After the strike Amazon lost power and their backup generators did not kick on, it didn’t take long for the reserve battery to quickly deplete. You may not lose your power from something as monumental as a lightening strike, but being preventative is imperative. Losing data due to environmental catastrophes should not be “occasionally expected”. These things can be prevented.

Environmental sensors can be a huge investment for the future of your data center. With a water sensor you can detect any water leaks in the length of the rope. With a temperature and humidity sensor you can prevent both overheating of the servers and condensation. With an airflow sensor you can also prevent overheating of your hardware. The list goes on and on.

The most amazing thing about these sensors is that they are all network capable. You can connect all of these to sensor probes and start to track events through SNMP. With a centralized log management tool you can set notifications through email and SMS to stay on top of any disaster. Now you are ready to tackle the world of databases.

The first thing to monitor is, of course, the temperature. Our company sells accurate Temperature Sensors that connect to any of our sensor probes. This ensures your servers will not overheat from the hot summer days. According to Data Center Knowledge, Data Center temperature can run hotter than you expect. If you are trying immitate companies such as Google(TM) who has already implemented this energy saving strategy,  A good Temperature Sensor can save you even more money.

Humidity as explained in Angela’s post about data center environment can wreak havoc on your hardware investments. Too much humidity can cause condensation and short out the electronics. Not enough humidity could lead to electrostatic charges which could shut down electronics. Translation:  added financial expense. Try our dual sensor, it can save you big bucks.

It is hard to stay cool during the summer months without air conditioning, data centers are no exception. But having air conditioning units can run the risk of leaking and drippy units can cause water damage to your electronics. Pick up a rope sensor as it can detect any form of water throughout its length.

We are only scratching the surface of the disasters we can help you prevent in your Data Centers. Don’t forget to catch Part 2 for this ongoing series.

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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In the palm of my hand
We obviously use our temperature monitoring probes, which also take care of humidity monitoring. Look how small these things are:

Since the one probe can do both temperature and humidity sensing, the second port can be used to detect water, smoke, or any of our other environmental monitoring sensors.

No temperature monitoring program needed
This little device has a web server built in, so you can hit it with an IE or FireFox web browser. The unit is self contained, and prices start at $250. It also supports SNMP. Check out the live environmental monitoring demos:

BitSight2 Demo – Password=”ravica”
SecurityProbe Demo – No password required

This is really cool stuff at a great value. Call ravica.com about these at (207) 324-8173.

- Mike