Server Rooms and Data Centre

There are a number of solutions for Organisations who store their key equipment, such as servers and network switches, entirely on-premise or within a datacentre with limited infrastructure stored locally.

Each network solution has it’s own challenges and IoT can provide help to safeguard the equipment and monitor the environment to ensure the Organisation remains fully operational.

On-Premise

Over the years network equipment, such as switches, IP telephone systems have become fundamental to any organisations data and voice communications. Surprisingly, in many circumstances, the storage of this equipment is limited to a room, no larger than a small cupboard and in an environment that is often unsuitable. Some organisations will control the temperatures with a domestic air-cooling unit with little or no active monitoring and under continuous load will fail and run the risk of water overflowing onto network equipment.

The solution

Through the use of IoT and wireless sensors, the temperature, humidity and the flood risk can be monitored and evasive action taken should pre-determined controls be breached.

Data Centres

There has been a rise in Organisations moving their voice and data communications into data centres. These centres are secure and provide a resilient environment for network equipment to reside.

It remains the data centres responsibility for the overall control of security and climate within the data centres themselves. It is likely that the HVAC and humidity is monitored by multiple sensors placed strategically around the data centre and managed accordingly.

However, co-located network equipment is usually stored within locked cabinets for security reasons and to avoid incidences where there is a reasonable level of footfall. This means that there is a risk that the temperatures within the cabinets maybe significantly differently to the ambient temperature of the datacentre.

Server cabinets are often designed to optimise air flow and to enable server intake as well as exhaust. In a situation where the datacentre is not set up to provide optimal air flow, the air temperature the servers take in can be too high, and will not allow for the correct amount of cooling within the servers themselves. This, of course, leads to premature failure and the potential for data and revenue loss.

In addition, it is important to identify when network equipment is running outside of the manufacturer’s recommended guidelines. Some hardware may contain built-in temperature monitoring as a secondary feature but are often designed to be installed at the bottom of a cabinet or rack, and as a result don’t often return a true temperature reading.

The solution

Installing wireless IoT temperature sensors throughout the cabinet especially the front, midpoint and rear of the cabinet will provide accurate monitoring and alert when there is a potential risk to the Organisations voice or data communications and remedial action can be taken.