Environmental monitoring equipment is not something new.
Manufacturers, distributors, hospitals and hotels have been using the basic technology for decades to monitor industrial processes,
freezer temperatures and other factors relevant to their operations.
When there was a problem, a light on a control panel would switch from green to red and the engineer on duty would go take a look at
what was going on.
What is new, however, is the integration of this technology with existing IT operations.
Most companies are already using Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) together with network monitoring and alerting software.
Environmental monitors consist of three main elements: a base unit; probes; and network management connectivity and integration.
The base units may contain one or more built-in sensors as well as ports for hooking up external probes.
These devices may be wall-mounted, sit on a shelf or come in a rackmount format.
They also include a port for connecting to the network and have server software for remote configuration and graphing.
This software interoperates with a company's existing network management software, if desired.
The key element, however, is the probe, and companies have quite a few options to pick from. Some of the more common include:
Temperature - This is the most popular item. You can monitor the temperature for the datacenter as a whole, or can place a sensor on a particular rack. They are also useful for locations such as server closets where it is unlikely anyone will be around to notice a rise in temperature;
Humidity - If the humidity is too high, it leads to corrosion. Too low and you have problems with excess static electricity;
Water - Water on the floor, whether from a broken pipe or a leaky roof, can cause electrical shorts.
ActiveXperts Network Monitor requires hardware from Sensatronics to monitor temperature/humidity/wetness. ActiveXperts Network Monitor supports the following models:
Model EM1 - includes 4 groups of 3 probes to monitor temperature, humidty and wetness on three different locations;
Model E4 - includes 4 probes to monitor temperature on four different locations;
Model E8 - includes 8 probes to monitor temperature on eight different locations;
Model E16/CM16 - includes 16 probes to monitor temperature on sixteen different locations.
How to setup temperature, humidity and wetness monitoring
You need a Sensatronics EM1 monitoring device to monitor temperature, humidity and wetness in your company.
However, if you want to try it first without purchasing any hardware/software you can easily setup a live demo yourself within a few minutes:
Download ActiveXperts Network Monitor here; Run the installation; It is a full functioning, 30 days version;
When installation is finished, the Network Monitor Manager will be launched. Choose 'New Monitor Rule' from the 'Monitor' menu, and choose 'Temperature', 'Humidity' or 'Wetness';
You can now select a public Sensatronics device. This device is connected to the internet and allows you to view environmental data.
Viewing environmental probe data
ActiveXperts Network Monitor provides two ways to view real-time monitoring results:
Manager application;
Web Interface.
The Manager application is a Win32 application and is used to make changes to the configuration and view real-time results
The Web Interface is based on XML/XSL, is highly customizable and is used to view real-time view results
Configuring temperature, humidity and wetness checks
Use the Manager application to configure temperature, humidity and wetness checks.
To configure such a check, you need to know the IP address or host name of the Sensatronics Environmental Monitoring device.
The Manager application will automatically read information about the model, the number of probes and the probe names. You just need to select the preferred probe, and you're in business.
Configuring temperature
Configuring humidity
Configuring wetness
Logging
ActiveXperts Network Monitor is shipped with an MS Access database, containing separate tables for logging temperature data, humidity data and wetness data. My selecting the 'Enable Logging' check box from the configuration dialog, environmental data will be logged automatically to the database.
You can also log the data to an MS SQL database, or any other OLE-DB/ADO database.
View the online Environmental Data Logging Guidelines to read more about logging and migration to Microsoft SQL Server (or other OLE-DB/ADO compliant database).
Network Monitor + Sensatronics bundle
ActiveXperts Network Monitor and Sensatronics EM1 Monitor device are bundled for a special price. For more information, click here.
