THE EDGE
• Dry contact closure sensing on the outer door position
• USB camera to manually ID personnel accessing enclosure matches access card
• Temperature and humidity sensors to ensure the cabinet and equipment therein is operating within parameters
• Remote power measurement and management
• Flexible power sourcing – AC or DC power
• API and SNMP support for the collection and management of sensor data and alarms
• Floor moisture sensor for shelter leaks , flooding , or AC condensation
Scenario 3 : Ensuring physical security and environmental health for distant locations
Property managers and technicians who manage any remote location need to be able to check on the condition of assets at locations across the country and the globe in real-time . The consistent monitoring for mother nature environmental factors and human interference at remote locations is key to uptime in these environments .
REMOTE
INFRASTRUCTURE CABINETS THAT SUPPORT CITIES ARE NOW BEING
USED TO SUPPORT
MULTI-PURPOSE APPLICATIONS WITHIN THOSE
CITIES .
Needs for environmental monitoring :
• Dry contact closure sensing on the outer door position
• USB camera to manually ID personnel accessing enclosure matches access card
• Temperature and humidity sensors to ensure the cabinet and equipment therein is operating within parameters
• Floor moisture sensor for shelter leaks , flooding , or AC condensation
• Ties to UPS and generator output for uptime status
• Remote power measurement and management
• Flexible power sourcing – AC or DC power
• Data accessible through a web interface and API for the presentation of multiple locations on a single pane of glass .
Solving the problems : Genesis of the Smart Rack Controller
The idea for the SRC is to provide intelligence in the IT cabinet or remote enclosure for those installations where remotely managed PDUs were not implemented ( legacy installations ) or not desirable . Raritan ’ s SRC is an
intelligent sensor management solution that serves as a central connection point for environmental monitoring , asset location , physical access and other monitoring and security sensors .
It addresses the gaps in instrumenting a facility or data centre by providing an allin-one stand-alone intelligent device that collects and delivers real-time actionable data about your facility without needing to change the configuration of existing power distribution or IT infrastructure .
The SRC family of products delivers a myriad of additional data points for the data centre operator beyond the standard temperature and humidity at the rack level .
Sensors are available to measure differential air pressure , floor moisture ( leak sensor ), vibration , proximity ( through PIR ), the status of dry contact closures and perform asset tracking . In addition , the SRC supports the interface of smoke detectors via dry contact closure interface , Logitech USB cameras and remote IT door lock card readers for access control .
Raritan ’ s SRC family consists of four models , from the entry level SRC-0100 up to the feature-rich SRC-0800 , a solution capable of integrating all the critical data points for ensuring the physical security and efficient environmental operation of a containerised data centre .
Conclusion
Needs change over time . Whether you add a new layer of intelligence to existing infrastructure or elect to rip and replace with something completely new , it makes sense to implement more data collection and intelligence to facilitate remote operation and troubleshooting going forward .
This applies to data centres , Edge Computing sites , 5G wireless and remotely operated radio , TV and telecommunications sites .
Adding sensors and the Smart Rack Controller to your build-out plans is one essential means of implementing the monitoring and access controls you need to ensure the physical security and uptime of your most demanding customers and your critical infrastructure . ◊
Biography
Marc Cram is Director of New Market Development for Legrand DPC ( Data , Power and Control Division ), which includes the Raritan and Server Technology brands . A technology evangelist , he is driven by a passion to deliver a positive power experience for the data centre owner / operator . He earned a bachelor ’ s degree in electrical engineering from Rice University and has more than 30 years of experience in the field of electronics .
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