Temperature Monitoring with Room Alert
The computer room “Environment” refers to the physical conditions which may cause problems if they exceed certain thresholds, hence the need for temperature monitoring. As well as temperature monitoring you may wish to consider the following potential environmental problems:-
· Temperature (eg Aircon problems)
· Humidity (eg Aircon problems)
· Flooding (eg cold water supply to Aircon leaking)
· Smoke (eg electronic component burning)
· Mains Power and UPS problems (eg power cut)
· Doors Opening (intruder)
· Panic (user presses the ‘Panic Button’)
Temperature monitoring is far and away the most important consideration because increasing room temperature can lead to so many disastrous consequences, from outright server failure to software malfunction and cause a domino effect on the whole data centre. So think about temperature monitoring first but after that probably your mains power supplies and UPS battery systems.
In our experience, the most common causes of environmental problems in the computer room are:-
(1) Air Conditioning failure
(2) Power Supply failure
The most common type of problem we encounter is when the air conditioning fails. Switch off the air conditioning and observe what happens to the computer room temperature! This can lead to high temperature, high or low humidity and (if the water inlet pipe leaks, which is not uncommon) water flooding.
The Room Alert Sensor Unit
The Room Alert Sensor Unit (SU) hardware has its own built in controller for connecting directly to the ip network. This network interface device built into the SU is called a Lantronix “X-port” device which presents itself as a standard RJ45 network connector on the SU. Internally to the SU (between the Xport and our microprocessor) the baud rate is 9600 baud, 8 data bits, no parity, one stop bit.
Standard Installation – PLUG ‘N PLAY
The standard installation procedure is to plug the SU into the network and it will auto-allocate itself an ip address. If you have a DHCP server it should be able to allocate an ip address for you. The Xport interface on the hardware is set up for DHCP/BOOTP/Auto-ip when it leaves the factory, which means it will “plug-n-play” whatever network you have:
1) plug it in the network. If you have a DHCP server and can look up the ip address which it has allocated, note the address and go to (5) below. Otherwise,
2) install and run Lantronix Device Installer 4
The download zip file from www.monitorwindows.com contains the following,
Microsoft .NET
Device Installer 3 (for any pre-2007 Room Alert boxes you may have)
Device Installer 4 in a separate zip file within the main download
Device Installer 4 requires Microsoft .NET to be installed first, so if you don’t have .NET on the PC start the installation for Device Installer 3 which will install .NET first and then halt the install before Device Installer 3 is installed and switch to the install of the Device Installer 4 zip.
3) in Device Installer 4 click SEARCH - this should show up the box and its MAC address which must be checked against the MAC address printed on the back of the Room Alert box.
4) note the ip address
5) set up the RA2 MO(s) in NightWatch using the ip address
Testing with NightWatch
Run NightWatch. In main menu click OPTIONS, then Add Object.
Double-click Room Alert 2 Monitored Object (MO)
Enter a name at the top, in ‘Identifier’ eg Test
In ‘IP Addr or name’ enter the ip address of the Room Alert box above
In the ‘Built in sensors’ section put 15C in the Temperature box.
Click OK, click Accept.
Click the “Scan” button (3rd from the left). This will scan all MO’s once.
The Room Alert scan will alert if the room temperature is above 15C
After the scan, click STATUS then double-click the Room Alert 2 MO
Scroll down to the bottom to see “Last Temperature”.
This is the current room temperature reading (uncalibrated).
If it is below 15C then the alarm will not occur and you will have to go back and set the Temperature box in the MO setup to a value below 15C to trigger an alarm.
Note that there is no Alarm Object yet so the alarm will not trigger an alert.
HINT: in NightWatch setup hit ‘F1’ for the relevant online help page.
The box connectivity can also be tested with Windows Hyperterminal in “Winsock” mode, using the ip address and port 10001. Once connected, hitting ‘cr’ should get a double string of digits from the box.
Run START/Programs/Accessories/Communications/Hyperterminal
Give is a session name, eg RA
Choose Connect using: TCP/iP (Winsock)
Give it the ip address and port 10001
Go to File/Properties/Settings and go into ASCII Setup
Under ASCII Receiving check the following:
"Append line feeds to incoming line ends"
“Force incoming data to 7-bit ASCII”
Click OK, OK
Then hit Return and you should see two rows of numbers, which
means its working OK.
The 2nd row should contain a version number followed by a release date.
Sensor Inputs
Discrete solid state Temperature and Humidity sensors are built into the Sensor Unit. The provide actual temperature (C or F) and humidity (%) values to the software on the PC. Electronic circuitry is also on board for flood monitoring and power monitoring.
Two low voltage inputs are provided for power. One is the power to the Sensor Unit itself. The other is for monitoring mains power in the room.
The Flood Sensor input is on channel one of the four ‘external’ sensor inputs. The flood sensor input is wired to one or more “Flood Sensor Extenders” which can be daisy chained together around the room. This is to allow water detection in several places without having to duplicate the expensive flood sensor electronics.
To summarise the sensor options in Room Alert :-
Temperature values in C or F +/- 0.1
Humidity values in % RH (Relative Humidity)
1 X Power sensor input socket
1 X Flood sensor electronics (built-in)
1 x Flood sensor input channel for the flood sensor extenders
Three additional spare input channels for any kind of generic sensor.
Temperature and Humidity values can be logged to a file and graphed using XL. See “Log Samples” checkbox in Room Alert MO.
The spare channels can be used for wall mounted additional Temperature or Humidity sensors with a fixed ON/OFF setting rather than providing values. Alternatively they can be used for Smoke, Intruder or Panic sensors. They will connect to any volt-free contacts providing maximum flexibility for the user. For example, a relay contact can be provided from the UPS panel or a generator or any other building management systems already in place.
If the flood input is not required, it will also double-up as a conventional sensor channel but the response time is slower (about 60 seconds) due to the slower reaction time on the flood sensor electronics.
“Chain of Command”:
NightWatch ---------ß--------Sensor Unit---------ß---------Sensors
(software) network (hardware) ‘copper’ (hardware)
on a PC
Windows XP, 2003/2008 Server or Vista, Win 7 PC.
Internet Explorer 6 or greater
Minimum PC processor speed is 1 GHz.
Minimum PC RAM memory requirement is 1GB
100 MB free disc space available.
A com port should be available for the exclusive use of a modem for dialup pager or SMS text alerts Recommended external modems are 3-Com V90 EXTERNAL or Hayes Accura V90 EXTERNAL.
TCP/ip Network connection point near to the Room Alert SU box location.
The Room AlertÔ Software in ‘NightWatch’
If using NightWatch software to alert, the software interfaces to the Sensor Unit via a “Monitored Object” (MO) called Room Alert 2 (in NightWatch click OPTIONS/Add Object ).
The Room Alert 2 MO can monitor the Room Alert Sensor Unit and generate alarms when abnormal environmental conditions are detected.
The Room Alert2Ô MO Setup in NightWatch
If using NightWatch software to alert, the software interfaces to the Sensor Unit via a “Monitored Object” (MO) called Room Alert 2. This connects to the SU either serially via com port or via an IP address over the network.
HINT – when setting up in NightWatch, hit F1 key for contextual online help.
Room Alert 2 MO Characteristics
Monitoring is done via the Room Alert Monitored Object (MO), which has the following characteristics as displayed in the MO setup screen in NightWatch:
Identifier
This is a short user defined label used to identify this Room Alert 2 object.
Type “Room Alert” or similar here. This can differentiate multiple sensors in different locations, eg Room Alert Comms Room, Room Alert UPS Room etc.
Description
This is an optional description of the monitored object.
Type “Computer Room Environment Monitor” or similar here.
Enabled
Enables/disables the object for monitoring.
Used to temporarily exclude an object from monitoring.
Interval
This is the scan interval for this object. This is the minimum time that must pass between scans of this object. If set to 0 it means default to value in Globals (normally 60).
Severity
This is the Severity indicator label for this object. It allows you to rank the importance of alarms on this object. The range is 0-9, with 0 as the most severe alarm condition.
Recommend 0 normally.
Delay
This is the number of seconds that an alarm on this object must persist before alarm notification is performed. This should be equal to or greater than a multiple of the object or global interval.
Recommend 0 normally.
Com Port
If using a serial SU, select the COM port that the Sensor Unit is attached to, otherwise see below.
IP Addr or Name
Enter the IP address or name assigned to the Room Alert 2 device you wish to use.
This defaults to port 10001. NOTE: If an address is entered in this box, the Com Port selection is ignored.
Sensor Number
Each Sensor Unit supports 3 user sensors in addition to the flood sensor channel. Select the sensor channel (number) that is to be monitored. Selecting zero (0) means that none of the three channels will be scanned.
Normal Signal
Set the signal level (LO or HI) that is returned by the attached sensor for NORMAL conditions. This is normally LO.
Sensor Type
Select or type a descriptive label that identifies the attached EXTERNAL sensor, eg SMOKE.
Simulate Alarm
Actvates the Alert Simulation mode. This is for testing the software or evaluating prior to purchase. Check this box to test the MO without a Sensor Unit attached to the system. Alarms are simulated and cleared on alternating scans of this MO.
Flood
Check this box to enable monitoring of the built-in flood sensor. Flood sensor extenders must be wired to the BLUE Flood sensor contacts on the Sensor Unit. Extenders can be daisy chained to monitor several points in the room.
Power
Check this box to enable monitoring of the mains power supply. Typically, the Power sensor monitors the power input to the UPS. This way if there is loss of power to the UPS, you can be alerted that the UPS is active and you have x minutes of power left.
This requires a 2nd Power Adaptor to be connected to the SU in addition to its own mains power adaptor.
Dead Box
Check this box to monitor for loss of Main Power to the Sensor Unit, or for physical disconnection of Sensor Unit from the PC or a faulty SU.
Enter the temperature value at which the alert will be tripped, followed by C or F eg 23C, 72F etc. Default is F. Use > to alert when temperature falls below the threshold eg 32>.
Humidity
Enter the RH (Relative Humidity) % value at which the alert will be tripped, eg 50, 62 etc. Use > to alert when humidity falls below the threshold eg 20>.
Correction
You may set a correction value + or - to be applied to the temperature or humidity values read from the RA2 box to allow calibration once in situ. This enables the temperatures displayed to reflect the actual temperature inside the room. There will be a difference because of the heating effect of the electronics inside the box.
Log Samples
Check this box to log each data sample read from the Room Alert 2 device to a disk file. This file will be in the install directory and named RA2nn.log where nn is the internal object number of the Monitored Object. This number is always the same for each MO instance.
You can use a separate MO just for logging which has less frequent scanning (“Interval” is set to 3600 seconds for example).
Camera IP
Optional IP address or DNS name of Axis video camera to associate with this RA2 box. If present, live video from the camera will be displayed on the Web Status page for this monitored object.
Identifies the Alarm Object to be used for alarm notification when this monitored object generates an alarm. The drop down list shows all available Alarm Objects. An Alarm Object must be selected to perform paging, broadcasting or email of alarm events for this object.
Alarm Text
When an alarm is generated for an object, a default alarm notification message is issued. This message identifies the object and describes the alarm. You can override the default alarm message by entering custom alarm notification message text in this box. You can use substitution keywords in the message which will be replaced by their run time values when the message is generated. The substitution keywords appear as [keyword] in the message text. When the message is sent, whatever value the software currently holds for the keyword is substituted for the keyword in square brackets. For example, [SENSORTYPE] might expand to “TEMPERATURE”. The keywords you can use for this object are:
Keyword Description
[TYPE] expands to the monitored object's type.
[ID] expands to the monitored object's unique identification string.
[DESC] expands to the monitored object's long description.
[SENSORTYPE] expands to the sensor type label.
[SENSORNUMBER] expands to the sensor number.
[NORMALSIGNAL] expands to LO or HI, the normal signal value.
[COMPORT] expands to the com port for the Room Alert device.
[TEMPTHRESHOLD] expands to the temperature alarm threshold value.
[TEMPERATURE] expands to the last reported actual temperature value.
[HUMIDTYTHRESHOLD] expands to the % Humidity alarm threshold value.
[HUMIDITY] expands to the last reported actual % humidty value.
[ALARMID] expands to the unique numeric identifier for the monitored object's current alarm event.
[TIME] expands to the current time.
[DATE] expands to the current date.
[AGENT] expands to the the application name of "NightWatch".
[SYSTEM] expands to the name of this system.