Minimize network downtime by monitoring temperature in the data room

October 13, 2009 by
Filed under: Data Center, environmental monitoring, humidity monitoring, temperature monitoring 

man-holding-plugInfrastructure stability is constantly at the forefront of network planning and management. A good data center needs to be well organized and structured for clean operations, but it also needs to be appropriately optimized to guard against environmental disasters. Now, when I say disasters, I don’t necessarily mean typhoons and earthquakes. Even something as simple as an air conditioner losing power and the temperature rising to dangerous levels could be a disaster.

While a building management system can help optimize air flow and lower temperatures, they are not fail proof. That’s where Ravica comes in. Ravica provides some of the largest companies, with the most complex data centers, with solutions that ensure the integrity of environmental conditions within the data room. Not only can our intelligent temperature and humidity sensors tell you when conditions have become hazardous to your equipment, but our SensorProbes can take action as well.

A common application for our environmental monitoring equipment is to set sensors at key spots throughout the room or rack. Once thresholds are configured and the SensorProbe knows what levels are considered dangerous, or outside the norm, a sensor controlled relay can be tripped, which in turn activates other devices to help correct the situation. For instance, if the temperature gets too high, a backup air conditioner could be turned on. Or, if the humidity get’s too high, a dehumidifier can be turned on. It’s a highly customizable solution that can be tailored to meet the needs of any particular data center.

Just last week, I had a client call in looking to configure just such a solution. A few days prior, the temperature in his server closet had reached critical levels. Yup, the air condition unit got unplugged by the maintenance crew (seems strange, but it happened). Luckily, he had a BitSight2 in place that emailed him before things got out of hand. But what he wanted was an automated solution. So we created a scenario, like I mentioned above, where everything happened on its own.

A few days later, my client had his new relay in place and a small back up air conditioner (which he made sure to plug into an outlet that he knew the maintenance crew wouldn’t ever use). To test his solution, he unplugged the main air conditioner for that server closet. He then sat back and watched as the temperature rose 5 degrees, then 10 degrees, then sure enough… Like clockwork, the backup AC unit turned on and he watched as the temp slowly returned to normal. Granted, this backup AC unit is not rated to cool his closet long term. But it will definitely give him the time to get the alert from the BitSight2 and begin working on a solution to the rising temperature – even if it is just walking over and plugging the air conditioner back in.

The moral of this story is that by taking the time to install a solution before hand, when the inevitable happens, the company’s network equipment and, by association, its business critical applications remain alive and well. Network downtime can kill a business, and environmental monitoring is just one of the necessary steps to keeping that downtime to a minimum.

Jon Mills
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Related posts:

  1. The future of airconditioning and how the rest of the world can monitor temperature
  2. Ideal temperature and humidity for a data room
  3. Data room temperature sensors
  4. Temperature monitoring during the summer months
  5. Temperature monitoring software

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Comments

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