A server crash is capable of disrupting the entire data flow and hampering the efficiency of various processes that rely on smooth data transfer for any organization that has a web presence. At the same time, server room temperature and humidity monitoring can be a challenging task. With the help of IoT, however, the task becomes quite simple as IoT-enabled server room monitoring platforms provide you with real-time alerts about ambient environment parameters such as temperature and humidity with the help of sensors.
IoT enabled server room monitoring systems help you closely monitor the ambient conditions in your server room to help you protect your critical server room assets from damage. Different types of ambient conditions such as temperature and humidity monitoring in the server room, power surges, water leaks, flooding, fire and smoke, and chemical material leakages, can be monitored with the help of carefully placed sensors in the different server room equipment. Thanks to IoT-based server room monitoring systems, you can efficiently monitor server room temperature and rest assured about the safety of your critical server room assets and uninterrupted data flows.
All the mentioned parameters are measured with the sensors, and these sensors (or nodes) send data to the central unit (Gateway) and are connected over Low Power Wide Area Network. The Gateway acts as a bridge between the wireless sensor network and the cloud. The data of the sensors is stored in the cloud from where it can be seen on the Web Dashboard or a Mobile application.
Different types of Server room environment monitoring:
- Rack level monitoring
- Ambient conditions monitoring
- Water and flood monitoring
SERVER RACK TEMPERATURE MONITOR
According to a study by Gartner, the cost of a server rack averages upwards of 70000 USD a year. Any damage caused to the rack on account of ambient environmental conditions can mean a severe economic loss to the company.
Simple monitoring of room-level ambient conditions instead of rack-level parameters can prove to be a costly mistake. As per the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) recommendation, at least 6 temperature sensors are needed for each rack to protect equipment. These should be placed at the top, middle & bottom, front, and back of the rack.
Server rack temperature monitoring is a vital task in keeping the server healthy. Rack temperatures may vary widely from room temperature. When we monitor server room temperature only, an alarm will be raised by the sensors only when the air conditioning units fail to maintain temperature. In such a situation, the rack temperature may go up so high that it would be impossible to control it without inflicting permanent damage to the rack equipment.
IMPACT OF TEMPERATURE ON YOUR SERVER SYSTEMS
Although advanced server systems have auto-shutdown capabilities to guard against failures when the temperature is too high. The high temperatures also cause processing errors, which may affect the performance output overall. Such errors might be unavoidable.
Besides, the excess heat also damages fan equipment, reducing its life.
Moreover, it is recommended to use wired sensors for small rooms. Large server rooms may require wireless sensors, keeping in mind the cost concerns.
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AMBIENT CONDITIONS MONITORING IN SERVER ROOM
This involves monitoring temperature, humidity, and other parameters which are essential for the server to work efficiently in the room.
AMBIENT TEMPERATURE MONITORING
The temperature of the server room is an important parameter to consider to improve server room performance. IoT based temperature monitoring system warns IT, administrators, in case the room temperature shoots above a certain level. It’s a vital task to ensure that the performance of the equipment is not affected by extreme temperatures.
AMBIENT HUMIDITY MONITORING
The importance of Humidity monitoring in the server room. Almost all electronic parts, and even equipment as a whole, are designed to function within a particular humidity range. High humidity ambient conditions can result in the failure of disk drives, thereby leading to data loss. On the other hand, low humidity conditions can cause electrostatic discharge, which can result in the complete failure of electronic components.
Hence, it is again important to keep a watch on humidity levels in the server room for safety and high performance.
MOTION DETECTION IN THE SERVER ROOM
Motion sensors are needed to restrict/keep a watch on entrance/exit to server rooms. It has been observed that many server rooms are left unattended after hours, or even during the day. By installing motion detectors, IT administrators can stay aware and alert of all activity in the server room.
SMOKE DETECTION IN THE SERVER ROOM
The installation of smoke detectors in the server room ensures that IT personnel are alerted regarding any fire events. Thus, remedial measures can be taken at the earliest stage to prevent any damage.
WATER AND FLOOD MONITORING
Though water leakage is less of a threat to server rooms, the building architecture these days with raised floors makes such server rooms quite vulnerable.
Generally, two types of sensors for water leakage can be commonly found: spot and water snake cable-based. Spot sensors work by triggering an alert when water touches the unit. Water rope or water snake cable sensors use a different mechanism of work. They make use of a conductive cable, whereby contact at any point on the cable will trigger an alert. However, the second type is preferred over the first one because of its greater range and accuracy.
If in case, the server room is on a raised floor, one would prefer placing the sensor under the raised floor because water traverses to the lowest point.
Most IoT implementation requires FOTA updates to upgrade the IoT devices’ code wirelessly.
Also Read: BUILDING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM and HOW IOT BASED SERVER ROOM MONITORING SYSTEM WORKS?
Sensor-based server room monitoring using IoT is the future of server room maintenance and upkeep. PsiBorg prides itself on being a leading IoT Solutions company for server room monitoring and other sensor-based IoT applications.
FAQ
Several types of sensors are installed in a server room for effective server room monitoring. These include temperature sensors for server rack temperature monitoring, humidity sensors to eliminate moisture-related issues, smoke and gas sensors for detecting potential fire hazards, and much more.
Server room monitoring is necessary to ensure optimal server room performance and prevent potential problems. The server room monitoring system detects problems in advance and alerts the team so that proactive troubleshooting is possible.
To check the temperature of the server room you have to install temperature sensors, connect the sensors to the central system, utilize remote monitoring tools, and perform regular maintenance. Instead, you can just reach out to us as we develop a server room monitoring system through which you can efficiently check the temperature of your server room.
