Monitoring Data Center EnvironmentalsLatest Addition To AVTECH Lineup Offers Wireless Connectivity
By Joseph Pasquini - Processor - Vol.29 Issue 1
Stable and appropriately maintained environmental conditions are critical to the proper functioning of your computer room or data center. To help infrastructure managers mitigate potential environmental concerns, AVTECH Software has introduced its Room Alert 26W wireless monitoring solution.
As the newest addition to the Room Alert product family, AVTECH’s Room Alert 26W uses 16-channel wireless connectivity rather than traditional cabling methods to remotely communicate with its associated sensors. “Room Alert 26W monitors unlimited sensors via wireless to speed installation, reduce costs, and save time by eliminating the need to run cables,” says Michael Sigourney, senior product specialist at AVTECH.
Based on a 1U rackmount configuration, the 26W offers multiple built-in sensor capabilities including Digital Temperature, Digital Humidity, Main Power, and Flood (requires cable for detection). External sensor capabilities include another iteration of Digital Temperature, as well as Room Entry. Additional sensors include those needed for monitoring smoke/fire, cameras, sound, and light. Cabled sensor connections can connect to the 26W through its six RJ-11 Digital Sensor ports; wireless sensor capacity is unlimited. Additional sensors are available. An Ethernet connection, offering plug-and-play setup, is used to connect the 26W to the data center or corporate network. An RJ-45 expansion port lets administrators add additional Room Alerts to their monitoring configuration.
For advanced real-time monitoring functionality and reporting, as well as corrective actions such as automatic server shutdowns, users of the Room Alert can make use of either its onboard Web server for hostless usage or the supplied PageR Enterprise software when running the software on a PC. Logging and data export are supported, and PageR 20 Object Enterprise license comes bundled.
In addition to GUI-based alerts, AVTECH’s solution also offers alerts via email and email-to-SMS, SNMP traps and queries, Web page updates, and console updates. An included RoHS-compliant 5V, 110/240V power adapter supplies power. A built-in UPS serves as an emergency power source.
Competition in the monitoring spectrum includes Sensatronics’ EM1 Environmental Monitor and Sensaphone’s IMS-4000 System. While all three are somewhat similar in scope, only the AVTECH 26W augments its wired monitoring capabilities with built-in wireless technology.
The 26W includes 12 months of free maintenance support and updates; these services can be optionally extended on an annual basis.
Based on a 1U rackmount configuration, the 26W offers multiple built-in sensor capabilities including Digital Temperature, Digital Humidity, Main Power, and Flood (requires cable for detection). External sensor capabilities include another iteration of Digital Temperature, as well as Room Entry. Additional sensors include those needed for monitoring smoke/fire, cameras, sound, and light. Cabled sensor connections can connect to the 26W through its six RJ-11 Digital Sensor ports; wireless sensor capacity is unlimited. Additional sensors are available. An Ethernet connection, offering plug-and-play setup, is used to connect the 26W to the data center or corporate network. An RJ-45 expansion port lets administrators add additional Room Alerts to their monitoring configuration.
AVTECH Software, Inc.