Data center in hot water
Filed under: environmental monitoring, temperature monitoring, water leak monitoring
So here I was, thinking about what today’s blog would be, and my buddy Mitch gave me today’s title. Although a corny title, it describes an issue that happened with a customer of mine. The good news is that Ravica’s probes helped save the day.
Joe, the Admin for an ISP, had purchased multiple water sensors and temperature sensors for his six data rooms. Around 3:20am on a Sunday he got an alert from his SensorProbe. Apparently, the temp in one of the server rooms was rising. Since he was on call, he decided to get into his truck and see what was going on. On his way to the building, he received another page. The water sensor had triggered. He was now very concerned.
Once he reached the data center, it was obvious to him what had happened. One of the valves of the heating system started to reached its limit. This quickly caused the temp of the pipes to rise, which is what triggered the temperature sensor.
The relief vales reached their breaking point and started to spray water all over the first data room. He was quick to let me know that he shut down the water and saved the other data rooms from being soaked, since they were in line and showed signs of having the same behavior.
That means the investment in the temperature monitoring probes saved them thousands of dollars. If that isn’t the best reason to buy then I don’t know one that is!
- Jimmy D
Sometimes it’s fun to brainstorm about SensorProbes
Yesterday, Jon came over to me and said, “Jim you are going to like this one!” Jon knows that I am a geek at heart and love to find new and exciting ways to integrate technology into the real world. I was intrigued.
A customer called Jon and had an interesting idea. His goal was to detect traffic coming in and out of a hall way with our motion detection probes. The server room was in the middle of the two entrances. This means you could have two points of entry. He wanted to use our motion sensors to feed his soon to be written application.
At this point my mind started to race. I was amazed at what I thought was a simple, yet practical, application of these probes. I was dazed by the logic in the condition statements that would have to be created to eliminate false positives. Yes, in those few minutes, I felt that I was part of that project.
Sadly, this Nirvanic state did not last long. I needed to attend to a few of my other customer’s issues. When the day settled down, I started to think more about this request.
The first question I had was, “Why would you want to do this?” Jon gave a few reasons, but I forgot what they were. So I came up with my own theory. He wanted to see when someone came in and when someone came out of a room. In this case, the two data points would be needed.
The second question would be, “Can we detect this?” Sure, that wouldn’t be an issue. We would be able to detect when a person goes past a motion sensor. We would then wait until that sensor is triggered again, meaning they went back the same way. Or until the other sensor was triggered, meaning they went back via the other hall. 
The third question’s answer is still in progress, “What logic will be used?” We have to have logic that will eliminate false positives, people just walking down the hall and failing to detect an entry.
I suggested adding a dry contact to the door. This would add a third data point and make detection a lot easier. When the door opens or closes, we would know when some one has passed through it’s threshold.
I don’t know what the outcome will be for this project, but I did see the purchase order come in. I will update the blog when we get the final results!
- JimmyD
All my peeps have a smartphone!
Today is a hot day here in Maine. When it gets hot, in the 90’s, things slow down quickly. You have to remember that our bodies, our minds and our buildings are programed with the goal of staying warm. Staying cool just 
isn’t a necessity, since we have four warm days out of the year.
Like I said, today is hot. So to help deal with the heat, I decided to write about a light subject, something easy to swallow. Today’s blog is about my peeps and their SmartPhones.
Jon has an iPhone. I nag Jon everyday for being an Apple lemming. My issue with Apple goes back a long time and is purely personal. I was a eight years old and I really wanted a Macintosh. My parents couldn’t afford a Mac, it was only for the better off people. This divide made me bitter.
As far as a phone goes, it is one of the best. The double touch screen is slick, over all he doesn’t seem to have any complaints. The software selection is good but regulated. If Apple doesn’t want you to build a program for their phone, then you can’t sell it. Again, I’m kinda bitter about this.
I have the AT&T Tilt. This is a Windows Mobile phone that has its good and bad points. The best thing about my phone is that it is NOT an iPhone.
Since the Windows Mobile environment stretches across multiple platforms and has been around for quite a while, the software selection is abundant. In general it is an open environment and has a vibrant community.
The screen isn’t as responsive as I would like and sometimes you can really mess up your phone if you install the wrong piece of untested software. Can you say “Bricked!”?
Dale just got a Google phone. Dale was one of those people who always said, “I don’t need a phone like yours. I only make calls.” It has been a few days, and he has clearly changed his song. He is now a disciple of the goodness that is SmartPhone technology. Dale is installing apps, using GPS, texting and making calls. He is a happy camper.
So why am I telling you about my peeps and their different phones? Simply put, we have three different camps of people, with three different ways of thinking.
You have your iPhone people, who want their provider to make sure every app works on your phone, protects you from any bad application and distributes their apps via one common provider. You get a good, safe and friendly phone.
You have the Windows Mobile camp, who believe that any app, no matter how bad or untested it is, should be available. They want choice, multiple phones, multiple options and freedom. The Windows Mobile world has its ups and downs. If you are not careful, you can get more then you bargained for.
The GPhone has a large community. Their software is built on an open source environment. They are safe, regulated by the users, tested by the users and over all crunchy.
Even though all of these phones are different, they still can easily communicate with each other. Maybe our politicians should learn a lesson from the ups and downs of the SmartPhone market? Maybe they could learn to communicate with each other in one common protocol and have the luxury of error checking?
What a wonderful world we live in? I wonder what technology my daughter will use when she is my age?
- JimmyD
Ravica’s Sensor Controlled Relay – The Rosetta Stone?
Filed under: Data Center, airflow monitoring, environmental monitoring
A few weeks ago I talked about using the sensor controlled relay to turn on lights once an alarm had been triggered. In this blog I wanted to give another example of how versatile these units can be.
Solutions . . .
A great example is the solution that I found for a local amusement park. One of their outdoor venues was having an 
issue with their digital photography equipment overheating. It wasn’t economical to add air condition to the unit, so they needed to find a way to turn on multiple overhead fans automatically.
The management of this unit fell under the IT department, and the admin wanted to remotely monitor the data from his office (or any other portable device). The end solution was to monitor multiple environmental variables with the Ravica Sensor Probe and use the Sensor Controlled Relay to switch on the fan when the room temperature rises beyond the threshold level.
Since the sensor control unit has a user friendly web interface and an autosense feature, setting up the Sensor Controlled Relay is easy. The Sensor Controlled Relay can also be controlled via external computers, using the included SNMP command line utilities either interactively or programmatically.
From the unit itself, you can monitor the status of the Sensor Controlled Relay by four LEDs on the board. You can also monitor the unit remotely by using SNMP traps or the web interface, as well as e-mail and SMS alerts.
Implementation . . .
“The Sensor Controlled Relay provides 1 high-power SPDT 5V relay, with the maximum load up to 15A at 220 VAC. It includes Metal Oxide Varistors (MOVs) and Snubber circuits to protect the open contacts of the relays from high voltage spikes or noise transients. It monitors the power and load, and accepts a control signal, which is sent from the SensorProbe.”
We outsourced a local contractor to do the electrical work and the end result was better then we expected. Not only did we eliminate the equipment from overheating, but we are also able to trend the temp of the units over a given amount of time. This gave the admin a better picture of demand and heat generation.
Another thing to remember is the inlaid protection of this sensor. The Sensor Controlled Relay, it has a built in 16Amp circuit breaker and a 15Amp fuse (380 VAC, 125 VDC) giving it double protection for the external devices and possible damages by electrical fault. This assures protection for your sensor and your investment.
Conclusion . . .
As you can see, the Ravica Sensor Controlled Relay has many uses. It’s ability to control an array of analog devices makes it a versatile solution. It’s ability to monitor and protect itself make it a smart investment. That is why I recommend it every chance that I get.
- JimmyD
The not so funny side of Network Management
Filed under: Data Center, environmental monitoring, temperature monitoring
Something odd happened today.
I was in a planning meeting with my manage
r and my AT&T Tilt started to vibrate. I find this very annoying. Of all things to happen during this super exciting meeting, this had to take the cake. Yes, I am being sarcastic and a bit over dramatic. The issue is still the same, I hate being annoyed.
The real point to this rant is to point out the subject of the alert. It was a SMS page from my Ravica tempature probe. It had been violated.
This issue raised multiple questions. The first, and most important, would be how to politely excuse myself from the meeting. In general, this wouldn’t be a hard thing to do, but my manager was excited about the new data room expansion project. By excited, I mean elated, and by elated, I mean that he expected everyone to have the same level of passion or face the most harsh punishment executed on mere mortals.
Knowing that I could lose my admin privileges, I forged on. I told Jon that something is happening in the sever room and had to leave. He said “ok” and went on with his conversation.
Puzzled, I quickly went into the server room and found the issue. Brandon, our new, green intern had placed his super hot cup of coffee next to the temp sensor. He was in the process of cleaning up cables and listening to the Ramones on his headset.
The heat from his coffee cup quickly raised the temp around the sensor.
From this I have learned two things. The first is that you should never leave your interns unattended. They can cause way too much damage. The second is to not locate your temperature sensor where someone can obstruct it in any way.
Now I have to explain this to my boss. Wish me luck.
- JimmyD
SNMP support for the SecurityProbe allows secure data center monitoring
Filed under: Data Center, Intelligent Sensors, Security Monitoring, environmental monitoring, power monitoring, smoke detector, temperature monitoring, water leak monitoring
In 2004, the IETF officially recognized SNMP v3, as defined by RFC 3411–RFC 3418, as the current standard version of the Simple Network Management Protocol. SNMP v2, although being a highly competent and widely used protocol, was severly lacking in the areas of security and remote configuration. Thus, SNMP v3 was born.
SNMP v3 added some much needed security features, like ensuring message integrity, verifying that the message came from a valid source with authentication, and packet encryption to ensure that messages aren’t being disseminated by unauthorized sources.
Because of its enhanced security features, SNMP v3 quickly found itself a requirement for many government and secure corporate projects. Since 2004, SNMP v3 has found itself a home in most networks with any sort of security requirements.
That is why the Ravica SecurityProbe line of SensorProbes supports SNMP v3. From within the Settings tab, simply select SNMP under the Connectivity header to the left. You will see the screen below.
From here you can select the type of security features required:
- No Authentication
- Authentication Only
- Authentication & Encryption
Enter your desired password, choose your authentication protocol and access privilege, then it’s off to the races. Now all of your SNMP information will be sent/polled from the SecurityProbe in version 3.
This is a highly popular feature amoung SecurityProbe users. Hopefully, if you didn’t already know it was there, you will find it valuable to impliment in your network. It is now as easy as ever to keep your physical data room details secure.
~ Jon Mills
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Data room temperature sensors
Filed under: Data Center, environmental monitoring, humidity monitoring, temperature monitoring
I thought a blog on data room temperature monitoring would help answer some frequently asked questions we get.
Q: What is the ideal data room temperature?
A: Some believe the temperature range for a computer room is between 55 – 80 degrees Fahrenheit. The ideal temperature is probably somewhere in the middle. We try to keep ours between 68-72 degrees Fahrenheit.
Q: How can improper temperature adversely impact computer hardware?
A: This article in InformationWeek on why “none like it hot” is worth a read.
Q: If we keep the server temperature cooler, will it run faster?
A: The server manufacturer will tell you the ideal temperature. Generally, cooler is better to a point.
Q: How do you monitor temperature?
A: Obviously in our data room we use Ravica temperature sensors. The equipment at Ravica supports sensors to monitor almost anything.
Q: How do we control humidity if the air conditioning is always removing moisture?
A: During the summer here in Maine, enough humidity isn’t the problem. We put in a humidifier during the winter. Monitor your humidity first and trend it for 6-12 months before spending money on an expensive system.
Q: What about humidity, how do we monitor that?
A: Use a device that allows you to monitor and store via SNMP the humidity measurement over time. SNMP trending humidity is ideal.
I hope this helps.