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Summertime Data Room Monitoring: Part 3

Ben Moore — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 17:59:21 +0000

In part one & two I went over the environmental factors that could plague your data center during the critical summer months. In this next part I will discuss the security factors you need to know to keep your data room secure and safe. In this blog I will go over 4 solid choices for security solutions in your data center: Security Sensor, Motion Detector, and the Smoke Detector, and Siren and Strobe alarms.

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.

Benjamin Moore
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Check Your Smoke Detectors during National Fire Prevention Month

Angela — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 14:45:59 +0000

October is National Fire Prevention Month. This is a great opportunity to check all your current fire safety devices to keep your families, employees, and properties as safe as possible.

For traditional residential smoke detectors, the National Fire Protection Association recommends that you “change your battery when you change your clock” (twice yearly). They also recommend that you also test the smoke detectors monthly.

According to the United States Fire Administration, household detectors should be placed in or near each sleeping area, on each floor, and not within four inches of where walls meet ceilings.

In the workplace, employers should have written and oral fire prevention plans in place which are readily available for all employees. According to the United States Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA), a building’s alarm system should provide instant notification of potential threats and should provide alarming in a variety of ways to alert employees. For example, the alarm “shall be capable of being perceived above ambient noise or light levels.”

Ravica’s sirens and lights do just that and more. To protect people and property, Ravica offers devices that can notify you instantly of possible threats, even if you aren’t on-site. Ravica’s SensorProbes environmental monitors can notify you of hazards in remote locations, such as a second home or an unmanned facility. You can be virtually anywhere in the world and still receive alerts through texts, Skype, and email. During your vacation in Maine, you can feel confident that your Ravica SensorProbe will notify you of any potential water leaks, humidity, power outages, temperature fluctuations, unauthorized access, and smoke.

During this National Fire Prevention Month, please take a few moments to review your smoke and fire warning devices and your escape routes. Early detections can save lives, data, and dollars.

~Angela
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Ravica Environmental Monitors Begin Where Mayberry Ends

Angela — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 14:08:38 +0000

Growing up in a small town had some advantages, including a feeling of security. For example, when our family would leave town on vacation, the police department kept an eye on our home. Patrol cars drove by our house periodically, day and night, ensuring that our home and possessions were safe. In this way, it was if our small town was in the very capable hands of our own Andy Griffith. These days, law enforcement departments don’t necessarily have the resources to protect property this way.

Fortunately, we can have that sense of trust with a Ravica environmental sensor. Ravica security monitors placed in your property can alert you to the presence of property hazards like smoke and water. While you are away, you can still feel secure knowing you will be alerted to hazards as soon as they happen.

A Ravica team member just received an alert at work this past week from his home’s system. He was notified of unauthorized access to the house. Fortunately, the culprit was his extremely mischievous Dachshund. But what if it hadn’t been? Wouldn’t you want to know immediately if someone is in your home?

First alerts are extremely important to prevent serious damage. An early alert from a smoke detector can make the difference between very minor damage and total destruction. If caught early enough, proper authorities can be notified and damages can be minimized.

But what good is a smoke detector if you can’t hear its alarm? What happens when your home is in Boca Raton, but you are on vacation in Venice? Ravica’s devises are extremely versatile and can use various mediums to send alert notifications. Just imagine having the freedom to travel knowing you will receive an instant alert about any power outages, smoke, or water leaks. These alerts can be sent through email, mobile phone text, or Skype.

During the work day and during extended absences and vacations, you can feel confident that your property is protected, even without the Mayberry police force.

~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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The benefits of a Ravica smoke detector

Jessica Raflo — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 17:26:54 +0000

Everyone knows how important it is to keep facility smoke detectors in good working order. Smoke detectors are a vital part of the life/safety plan in all residential and commercial buildings. In many situations a standard, battery-operated smoke detector is all you need. It’s reliable, it’s loud, and it gets the job done. However, in some situations the stand alone alarm might not be enough. If the smoke detector is located in an area that is not regularly occupied, like a storage warehouse, there might not be anyone around to hear that loud alarm. Or, what if the emergency occurs after business hours? It is the proverbial tree falling in the forest, but in the case of a fire, the damage will ring loud and clear, even if no one was around to hear the initial alarm. For these kinds of situations, a smoke alarm that ties into a web-based environmental monitoring system is a smart idea.

The Ravica smoke detector does just that, it connects to one of the sensor ports on your SecurityProbe or BitSight sensor probe. Tying the smoke detector to web-interface offers the following advantages:

1) No more annoying low-battery beeping. When the smoke detector is connected to the SecurityProbe or BitSight via one of the (8) RJ-45 port, the main power source is the probe and not the 9v battery. Like a typical smoke detector, the Ravica smoke detector still takes a 9v, but it is a back-up and is only used in the case of a major power outage that takes the probe offline.

2) Ravica smoke detectors can be programmed to automatically make the emergency call for you. The smoke detector can be connected to dry contact inputs and be programmed to call 911 automatically when an alarm goes off. This cuts down on response time and can potentially save thousands of dollars in property damage.

3) View the situation from an easy-to-use web interface. With a Ravica SecurityProbe, you can view and control up to 4 cameras from the web. If a smoke detector alarm goes off, you can instantly see exactly what is causing the alarm and be better equipped to resolve the situation quickly.

If a web-based smoke detector sounds like a good addition to the fire/safety plan for your facility, check out the Ravica website or give us a call at 207.324.8173.

~Jessica
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Are you optimizing your environmental monitoring system?

Jessica Raflo — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:44:32 +0000

Here on the Ravica Blog, we talk a lot about temperature and humidity monitoring in data centers, but did you know that you can use the same Sensor Probes to create a centralized monitoring system that can provide information on almost any environmental condition? The following is a run-down of some of the other Ravica intelligent sensors that are available. All the sensors are plug & play, SNMP-enabled and easily integrated into the environmental monitoring system of your dreams.

Motion Detectors: Increase the security of your valuable equipment and information. The Ravica motion detectors are designed to be linked together so that you can link up to ten sensors on a single port. This means that you can get excellent security coverage, even using the inexpensive BitSight2. For some great information on setting up the motion detectors, check out Jon’s blogs here and here.
AC Voltage Detectors: Valuable for detecting brownouts or complete power outages. Ravica can send email or text messages to immediately alert you to problems and allow for the quick recovery of power and the protection of data.
Airflow Sensors: Make sure that the ventilation equipment that is keeping your equipment cool doesn’t fail without your knowledge. The SensorProbe provides airflow patterns in a graphical form that allows the user to detect changes that indicate fan failure or maintenance issues.
Smoke Detectors: All the Ravica SensorProbes and SecurityProbes can be integrated with SNMP-enabled smoke detectors. Protect your property from smoke and fire even after business hours.
Siren and Strobe Light: Sometimes a stealth text message alert is just not enough. Alert other employees of safety hazards with a siren and strobe light that can be triggered by the Alarm status on any of the sensors.

Ravica has SensorProbes that can support up to eight different sensors. Whether you need to monitor a single room or a multi-story office building, we can help you set up an integrated environmental monitoring system that is scaled to your needs and can be configured and controlled from one easy to use web-interface.

If you’ve got questions, give us a call at 207-324-8173.

~Jessica
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What you can do about Christmas tree fire hazards

Jon Mills — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 18:31:44 +0000

The holiday season is finally upon us. As usual, with the cold weather comes turkey dinner and Black Friday sales - but that’s not all! If your family is anything like mine, the first thing you do after properly digesting your stuffing and waking from your Tryptophan coma is put up that glorious Christmas tree. There is really no better indication of the impending holiday season than a well lit and beautifully decorated tree.

I am a fan of the good ol’ fashion fake tree. Nothing says Happy Holiday’s like the smell of, well… plastic. But as I understand it, there are some 33 million American homes that go the natural route with their tree selection. However, improperly hydrated Christmas trees can pose a very real safety concern. According to the U.S. Fire Administration, “Christmas trees account for 200 fires annually, resulting in 6 deaths, 25 injuries and more than $6 million in property damage.”

Simple fire prevention tips
Prevention is, obviously, the best approach. If you have a natural tree, make sure to keep it watered. A wet tree is a safe tree. In fact, the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) created this very telling side-by-side comparison of the flamability of a dry tree vs. a tree that had been watered regularly.

Protecting what’s important
The next step is protection. In the event that there is a fire, easily accessable fire extinguishers and planned exit routes for the family could be a matter of life and death.

Any working smoke detector is a plus (remember to test the batteries regularly), but having a more advanced system that can send alerts to you anywhere is a healthy step in reduntant protection. A SecurityProbe could be set up to take pictures of your tree and send them along with a text or email to your iPhone or Blackberry. That way you know exactly what the situation is back at home, even while you are at the mall doing your last minute shopping. It can even be set up to make an outgoing call with Skype to ensure that you and your local fire department are on the scene as soon as physically possible.

So don’t forget, while enjoying a beautiful Christmas tree can set the mood for a joyous holiday like nothing else, safety measures do need to be taken. Make sure to protect your home or office by follow a few simple steps.

~ Jon Mills
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Monitoring for Smoke at a National Level

Mike Allen — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:41:30 +0000

Monitoring the data room, your home, or for smoking in the boys room is just the beginning. The United States Government takes monitoring smoke and air seriously. Check out the smoke map maintained by the Interagency Real Time Smoke Monitoring web site. I drilled in on California and clicked on the center of the state. The air and smoke quality doesn’t look as good as other parts of the state.

Yosemite National Park
California likes their state parks. They have a web site showing off how they measure smoke ozone levels, particulate matter levels and more. The site provides air quality and smoke monitoring trends as well as web cameras. The cameras actually allow you to see the differences in air quality. I thought it was cool.

Ravica provides smoke detectors for $125.00 and security cameras on the SecurityProbe for $1,795.00. These probes also monitor temperature, humidity, water, etc., and it supports SNMP, so that you can trend the data over time.

Our services department can set you up with a monitoring web page like Yosemite. Just tell us what you need and we’ll help you get started.

- Mike

Smoke detector configuration settings for your SensorProbe

Jon Mills — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 19:52:31 +0000

Because of the similarities in how the smoke detector and dry contact sensors work, when a smoke detector sensor is connected to any of the Ravica SensorProbe models it will be recognized as dry contact sensor. The real differences lie in how the user configures and labels the sensor.

Therefore, when connecting a new smoke detector sensor, change the description to “Smoke Detector” or something similar, then update the web interface settings for the smoke detector to reflect the options below.

Direction: Input
Normal State: Open/+5 Volts
Output Level: Low/GND

Congratulations! You now have a properly configured smoke detector sensor watching over you.

Other valuable tips for configuring your Ravica environmental monitoring systems can be found on our support FAQ.

~ Jon Mills
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