Environmental+Monitoring

=Introduction=

Environmental monitoring can have several benefits in business applications. Some businesses have rooms with nothing but computational and networking equipment. These rooms house very expensive investments, and if damaging environmental conditions exist the computer monitoring system can alert someone. Anything from dangerous humidity levels, temperatures, flooding, and intrusion can be reported. Various monitoring systems have different features but the most common alert methods are sent via email, LEDs, alarm beacon, web page, network management (SNMP), and SMS messages (via external GSM modem).

Monitoring systems may also be used to protect the employees and customers, such as devices to warn in case of a fire or gas leak. = = =Applications=

The monitoring process is essentially accomplished by a control unit and remote sensors. Most units have the basic sensors like temperature, humidity, and power built in. They also have inputs for external sensors that can monitor many other things, depending on the unit itself. The sensors send information to the unit and, based upon the threshold settings, the unit can determine whether or not to alert someone of the conditions in the room. The ENVIROMUX-SEMS-16 monitors basic environmental conditions, but can also monitor up to 64 IP network devices and even supports up to 8 video cameras that can be used to view the live environment.

Environmental monitoring can be used by a wide variety of companies from small offices to major plants and factories. The uses of such monitoring equipment ranges greatly. Purposes of the technology includes the safety of the equipment, the safety of the employees, the effeciency of the equipment, as well as the productivity, effeciency and sickness levels of the employees

=Types of Monitoring=

There are several types of monitoring systems available. These types can be separated into six major categories that mainly monitor the physical condition of the hardware and the room it is housed in. For the most part the condition of the room is monitored, but the actual hardware's power and voltage regulation can be monitored. Even the UPS backups can be monitored with these relatively unsophisticated sensors. For explaination of these categories, AVTECH's linup will be analyzed.


 * Temperature -** If the room becomes too hot or too cold, delicate hardware can be damaged or the performance of the hardware could be compromised. AVTECH's Temperature Sensor can monitor temperatures from -67 to 257°F and can be relayed like all sensors back to the main station.




 * Humidity -** Humidity can destroy components or cause circuts to short or make the device underperform. AVTECH's Humidity Sensor can detect humidty from 0 to 100%.


 * Voltage/Power -** Voltage and Power that are fed to the hardware and their UPS backups can be monitored by AVTECH's Power Sensor. This sensor can detect irregularities instantly.


 * Security -** As well as monitoring the enviroment's affect on the hardware, security of the room can be monitored by several sensors and cameras. These can notify the monitor of break-ins or activity in secure rooms. Real-time recognition of movement up to 40' away can be achieved with a cone coverage of approximately 90° wide. Sensors can also detect entrance into rooms, the opening of doors and cabinets. Camera's can feed real-time images to the control center.


 * Water -** Water is extremely hazardous to circuitry with power flowing through. Many components could be immersed in water and subsequently carefully dried out when no power is present. However, water can completely destroy hardware with a current. AVTECH's Flood Sensor can monitor water levels throughout the room.


 * Smoke/Fire -** The presence of fire in the room or possibly the smoke of a shorting out unit can also be monitored in real-time with AVTECH's sensors.




 * Gas/Vapor** - There are also devices that monitor gases and vapors. Such can be made use of by power plants, waste water treantment plants, marine and off shore oil wells, landfill operations, coal mines, cruise ships, sewers and manholes, etc.



=Other Equipment (and Uses)=

Displayed to the right is the interSeptor. The interSeptor is used to monitor temperature and humidity in office environments to help organizations determine whether the company is following its own health and safety regulations, and that its employees are working in optimal conditions.

By data-mining the recordings, this device analyses the effects of temperature and humidity levels on: Employee Productivity Employee Efficiency Employee Sickness levels



This is AVTECH's Room Alert 26W. This device allows the connection of all of AVTECH's monitoring tools and types (such as temp/humidity, water, security, power). It is a HUB that is wireless capable and utilizes the capabilities of computer environmental monitoring hardware.

This is Network Technologies INC's Server Enviromental Monitoring System that is pretty much used for the same purposes as AVTECH's Room Alert 26W. The difference is mainly in the way the information is relayed to those who are monitoring. When a sensor exceeds a configurable threshold, the system will notify the user via email, LEDs, alarm beacon, web page, network management (SNMP), or SMS messages (via external GSM modem).