Guard your critical IT equipment against physical threats such as extreme temperature and flood damage

It has become almost automatic to protect your data centre by backing up your servers, installing firewalls and virus protection, and keeping the protection up-to-date. But what about more tangible threats? How will you know when temperatures climb out of control? Are you alerted to humidity changes or water leaks that threaten your equipment?

Planning for the unexpected is a critical task because there are more systems performing mission-critical functions than ever before. These systems are often deployed without the proper environmental infrastructure to support them. Equipment density is increasing constantly, which is creating more stress on ventilation and power. That’s where Black Box’s environmental monitoring systems enter the picture.

What’s an environmental monitoring system?

Environmental monitoring products enable you to actively monitor the conditions in your rack, server room, data centre, or anywhere else you need to protect critical assets. Conditions monitored include water leaks, flooding and / or the presence of liquids in and under the data centre, extreme temperatures, humidity, power spikes and surges, smoke, and chemical materials including low conductivity liquids such as fuels. With proper environmental monitoring, you’re alerted to any conditions that could have an adverse effect on your mission critical equipment. These products can also alert you to potential damage from human error, hacking, or prying fingers. Environmental monitors consist of three main elements: a base unit, probes or sensors, and network connectivity and integration. The base units may contain one or more built-in sensors, as well as ports for hooking up external probes. Additionally, they include an Ethernet port and have software for remote configuration and graphing. This software may also work with existing network management software, such as SNMP systems.

Features:

1. Measurement
   The environmental monitoring appliance displays the values measured by the attached probes, e.g. water presence, presence of fuels, temperature, humidity, airflow, status of dry contact, door, motion detector, and other sensors.
2. Data collecting and graphing
   The measurements are periodically stored in the internal memory or external storage media and displayed as graphs.
3. Alerting
   When the measured value exceeds the predefined threshold, it triggers an alert: a blinking LED on the front panel, an audible alarm, SNMP trap, e-mail, etc. The environmental monitoring appliance can also activate an external alarm system like a siren or strobe light.

Benefits of environmental monitoring:

• Reduced downtime — When things go wrong, you’re the first to know. Minimise downtime by being alerted about conditions that cause damage to servers and other network devices.
• Increased profits — Black Box environmental monitoring systems are easy to implement. Also, they help you cut replacement equipment costs and redistribute your
  workforce more effectively.
• Increased employee satisfaction — with built-in notification features like e-mail, SMS, and SNMP traps, a remote monitoring system enables employees to better manage their work.

Real time, extensive environmental and video monitoring alerting systems

The Black Box AlertWerks™ System consists of SNMP-enabled, Web-based monitors that alert the user to any abnormal conditions. The AlertWerks ServSensor V4E family enables you to integrate environmental sensors and surveillance cameras into one seamless remote monitoring system that watches over your premises. AlertWerks monitors multiple environmental conditions, including temperature, humidity, airflow, smoke, security, and voltage. Black Box has complete solutions for a variety of applications, including:

• Data centre monitoring
• Server room monitoring
• Rackmount industrial equipment
• Telecommunications
• UPS/battery backup
• Educational institutions
• Food and beverage applications
• Buildings/warehouses
• Air conditioner/refrigerants/freezer monitoring
• Greenhouses
• Oil and gas