique needs.
If you’d like more information on these new expansion modules, give us a call at 207.324.8173. We’d love to help you design an environmental monitoring system that does just what you need it to do.
~JessicaFollow Me on Twitter
Is an environmentally sustainable data center possible?
One of the biggest concerns for IT facility managers is monitoring the temperature in data centers and server rooms to make sure that the excessive heat produced by hardware is not accumulating to dangerous levels that can overheat the servers. This is an important task for the obvious reason that overheated equipment can lead to expensive hardware damage and loss of data. However, conventional HVAC systems that use chilled forced air to cool data centers are highly inefficient with regards to energy consumption and therefore indirectly effect CO2 emissions. Being a bit of a green building geek, I looked up some examples of data centers that are using new (and old) technology for lower impact cooling. Read more
~JessicaFollow Me on Twitter
Setting up voice/SMS notifications with Skype
One of the great things about a web-based environmental monitoring system is the ability to set-up notifications in a wide variety of ways to make sure that emergency situations do not go un-noticed. This saves on the response time that can easily be the difference between averting a disaster and having to face substantial losses of data or property. The SecurityProbe’s user friendly web-interface provides a number of options for setting up notifications for every sensor available in the Ravica line. One of the newest features is the ability to set up voice and SMS text notifications using Skype.
~Jessica
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Temperature and humidity monitoring for agribusiness
Filed under: environmental monitoring, humidity monitoring, temperature monitoring
When you hear words like farm, agriculture, and greenhouse; you are much more likely to visualize pastoral scenes of rolling hills and grazing livestock than images of computers and network cables. In fact, we often think of farms and greenhouses as the antithesis of the high-tech environment. In reality, the modern commercial farm utilizes many different technologies to assist in farm management. One of the ways that technology and networking can make a farmer’s life much easier is in environmental monitoring. Read more
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Security solutions for car dealership lots
Continuing on my recent security kick—it is an unfortunate side effect of being both a news junkie and obsessed with TV detective shows—today, I dive headlong into the problem of securing dealership lots. This problem came to my attention as I was researching motion detectors for last week’s post on data center security.
Most car dealerships have the unique problem of needing to store very expensive inventory in outdoor lots, therefore theft and vandalism are major security concerns. Some larger dealerships can contract outside security firms to remotely monitor their lots, but what about small, local dealerships? With new car dealerships all over the country being hit hard by the financial problems of the major car makers, an affordable security option that can be monitored successfully by existing dealership staff is in order. Read more
~JessicaFollow Me on Twitter
Physical Security for Data Centers
Data centers house some of the most valuable and irreplaceable assets for any organization. For this reason, physical security is of the utmost importance when designing a data center. Depending on the size and budget of the organization, physical security measures can include everything from solid floor-to-deck concrete partitions to biometrics screening.
There should also be a number of sensors in place that can detect when anyone, authorized or unauthorized, accesses the data center. The following 5 tips show how Ravica can offer effective solutions for that final line of defense. Read more
~JessicaFollow Me on Twitter
Temperature Monitoring in the Office
I recently ran across an article about a union clause for workers in the New York Public Libraries that requires compensation to its workers if the temperature in the library drops below 68°. As I sit at my desk wrapped in my scarf and gripping my warm coffee cup to fend off growing icicles on my fingertips, I think: Where do I sign up?
I would be surprised if any office I have ever worked in has been kept at a regular temperature over 68°. It seems that most facility managers feel that cold office temperatures are good for building character or maybe they just don’t want to spend the money to heat the building adequately in the cold of winter. Read more
~JessicaFollow Me on Twitter
Setting up e-mail notifications for the SecurityProbe camera
Security cameras made the news in a big way last weekend, when a security breach at the Newark Liberty International Airport led to the discovery that one of the TSA surveillance cameras had been broken for six days leading up to the incident. Six days! Now that gives a real sense of security in these uncertain times, doesn’t it? The breach, which authorities were notified of by an alert passerby, caused a 6-hour lock-down and possibly cost the airport over $100,000, according to a report in The Star Ledger. Thankfully, this breach apparently was caused by a man walking his girlfriend to her flight and not a potential terrorist, however, it certainly exposed the gaping holes in the security protocol at one of the busiest airports in the US.
I have no idea what sort of back-up notification system for camera failure the TSA has set-up, but after reading about the Newark incident, I wanted to find out what kind of notifications are available for cameras connected to the Ravica SecurityProbe. Read more
~JessicaFollow Me on Twitter
Temperature and humidity monitoring in storage facilities
Filed under: General, humidity monitoring, temperature monitoring
In college, I was enrolled in a program that rotated academic quarters with work quarters. I took advantage of my work quarters to do a little traveling around the country and as a result I ended up moving all my stuff in and out of storage units quite a bit. Of course as a college student, I didn’t really have many valuable items that needed to be protected from temperature fluctuations. However, a lot of people do use storage facilities during transitional periods to store valuable items like furniture, electronics, and musical instruments that are highly sensitive to temperature and humidity fluctuations. Even papers and books can be damaged in a high humidity environment. This problem came to my attention today when a customer called seeking a solution for monitoring the temperature and humidity in some of the units at the mini-storage he owned. Read more
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Happy Holidays from Ravica!
Happy Holidays everyone! As I was trying to come up with some way to tie-in Christmas Eve with environmental monitoring, I discovered that it was a completely futile activity. I mean, it’s Christmas Eve for goodness sakes. I’m sure you all ha
ve more important things to think about, like picking out those last minute gifts, partaking of a little eggnog, and gathering with co-workers, friends, and family.
So, instead of touting the virtues of our SensorProbes, I would just like to thank all of our wonderful customers for your business over the past year. We look forward to providing you with quality products and service in the upcoming year! And remember, the entire Ravica line of products come with unlimited lifetime support. That is our holiday (and everyday) gift to you!
So Happy Holidays from all of us here at Ravica! We wish you a very joyous and prosperous New Year!
~JessicaFollow Me on Twitter