Computer Server Rooms

[Guest Dyfrig Roberts]

`Hi I am a Computer technician for a small company and we have a Server room that is airconditioned and only allows certain persons access to the room

We try and keep the servers working at a peak condition and at a constant temperature

We have a fully monitored alarm system that goes to a Central Station

My problem is last night I happened to have to go into the office to pick something up and discovered that the Air Conditioning had failed

Does anyone know of a temperature sensor we could link into the Alarm system to give a low and high reading that could alert the station so one of the keyholders could be informed

[Guest]

It can be done, and you would need to speak to the company that maintains your alarm for you.

[james.wilson]

We have used temprature monituring units before and I forget the manufacturer. Some panels accepts a temp probe and a voltage input that you can set on the panel itself

[camerabloke]

or you can use a relay

[james.wilson]

or you can use a relay

He could wire a relay of the aircon power b ut that wouldnt give him his hi-lo temp monitoring, unless you know of a relay i dont mate..

[Guest quantum]

We use APC environmental monitoring products, for Fluid, Temperature / humidity, smoke monitoring, but they do loads of other sensors too.

I remotely manage several server rooms via the WAN / Internet. The APC exipment can be set to warn you via email, SMS etc,

If you already use APC UPS, there's a chance you can just add an environmental monitoring card and sensor, works out fairly cheap.

http://www.apc.com/products/family/index.cfm?id=26

http://www.apc.com/products/category.cfm?id=17

[breff]

What about a Menvier SD2 dialler, it has a temperature sensor built in and can phone you if the temperature is exceeded.

[IPAlarms]

It would be ideal if you had one of the panels mentioned by jameswilson as you would be able to alert the central station. The UPS mentioned by quantum and SD2 dialler are also good ideas for contacting you directly without the involvement of the central station.

My company have an IP dialler called DigiNet that has analogue inputs for temperature monitoring. It also has digital inputs if you decide to trigger it with a temperature device that has a relay. Either way, it will send an alarm signal to a central station or alert you directly via email. It also has digital outputs that would allow you (or a CS operator) to log in and switch on backup devices via your web browser if required.

Some of my customers use it with network monitoring software products like 'Nagios' or 'What's up Gold' as the outgoing alarm message of the DigiNet is customisable.

Hope this helps.

[Drew]

We are just looking at this kind of thing. I know the problem - you just want to get the feature installed without a huge infrstructure.

This particular function would be very useful for us too, so I may try this today:

A Net2 I/O board will accept an input from a standard room thermostat. This in conjunction with Net2 software will enable an email and or an SMS message to be sent in the event that the thermostat changes state. This is designed to be part of an access control system - Net2 would obviously be the right choice for your server room door too but it can be done as a feature in its own right and would be reasonably cost effective. With spare inputs and outputs, there are bound to be other things you can control in a server room.

If you're interested in this idea, have a look at our web site. Supply is trade only, so if you want to take it further, repost and one of the guys here will be able to help, I am sure.

[arfur mo]

hi all,

if you need this feaure surely 2 x digital room stats (Hi Lo) could be wired to a couple of zones and configured as 'monitored inputs' of the alarm or access control system.

depends on the kit installed but easy peazy on most bigger panels

regs

alan