Servers, PCs, PBX, Switches, Firewalls and many other pieces of expensive equipment do not react well to high temperature, humidity or flooding. No matter the size of your company it’s likely you’ll have a Server Room, it may be in a small cupboard, a large room or even a floor of a building. One fact remains the same, you’ve invested a large amount of capital into this critical part of your business and you can’t afford to be without it. Emails would cease, access to shared documents would be lost and phones would be down and it’s a headache any company can do without. However many companies take this room for granted and with the exception of maybe a UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) they offer no real protection to the equipment inside this critical room. This needn’t be the case as it can cost as little as 150 to be alerted of any environmental problems your server could encounter. Warnings can be sent to you via Visual Alerts, Email, SNMP, SNMP Traps, NAGIOS, SMS messages or Windows Services. No matter what’s going on in your server room you’ll be informed and can arrange action to be taken no matter where you might be in the world. This could not only save you cost of equipment but also the cost of lost business if you had to be without these systems. There are even some solutions intelligent enough to control other equipment, so if the temperature gets too warm it’ll tell the air conditioning to turn on, or if smoke is detected the fire prevention systems can kick into action. Here are some examples of possible solutions to this problem. The HWg-STE will monitor the room and e-mail you if the temperature or humidity were to go outside the â€safe parameters†set by you. Furthermore you don’t need a degree in computer science to set it up; with a simple web interface anyone that’s filled in a form should be able to configure this device. The EM01b monitors temperature, humidity and light with optional flood detection. The EM01b also connects with NAGIOS to provide a powerful tool for any network administrator. Plus for the less technical among us could use a Windows application for data-logging and email alerts. You can also get an optional LCD display to see the data real-time when you don’t have access to the network. Plus a hub can connect up to 8 sensors to this device. For larger server rooms the Poseidon 2250 is ideal. This can have as many as 50 sensors added to it, monitoring: â€Temperature â€Humidity / Dew Point â€Air Flow â€Water Leak / Flood Detection â€Smoke & Gas Detection â€Motion Detection â€Door Access Control The 2250 provides detailed information about every part of your server room and warning you about the slightest deviation from your safe parameters. Also some versions in the Poseidon family have digital outputs which could control your air conditioning systems. Another option would be the H4531R which can fit in your server rack along with the other equipment and monitor the temperature and relative humidity. This solution looks very professional and with a built in LCD screen you can see all the environmental information real-time. As with the other devices alerts can be sent via Email and SNMP all configured via a simple web page. It’s worth mentioning these products are being used in many other environments other than Server Rooms, examples being Zoos, Warehouses, Laboratories, Museums and many NHS applications. We hope from reading this you’ll see there really is no reason why you should leave such a valuable part of your business unprotected. With these systems you could save your business from a very costly accident.
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