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Monitor Airflow Around Critical Equipment

Angela — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 15:32:57 +0000

The Ravica Airflow Sensor is designed for systems that generate heat in the course of their operation and a steady flow of air is necessary to dissipate this generated heat. System reliability and safety could be jeopardized if this cooling airflow stops. Airflow Sensors monitor the circulation of air around critical equipment where a constant air-flow is required to maintain a consistent temperature and humidity status and reliable continual performance.

The Airflow Sensor is placed in the air stream path, allowing users to monitor the status of the flowing air. This device measures the presence or absence of air flow, then the sensorProbe environmental monitor displays the measurement using a graphical display via its web interface.

In addition to an on/off indicator, it also graphs the analog values over a period of time.

An SNMP interface is also provided for alarm/normal status and to get the current analog value. When an alarm condition is activated, the description and location of the fault can be sent via email.

Check out some features of the Airflow Sensor:

On/off alarm signal of airflow
Airflow data graphically displayed of over time
Accurate, cost effective flow sensing
Operates from a single +5 V DC Power Supply which powered by the sensorProbe
2 LEDs indicate the status of Airflow and that the sensor is securely plugged into the sensorProbe
Electronics mounted in a small plastic case
Sensor type – open/closed contact switch
sensorProbe auto detects the presence of the airflow sensor
Up to 2 airflow sensors per sensorProbe2, 8 per sensorProbe8 and securityProbe
Full autosense including disconnect alarm
Data graphically displayed via a web page

For more information about Ravica equipment to monitor your data center, home, or business, call Ravica at 207-324-8173.

~Angela
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Temperature and Humidity Monitor Demo from Ravica

Angela — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 15:54:49 +0000

You’ve heard about temperature and environmental monitoring, and you understand its value. But have you seen one in action?

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
207-324-8173
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Data Center Monitoring to Save You Time

Angela — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 17:05:15 +0000

If you work in the IT field, chances are that you’re constantly busy putting out figurative fires, but you also know the importance of protecting your company’s network infrastructure and data center. Regardless of the size of your business, there aren’t enough hours in the day to continually monitor your data center.

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
207-324-8173
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Environmental Monitoring Makes Us Freeze

Angela — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 12:28:57 +0000

To ensure that Ravica’s products are of high quality, we test the equipment. We want to confirm that our environmental monitoring sensors will work properly within the environments and requirements that our customers may have.

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
www.Ravica.com
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Kansas Department of Health & Environment’s IT Infrastructure Failure is Recovering

Angela — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 19:32:30 +0000

A recent news article reported on an IT infrastructure failure at Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE). The issue was compounded by the fact that it occurred as students were preparing to enter school and needed birth certificates, immunization records, and other state documents. Because they were no longer electronically accessible, approximately 120,000 of these records had to be retrieved from storage in a central Kansas salt mine, no doubt adding significant man-hours to workers across Kansas.

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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Ravica Environmental Sensors Are Alternative To “Glass Pavilion”

Angela — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 16:54:34 +0000

I recently learned of the existence of a glass house in Montecito, California designed by Los Angeles- based architect Steve Hermann. Considering that this is a glass house in which someone standing outside can see into multiple rooms (including bedrooms and bathrooms), I question the validity of Mr. Hermann’s statement, “Here I have complete privacy.”

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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Environmental Monitoring Sensors: More Than Just Fancy Smoke Detectors

Angela — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 15:59:23 +0000

During a conversation this week, an associate of mine explained that his business is growing exponentially. His operation expanded from 5 locations to 18 locations in just 2 years. Considering the national economy during this last 2 years, I found this to be an astonishing and noble feat. But then he casually mentioned something else: one of his centers recently lost data due to a water leak. He mentioned it almost in passing, as if losses of this nature were to be occasionally expected.

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.

~Angela
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Ravica Rolls with the Punches

Angela — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 17:59:11 +0000

Greetings from the newbie at Ravica! My name is Angela, and I’ve recently joined the team. And what an exciting time to have been drafted by Ravica- right during National Sports Cliché Week. Imagine my luck! (Coincidentally, it’s also national Parenting Gifted Children Week, which I shall be celebrating since my children are über smart, but I don’t want to brag.)

That last statement was hitting below the belt. I apologize. There is no “I” in “team,” so I won’t make this all about me.

I’m taking it one game at a time at Ravica, but it’s already been apparent that the crew here is a great team. We are all willing to go the distance to show you how we can help protect your home and business with environmental monitoring. Please contact us if you have any questions about the SensorProbes or Intelligent Sensors or about customizing your equipment.

Also…You can also get a ringside seat and see our online demo to learn how the sensors can monitor your world. The user password is “Ravica.”

Ravica offers great products and great service, and we are in your corner. We welcome your feedback. Leave it all on the field and tell us how we’re doing. Also, let us know if you would like more information about any environmental system topics.

Thanks for letting me introduce myself. I look forward to sharing Ravica news with you even more as the game goes on. And I promise to throw in the towel on the sports clichés in the future.

Phew. I’m saved by the bell.

~Angela
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Environmental Monitoring During the Winter Months

Jessica Raflo — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:21:36 +0000

Today, we had our first major snow storm of the season. I’m a transplant to the northeast and winter in Maine is still a jarring experience for me. My hometown of Vancouver, WA basically shuts down at the first sight of snow and doesn’t reopen until all the white stuff has melted away, which in a normal year is sometime before 4 pm on the same day. Around here, you just prepare, plow through and get on with business.

Winter requires some special preparation for the inside of your facility as well. With snow and ice comes the threat of water pipes bursting and power outages. Make sure that your facility is protected by having a back-up generator in place. You should also be sure that the main water pipes and any pipes that are running along uninsulated walls have been winterized.

You also might want to think about installing an environmental monitoring system that can automatically alert you to any water leaks or other cold-weather problems that might occur. Ravica’s line of Sensor Probes and plug-and-play Intelligent Sensors can help to prevent major weather-related damage to your property and data. Whether it is a water sensor to monitor for leaking pipes; a temperature sensor to make sure that your data center is cool enough and your employees are warm enough; or a camera to monitor the street outside to see if the snow plows have shown up yet, you can create the system that meets your needs this winter and will work for you during the rest of the year too.

~Jessica
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Dog kennel temperature monitoring

Mike Allen — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:45:25 +0000

I got an interesting call today from a woman who owns a dog kennel service out in Oregon. Apparently, she wants a way to monitor the temperature inside the kennels, without running out to check the thermometers. If it is too cold, she brings the dogs inside. It sounded like some serious puppy pampering to me, but being a dog lover, I understand.

At first, I gave her a demonstration of the BitSight2 for temperature and humidity monitoring. It has two sensor ports, so she could monitor inside and outside, then view the data via a web browser from inside her house.

Almost jokingly, I then showed her the SecurityProbe with camera capabilities and she loved the thought of being able to see the dogs. Also, with several sensor ports, she could add smoke, water and other sensors, if she discovers a need in the future. Mostly, the cameras were a huge hit. “I can see if they are all huddled up or walking around and being active,” she said.

It’s nice to sell outside of the data room temperature monitoring market.

- Mike