Event monitoring systems make understaffed data centers run smoother
According to Symantec’s latest “State of the Data Center” report, which was released early last week, half of all IT executives say their data centers are extremely understaffed. With the economy still struggling to get moving again, it is no wonder that network engineers and facility managers are having to find new ways to get the most out of their stagnant or shrinking staff and resources.
Less staff means more remote monitoring for many organizations. Having a remote monitoring system, like the SecurityProbe, can help lighten the load of working with less. With a price point that usually falls below $2,000 for a complete system, it can mean a considerable savings over staffing each location, or even worse, not monitoring it all. In this scenario, one person can monitor the well-being of several locations.
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
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
What you can do about Christmas tree fire hazards
Filed under: Security Monitoring, smoke detector, temperature monitoring
The holiday season is finally upon us. As usual, with the cold weather comes turkey dinner and Black Friday sales - but that’s not all! If your family is anything like mine, the first thing you do after properly digesting your stuffing and waking from your Tryptophan coma is put up that glorious Christmas tree. There is really no better indication of the impending holiday season than a well lit and beautifully decorated tree.
I am a fan of the good ol’ fashion fake tree. Nothing says Happy Holiday’s like the smell of, well… plastic. But as I understand it, there are some 33 million American homes that go the natural route with their tree selection. However, improperly hydrated Christmas trees can pose a very real safety concern. According to the U.S. Fire Administration, “Christmas trees account for 200 fires annually, resulting in 6 deaths, 25 injuries and more than $6 million in property damage.”
Dog kennel temperature monitoring
Filed under: Security Monitoring, SensorProbes, temperature monitoring
I got an interesting call today from a woman who owns a dog kennel service out in Oregon. Apparently, she wants a way to monitor the temperature inside the kennels, without running out to check the thermometers. If it is too cold, she brings the dogs inside. It sounded like some serious puppy pampering to me, but being a dog lover, I understand.
At first, I gave her a demonstration of the BitSight2 for temperature and humidity monitoring. It has two sensor ports, so she could monitor inside and outside, then view the data via a web browser from inside her house.
Ravica SecurityProbe Picture Log
Filed under: Intelligent Sensors, Security Monitoring, SensorProbes, motion detector
Today, I started working with a software company who wanted to keep track of their employees that work very early or very late hours. In
general, it wasn’t a bad thing. They just wanted to make sure that the people coming into the building to work, were the people that should be. This company had already purchased monitoring and security equipment from us in the past.
This company just added a new international sales department. The work hours for the new employee were going to be 4:00am to 1:00pm. They wanted to know if they could utilize the picture log to record when people go in and out of the front door. They also wanted to limit the time frame for these pictures.
I did a bit of research and found out the answer was yes! You can set a time frame on the camera motion sensor and you can have the picture emailed or stored on the FTP server. Now, they would get an alert and a picture when someone came through the door.
At this point, they could figure out who came through the door. They then wanted to know if too many people were going through the door during the early morning hours. To do this, we used a Syslog/Eventlog application that allows you to set a threshold. Each time an image was taken with the camera, an alert would be sent to the Syslog/Eventlog manager. If a threshold was met, let say five, then an email would be sent to the security office.
The customer was excited and wanted to implement this in the coming weeks. I can’t wait to see how it comes out.
-Jimmy D
Camera’s lend environmental reassurance
Filed under: Security Monitoring, airflow monitoring, environmental monitoring, humidity monitoring, motion detector, temperature monitoring
When it comes to monitoring the data center environmental conditions, we receive questions which pretty much cover the gamut. From staples, such as monitoring temperature or humidity, to measuring more difficult ambient conditions, such as airflow.
We also receive calls about security. This is something we can cover in a few different ways:
- Using a contact security sensor on all doors or windows.
- Motion detectors have been the topic of a few blogs.
- We can install strobe lights that can indicate security breaches.
- We can also install security cameras, which take pictures based on movement.
Security monitoring – camera applications
Our customers that are looking to take environmental monitoring to another level often ask about our camera monitoring support. I thought a short article on the applications would be useful to some of our regular readers.
Motion detector sensors add security to your data center
Filed under: Security Monitoring, environmental monitoring, motion detector
While working on a project recently, I was taught the importance of the motion detector sensor in the security monitoring toolset. The SecurityProbe is the first place to look for monitoring the temperature, humidity and other environmental variables of your server room, while at the same time adding a security presence with the pan-tilt dome camera support. However, for some customers with smaller or unconventional data centers, the budget for security and environmental monitoring can be in the hundreds of dollars, not thousands.
That’s where the motion detector comes in. It works not only with the SecurityProbe line, but with the BitSight2 and BitSight8 as well. The beauty of the motion detector sensor is that you can daisy chain up to 10 sensors to work off a single intelligent sensor port. And at just $125 per sensor, users can easily cover a good sized data room with motion detection and still have an extra intelligent sensor port on even a BitSight2 for monitoring temperature and humidity.
So keep the motion detector sensor in mind when speccing out a new data room or when adding security monitoring measures to an existing one. It is a very affordable alternative, when it is simply not possible to have eyes and ears on your secure locations.
For more information about our security monitoring solutions, call us at 207-324-8173.
~ Jon Mills
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Monitoring for Smoke at a National Level
Filed under: Intelligent Sensors, Security Monitoring, SensorProbes, environmental monitoring, smoke detector
Monitoring the data room, your home, or for smoking in the boys room is just the beginning. The United States Government takes monitoring smoke and air seriously. 
Check out the smoke map maintained by the Interagency Real Time Smoke Monitoring web site. I drilled in on California and clicked on the center of the state. The air and smoke quality doesn’t look as good as other parts of the state.
Yosemite National Park
California likes their state parks. They have a web site showing off how they measure smoke ozone levels, particulate matter levels and more. The site provides air quality and smoke monitoring trends as well as web cameras. The cameras actually allow you to see the differences in air quality. I thought it was cool.
Ravica provides smoke detectors for $125.00 and security cameras on the SecurityProbe for $1,795.00. These probes also monitor temperature, humidity, water, etc., and it supports SNMP, so that you can trend the data over time.
Our services department can set you up with a monitoring web page like Yosemite. Just tell us what you need and we’ll help you get started.
- Mike