Today, let’s take a look at an alternative way to use an environmental monitoring device. Monitoring temperatures in a data center or your corporate office is not the only way to use a temperature and humidity sensor. There are plenty of other commercial uses for these products as well. Let’s look at how to use it for a more… chill environment.

Let’s say you were a grocery chain (let’s call them Grocery Mart) and your corporate offices needed to know when a refrigerated or freezer room went too warm for comfort. We had a similar story earlier in 2009 when Larry’s Lobster Shack had its cooler go warmer. If we bring this scenario to a grand scale we can see what an environmental monitor can do to help a grocery chain.

If Grocery Mart installs a Temperature and humidity sensor in their entire walk in coolers and freezers they will have the ability to globally monitor their entire perishable infrastructure and act immediately if anything goes awry. You can even have each store be digitally alerted when their cooler or freezer drops below a predetermined temperature, even after hours. So the manager can be alerted during the night when temperatures change.

Humidity is also an important factor to keep in mind. You need to make sure the freezer has a relatively low humidity. If the humidity is very high than many items will start to get freezer burn and be ruined. Grocery Mart can even put sirens and strobe lights in each store’s inventory room. The sirens and strobe lights can also be activated through the network to alarm when temperatures drop.

This is just one way an environmental sensor can save Grocery Mart from losing their perishable inventory. All of this saves them time, money and peace of mind.

The SecurityProbe 5E works with every intelligent sensor in the Ravica family.  Connect up to 8 of our autoSense sensors in any combination to create your customized environmental monitoring solution which can monitor temperature, humidity, water leakage, airflow, security, detection of AC power line voltage, measurement of Digital Voltmeter, control relays, and much more.  The Ravica range of sensors also includes an integrated data collection and graphing package which is especially useful in trend and information analysis.

Recent updates and improvements to the securityProbe 5E have provided greater flexibility and performance.

It is now possible to control a Relay Over IP through the security Probe 5E from a sensor placed at a remote location. The local securityProbe is connected to relays using dry contacts via a Ravica relay control device.  At the remote site, a sensor connected to a securityProbe can send instructions over IP to the local securityProbe via the securityServer application.  This instruction can be used to trigger a relay.

For more information about the securityProbe 5E’s interface updates, visit our blog.

For more information about the securityProbe 5E or any other Ravica products, please feel free to contact us.

~Angela
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Check out our online demo to see some features of the BitSight2 environmental monitoring system.  See the parameters we have selected for use in our own data room.  These parameters are easily customizable to accommodate your specific environmental needs.

This sensor probe works with every intelligent sensor in the Ravica family.  You can connect any of our sensors in any combination to monitor temperature, humidity, water leakage, and airflow including long term graphing, security, detect AC Power Line Voltage, Measure Digital Voltmeter, control relays, and many more.  Our sensors include an integrated data collection and graphing package to spot trends in the airflow, temperature, and humidity.

Dry contacts and drivers are available for monitoring UPS status, security systems, and air conditioning status.

Every sensor comes with our unique autosense feature. Whenever a new type of sensor is plugged in, the autosense will recognize it and reconfigure the BS2 to begin monitoring it. In the event of an alarm or temperature / humidity threshold being exceeded, it has the ability to send alert notifications using Email, SMS (via an email-to-SMS gateway) and SNMP Traps.

From anywhere in the world, you can view your data center’s status via the web interface.  Also, view your data center with the integrated security cameras.

You can map the location of the probes in your data center or facility.  You can integrate this map into your own management applications.

The Ravica line of environmental sensors and products is versatile and reliable.  Feel free to play with the online demo to see some of the available features.  If you have further questions, give us a call any time.

~Angela
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Assign those tasks to Ravica’s SensorProbe so you can focus on other facets of your job, like playing with your new email reporting software, Mailinizer Email Log Analyzer from Plixer International. 

While you’re running Mailinizer reports to determine your top email users, Ravica’s environmental monitoring solutions can monitor your data center for humidity, temperature, voltage surges, water leaks, smoke, and security so you don’t have to.  The sensors aren’t just fancy smoke detectors.  They are versatile and reliable devices that can prevent total damage by sending instant alerts about potential threats.  They are designed to keep you in control.  They can be placed virtually any location that you want to protect from environmental hazards.

So while you’re busy saving the IT world by putting out figurative fires, our sensors will notify you of any potential real fires or other hazards. 

Set your notification parameters, then elect to receive notifications in a variety of ways including an audible alarm, Skype, email, a strobe light, text messages, Twitter, and on the web-based interface.  Be instantly notified of potential problems. 

Need more hours in the day?  Then set your data center monitoring thresholds, and let our sensors do the work for you.

~Angela
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At present, we are testing the alarming features and the threshold parameters for our device’s temperature monitoring function.  We want to ensure the device will alarm and send notifications when our office temperature drops below the set parameters. 

However, we didn’t set the parameters for customary office temperatures.  That would be too easy. 

Instead, today’s tests are designed for more extreme environments, like those our customers may have when monitoring remote locations, such as observatories and storage facilities.

Today, our device is set to alarm when temperatures drop much lower than standard office temperatures.  And by “much lower,” I mean it feels like it’s near 0 Kelvin in here. 

It is insanely, ridiculously cold in the office.

Soon enough, we will be readjusting the sensors to alarm at more office-friendly temperatures.  But until then, I’ll wear two sweaters and a scarf and drink hot chocolate.

Even with all the shivers, we know that our experience is not in vain because it confirms again that our products work the way they are supposed to work.  We stand behind our products and know that we offer quality. 

If you’d like more information about any of our products and services, feel free to give us a call.

~Angela
207-324-8173
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According to the Healthcare IT News article, the technical problems stemmed from a storage area network (SAN) failure, the hardware which stored agency records.  This hardware failure has been remidied, but they are still in the process of recovering electronic data. 

The article further stated that no data was compromised or lost, and KDHE is fortunately on the road to recovery, but with a $700,000 price tag for a full system fix

Hearing reports like these inevitably leads me to wonder about the root cause of the failure.  Was it related to temperature fluctuations in the data center?  Was there a voltage surge?  A water leak?  Did humidity levels affect the equipment?  Did someone spill coffee on it?

Although sympathetic to KDHE’s data retrieval struggles and incident expense, I can’t help but feel comforted knowing our own data center is protected with Ravica equipment which will alert us at the first sign of an environmental hazard.  Should the temperature fluctuate beyond our customized minimum and maximum parameters, notifications are sent immediately.  Ravica’s environmental monitoring devices are customizable for various business and residential needs.  Give us a call today to find out how we can help protect your infrastructure, before catastrophic system failures occur.

~Angela
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Albeit gorgeous, the home features glass exterior walls, allowing the occupant to be “one with nature.”  But it also seems to allow the occupant to be “one with everyone else who is standing outside the house.”

This takes the concept of “neighborhood watch” to a new level. 

But it did get me thinking…  Maybe it’s not such a bad idea to allow your neighbors direct views into your home.  For example, if neighbors should see smoke in the home, they could alert the fire department.  Should neighbors notice a water leak, they could contact the proper resources.  Should they observe an intruder, police could be summoned.  So, for the minuscule price of $35 million, you could have a home with these security features.

Out of your price range?  Then I’d like to suggest a simpler and more cost effective solution to monitoring your home or business.  A Ravica environmental monitoring device is a multipurpose solution to notify you of environmental hazards in your home, data center, or business.  Get instant alerts about smoke, humidity, power outages, and so much more.  Protect your assets and infrastructure against total damage.   Our sensorProbe unit is fully SNMP enabled, allowing for easy integration into many existing monitoring systems.

If you want to keep your surroundings safe from humidity damage, smoke, or temperature fluctuations, give us a call.  We are here to help.  And we won’t charge $35 million.

~Angela
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Sadly, this type of water damage is fairly common.  Not as common as the Old Spice Guy videos on YouTube, but common nonetheless.  

This type of accident can severely cripple a business and shouldn’t be expected or taken lightly.  My associate’s story serves as a glowing example of the importance of environmental sensors.  A Ravica SensorProbe would have notified him immediately of the situation.  He could have received notifications through email, Skype, Twitter, or texts on his cell phone, and the damage could have been dramatically reduced or potentially totally eliminated.

The SensorProbe is a versatile device to alert on the presence of water, temperature fluctuations, and smoke before the damage is crippling to a business.  The sensors can be placed virtually anywhere and aren’t limited to just data centers or offices. 

Environmental monitoring sensors are more than just fancy smoke detectors.  Devices from Ravica can prevent the need to repair damaged facilties and recreate lost data, saving you tremendous amounts of money.  They are versatile devices designed to keep you in control. 

Contact us today for more information.  At the very least, contact the Old Spice Guy.  He seems to have all the answers.

~Angela
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Although the Ravica line of environmental monitoring solutions are typically used in more corporate type scenarios, like monitoring data center hot spots or watching for rising temperatures in walk-in coolers and freezers, there are many other more domestic uses as well. After all, if we can monitor the humidity in your walk-in humidor, then we can certainly monitor the temperature in your house. Now, most likely you aren’t just going to litter your living room with BitSights and single port temperature and humidity sensors, however, basements in the northern regions, even if properly insulated, can get extremely cold. The last thing anyone wants are burst pipes and a flooded basement in the middle of a nor’easter.

Placing even a single BitSight2 and a temperature sensor in your basement can make the difference between knowing when things are going from bad to worse, while still being able to do something about it, and the alternative (let’s not even think about your stored baby booties and family photos covered in puddles of freezing water). Having a home temperature monitoring system in place is especially important for anyone that travels extensively or maybe for those lucky enough to live in warmer climates during the winter. In the grand scheme of things, the BitSight2 is a very cost efficient solution, when considering the damage that can be done by the extreme cold many of us experience year to year.

~ Jon Mills
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Being able to log in and monitor the environment is something you can do with the Ravica line of SensorProbes. I would suggest getting one of the temperature and humidity probes to start with. From my research, high humidity plays a big role in the cost and operation of your air conditioning units. Being able to trend and be alerted during these times can be beneficial.

Next, I would use the airflow probe to tell me when the unit is on. I know, it is an odd way to detect the air conditioners state, but trust me, it’s logical. You can use an airflow sensor on any type of unit. Like the one in the above picture or built-in industrial type. With an airflow sensor, you are not limited to testing current flow or temperature.

Last, but not least, I would use the Sensor Controlled Relay to be able to turn off the unit, if you needed to, in an emergency situation.

So the good news is that you can implement Ravica’s environmental probes in various ways to help monitor your environment. What’s even better is that this technology is available to every one.

- JimmyD