Ravica’s Motion Sensor Cameras Prevent Tremendous Drain on Networks
Filed under: Intelligent Sensors, Security Monitoring, environmental monitoring, motion detector
It seems the need for preventative monitoring is everywhere.
Last week I noted a discussion with an associate who lost data due to a water leak in a data center. Not long after that discussion, I had a conversation with an IT Manager regarding business structure. During our conversation, he mentioned that his building’s security officers recently called him with complaints of slow internet connectivity. He used his company’s NetFlow monitoring tool to find the source of tremendous internet bandwidth streaming. Through the NetFlow Analyzer, he narrowed the focus to one specific security camera and realized the camera was constantly streaming images of an empty hallway. This streaming was pumping pictures to the network server and causing huge delays.
He further used his Scrutinizer Analyzer Read more
Physical Security for Data Centers
Data centers house some of the most valuable and irreplaceable assets for any organization. For this reason, physical security is of the utmost importance when designing a data center. Depending on the size and budget of the organization, physical security measures can include everything from solid floor-to-deck concrete partitions to biometrics screening.
There should also be a number of sensors in place that can detect when anyone, authorized or unauthorized, accesses the data center. The following 5 tips show how Ravica can offer effective solutions for that final line of defense. Read more
~JessicaFollow Me on Twitter
Ravica SecurityProbe Picture Log
Filed under: Intelligent Sensors, Security Monitoring, SensorProbes, motion detector
Today, I started working with a software company who wanted to keep track of their employees that work very early or very late hours. In
general, it wasn’t a bad thing. They just wanted to make sure that the people coming into the building to work, were the people that should be. This company had already purchased monitoring and security equipment from us in the past.
This company just added a new international sales department. The work hours for the new employee were going to be 4:00am to 1:00pm. They wanted to know if they could utilize the picture log to record when people go in and out of the front door. They also wanted to limit the time frame for these pictures.
I did a bit of research and found out the answer was yes! You can set a time frame on the camera motion sensor and you can have the picture emailed or stored on the FTP server. Now, they would get an alert and a picture when someone came through the door.
At this point, they could figure out who came through the door. They then wanted to know if too many people were going through the door during the early morning hours. To do this, we used a Syslog/Eventlog application that allows you to set a threshold. Each time an image was taken with the camera, an alert would be sent to the Syslog/Eventlog manager. If a threshold was met, let say five, then an email would be sent to the security office.
The customer was excited and wanted to implement this in the coming weeks. I can’t wait to see how it comes out.
-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
Securing your data center with Ravica equipment
Filed under: Data Center, Intelligent Sensors, Security Monitoring, SensorProbes
I started working with an interesting client today.
The company is a small hosting service provider with approximately 100 clients. What made this company different was that their clients would come on site quite often. Each client would has a key card; this identifies who is coming in and out of the server room. The problem is that the cards were being handed off to other employees. Since the company promised the utmost in security, this started to become a concern.
The goal of my client was to provide a video record of each entry. To accomplish this, I suggested that we add security sensors to each door. This would tell us when each and every person went through the door. Next, we added multiple security cameras, to record who was in the server room. The dry contact sensors would also give us a good idea of when the person left. The next hurdle was the lights, since they are off most of the time.
We used the Sensor Controlled Relay to turn the lights on and off in the room. This gave the security cameras more then enough light for recording. This was implemented via the alert from the trigger of the security sensor.
The Sensor Controlled Relay is easily controlled by any of Ravica’s extensive selection of sensors. The relay can provide automatic responses to sensor alerts. This made it easy to configure a scenario where the security sensor on the door was tripped and the lights were turned on.
In the end, the process worked perfectly. When a customer entered the server room, not only was their entry logged via the keypad, but they were also getting video record of that visit. We are currently working on providing a common interface between all of the data sources.
- JimmyD
3 Tips for Data Center Security
We put a high focus on protecting the data center from environmental disasters, like extreme temperature and humidity, as well as water leaks and poor air circulation. However, there are other considerations to be made in keeping the data center safe, like physical security conditions. Is all of the sensitive equipment being protected from unauthorized personnel?
Of course the first order of business is to set standards and procedures that make those in charge of data center security aware of exactly what is acceptable clearance and what is not. However, as is true for almost any kind gateway, mote, or minefield, people will find their way around. So there must be systems in place that keep us alerted to situations that are potentially hazardous.
The Ravica SecurityProbe can increase the level of data center security by providing insight in the following three areas.
Keep an eye on your data center
As the saying goes, “Seeing is believing.” We need to be able to see with our own eyes that everything is truly alright before we can really breath easy. Nothing beats being there, but if you can’t be there, then a video camera presence is the next best thing. With the pan-tilt dome camera, your SecurityProbe can watch up to four separate locations. It can even be programmed to move to a specific location when an event is triggered from any type of sensor. It will also take a series of snapshots and include them with email alerts when triggered by any sensor.
Batten down the hatches
It seems obvious, but the most important places to monitor in secure areas is the entrances and exits. That means, tighten up the doors and windows. Ravica security sensors are contact sensors that are perfect for letting you know when a door or window has been opened. The idea is relatively simple. There are two contact plates. When they are separated, like when the door edge moves away from the frame as it is opened, the sensor switches to an alarm status.
What’s in motion?
A great fail safe, in addition to watching the doors and windows with sensors and cameras, is monitoring for motion. Motion sensors can also sense for unauthorized access, or can simply be the trigger for telling a camera to pay attention to a certain zone. Make sure that the right amount of movement sets off the sensor in a sensitive area and it can mean the difference between knowing during or after a security breach has occurred.
Whether you are guarding Fort Knox or your small corporate data center, putting a SecurityProbe and the appropriate sensors in place can go a long way towards keeping unauthorized personnel away from your sensitive equipment and information.
~ Jon Mills
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