If you have more specific questions, we would love to hear from you.

Q:  What kind of web browser is required to operate the securityProbe?
A:  The securityProbe is platform independent.  It works with standard web browsers from host machines running any type of operating system.

Q:  What is the default IP address of the device when I receive it?
A:  The default IP assigned at the factory is: 192.168.0.100.

Q:  Is there some way I can find out the IP address of my unit?
A:  Yes, you can simply press the red reset button on the back of the unit once, and the unit will announce the IP address through the speaker.

Q:  Where can I find the MAC address of the device?
A:  The MAC address of the device can be found on the bottom cover of the device.

Q:  What are the temperature and humidity monitoring ranges for environmental monitoring with the securityProbe?
A:   The device monitors temperature from -31F to 176F, and for humidity from 20% to 80% (non-condensing).

Q: Are warranty and support available?
A:  Absolutely.  securityProbes have a one year warranty and an options two year warranty.  Also, you receive lifetime support for the product.

As always, if you have any questions beyond these about environmental monitoring solutions, you are always welcome to contact us directly.

~Angela
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Luca Deri founded ntop in 1998 because he wanted to solve his employer’s network monitoring problems but had no tool to provide simple and efficient answers.  Through ntop, he offers nProbe and nBox to serve as visual insight into network utilization. 

Cisco’s NetFlow and sFlow are collected by nProbe, providing flow monitoring views and holistic understanding of traffic trends. nBox is a hardware device preloaded with nProbe, used as a probe and collector at the same time.  nBox is the option for those who don’t have an available PC for nProbe or who prefer the small nBox device with low cost, web interface, and remote maintenance.

Without question, knowing your traffic flows leads to improved time to resolution and can help with any necessary configuration restructuring.  Having this information is no longer a luxury for Network Managers; it is a need.

nProbe and nBox offer extremely cost-effective solutions for businesses who desire better visibility into their networks.

Ravica offers the availability of economical nProbes and nBoxes which are both easily implemented.  nProbe generates NetFlow v5 and v9 for fast Ethernet or gigabit Ethernet networks.  nBox is a simple embedded hardware solution containing nProbe.  Systrax.com has a great blog to help configure nProbe to send NetFlow.

For more information on how nProbe and nBox can help you monitor your IT world, call or visit Ravica today.

~Angela
207-324-8173
www.Ravica.com
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He said he knew I would ask him that question. Over the weekend, the air conditioning unit for their server failed. It didn’t stop, it just stopped pushing out cold air. The room didn’t get too hot (thank goodness), but it produced a lot of moisture.

Apparently, it produced too much moisture, which caused condensation on the server rack that was closest to the air conditioning unit. The end result was multiple mother boards failing.

We spent the next few minutes going over the cost of the replacement boards and drives. I then let him know that we had a humidity probe that would alert him when humidity reaches a certain level. I suggested that he add it to his order and not take the risk of loosing another segment of his server room. He thought that it was a good idea and bought two!

“Relative humidity should be maintained at a level between 30%-50%. Failure to adhere to these particular specifications could result in serious corrosion of the copper wires that are contained within the UTP and STP. Such corrosion would deter efficient functioning of the network.” – Excerpt from Cisco Networking Academy book material. So I guess the old saying, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” holds true. Take the time to monitor for humidity. It could help save your equipment.

- Jimmy D

Anonymous Coward (7548) gave us a real world answer. “Putting heaters (computers) in an environment meant to be cold is just adding to the cooling workload. If the computer is at any decent operating temperature, it’s going to be heating up the immediate surrounding area, and you don’t want that.”  He advised people to mount the computer outside of the cold environment and put the sensor probes inside.

Although this appeared to be a sensible idea, the discussion added a new variable – building size. People were quick to point out that the original question required that he needed monitoring for a warehouse. Most warehouses are large, some larger then a football field. Clearly the above approach would not be applicable.

Embedding the PC inside of the sub-zero environment presents another issue – condensation. How are we going to protect the electronics?

BobPaul (710574) points out:

“Since cold air has a lower capacity to hold water, warming the air should decrease the relative humidity of the air, bringing you farther from the dew point and make condensation less likely. Just let everything sit in the cooler to get nice and cold before you turn anything on and I think it should be just fine.”

This response produced quite a bit of traffic. Quite a few people disagreed with BobPauls theory. Although this could be an answer, its validity is still in question.

The best solution to humidity was pointed out by Detritus (11846). He points out that “Military equipment often uses conformal coating, which is a spray-on plastic coating that protects the components from the environment.” This method encases the electronics protecting it from moisture. To the best of my knowledge, it doesn’t provide any thermal benefit, nor is it a life long solution. I would make sure to have a humidity sensor in the enclosure to ensure longevity.

The last post that I read made the solution clear.  munpfazy (694689) writes, “For what it’s worth, we’ve always built room-temperature enclosures to house electronics gear and PCs for the work we do in Antarctica.” You can’t get much colder than that.

My conclusion, build small micro enclosures for the computer that includes the required environmental conditioning and monitoring equipment.

Let me know what you think . . .

- Jimmy D

After some research, I found out that the general recommendations suggest that you should not go below 10°C (50°F) or above 28°C (82°F).  This is a wide range, remember these are the extremes. It is far more common for server rooms to maintain a  temperature around 20-21°C (68-71°F). Keeping it at that temperature can be difficult, there are many variables to address.

I am going to set the thermostat at 55°F and monitor it’s status throughout the day with our Bitsight8 and multiple temperature and humidity probes. I have 20 days to gather this data and report on it. My guess is that we will have to adjust the set temperature a bit before we make the network policy.

~ Jimmy D

I decided to look into what the proper humidity level should be in our office.  I found out that when relative humidity is kept at about 50%, employees have fewer respiratory problems, as well. Humidity at too high a level makes the office feel “stuffy,” not to mention the problems it can cause with bacterial or fungal growth.

Humidity lower than 50% can cause discomfort by drying out the mucous membranes, contributing to skin rashes. Dry conditions cause electrostatic charge on both office equipment and their users. Ouch! Wouldn’t want expensive electronic equipment to start having problems.

Here is the humidity level in the office of one of our customers:

Does it look healthy to you?  He decided to put the humidity probe on the internet so that the land lord could see it from the internet.  If it isn’t fixed, he could setup the probe to email him every time a threshold is breached. HA!