In an expensive and extensive data center you would want to know when a door is being opened or your windows being shut, right? The Security Sensor will help you keep track of this. It is a sensor that has either an on or off mode to it that is triggered by a current when the two points of the device meet. You set it above or below your door or window and when the two ends meet they connect to form a current and alerts your Security Probe 5E (and you) that the door is closed. In most cases Security Sensors are not enough to keep a data room completely safe.

Motion Detectors are another great way to stay secure in a growing data enriched world. Motion Detectors use an infrared motion detecting system to detect and movement within their sights. This can also be configured with the Security Probe 5E or BitSight probes.

The most important staple for security is The Smoke Detector. This is something that not only every house hold should have but also every data center. A smoke detector can sense any smoke in the room and alert you and others that there is smoke in the vicinity. What is great about this smoke detector is that it is connected to your network so you can be notified through your mobile temperature monitoring device if anything happens plus it does not require batteries.

Of course you will need all of the above security sensors to send an audio and visual alarm. This is where the Siren and Strobe Lights come into play. The sensors can be triggered manually or configured to turn on in congruence with any other security or environmental sensor.

And now it’s even easier to trap trigger a relay across the internet using the using the securityProbe 5E.

The set-up procedure has been simplified.  Here is a summary:
• The SNMP Trap Receiver is turned on in the Virtual Sensor portion of the SecurityProbe’s web interface.
• The SecurityProbe can receive an SNMP trap from another device, such as a BitSight2.
• The Trap received can be used to trigger a relay to turn on and off other sensors, send alerts from the SecurityProbe unit, and perform other actions.

When an event occurs, the SecurityProbe 5E can send SNMP traps, email, SMS, MMS, make a telephone call, and make an audio alert.  These alert messages are customizable and can include a picture of the event.  Besides notification alerts, event information is stored in a nonvolatile flash memory.  The SecurityProbe 5E has a battery-backed time-of-day clock to facilitate accurate record keeping.

In order to prevent false alarms, the SecurityProbe 5E provides an extensive filtering of events.  You can limit events based on time of day or day of the week.  This is especially useful with equipment such as the motion detector, where you may want to process an event only when the business is closed.

Call Ravica at 207-324-8173 for more information about the SecurityProbe 5E and our other products designed to keep your data and facilities safe.

~Angela
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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
207-324-8173
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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 to locate all cameras that were also continually streaming images of hallways, stairwells, and other non-vital locations.  Armed with this new information, the Security Department reconfigured the cameras to prevent this from happening.  This simple change reduced the video traffic by over 25%, improved Internet connectivity speed, and decreased the amount of required storage on their servers.

Cameras from Ravica can be set to record only motion, thus preventing clogging the network with unnecessary stream.  Had my associate’s company initially set up Ravica cameras, they could have saved massive amounts of time, energy, money, and frustration.

Once a Ravica Universal Mount Camera is linked to a SecurityProbe, images can be stored in the integrated picture log.  Images can also be  sent via e-mail, FTP, MMS, or streamed directly to a mobile phone.   Security cameras just make sense, but only when they are working for you.  Cameras are only of benefit if they are recording what you want to see:  not empty hallways, but things like security breaches from the NetFlow Ninja.

~Angela
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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.

• Install the Right SensorProbe. For optimum security monitoring, choose a SecurityProbe model.  The SecurityProbe has the same easy-to-use web interface as the BitSight with a Linux operating system that offers 128 MB of Flash and 64 MB of SDRAM.  With 8 ports for sensors and connections for 4 external cameras on each SecurityProbe, you can monitor all of your security conditions from a single interface.
• Monitor All Potential Entry Points. In order for a security breach to occur, an unauthorized person must be able to physically gain access to the data center and do so unnoticed.  Make sure that doesn’t happen by installing a security sensor on every door, window, or emergency exit that could provide access to the data center.  The security sensor has a magnetic open/close switch that will trigger an automatic alert when any entry point is accessed.
• Install Motion Detectors. As another line of defense, install a motion detector at key locations that will alert security personnel that a potential security issue is occurring.  The Ravica motion sensor has a RJ45 jack to plug directly into a port on the SecurityProbe.
• Integrate High Quality Security Cameras. Install a variety of security cameras including fixed and Pan/Tilt cameras that can proactively capture crucial images as the events occur.  With the Ravica web-interface, you can set up notifications that will automatically trigger a time-stamped, picture log when an event occurs with the security sensor, motion detector or any other sensor.  The pictures are captured in a standard JPEG format at up to 640 x 480 pixels, so you get a clear image of the event.
• Send a LOUD and Clear Message Regarding Security. Not only can notifications be set up to send email, voice, or text alerts to security personnel when a potential security breach is occurring; you can also include a siren/strobe light that can be triggered automatically by an alarm status on any other sensor.  The siren/strobe can also be triggered manually from the web-interface, deterring nefarious activity and giving a call-to-action signal to other personnel in the vicinity of the breach.

Whether your data center is large or small, Ravica can be part of the solution to help you protect your physical and intellectual assets from theft or sabotage.

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

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

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

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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