Data Center Solutions - Karmen's Story  

Karmen had been in the midst of scheduled maintenance at a branch office when she got the call from HQ that “the internet wasn’t working.” After catching the last train back, she now stood in front of the door to HQ’s server room. At least one server was down--maybe more--and she was the only one who could bring them back to life. Her heart sank when the blast of hot air hit her as the door opened. It wouldn't be a simple reboot this time.

The Challenge

• Data centers require HVAC year-round--many need air conditioning even in the middle of winter--and HVAC can fail.
• Data centers, usually unmanned, run expensive machinery all day, every day, with no on-going visibility into the environment.
• IT managers are responsible for IT equipment in multiple locations throughout a business, but can’t be everywhere at once.

The Solution

Karmen turned to AVTECH for a complete data center environment monitoring solution. She and her Product Specialist worked together to outfit the Room Alert 32S, AVTECH’s flagship product, with just the right combination of sensors to keep her and her team informed of conditions in the data center at company headquarters; she also decided to deploy the mid-size model, the Room Alert 12S, at branch offices, with the same sensors.

• AVTECH’s Current Loops monitor the electrical consumption of the new stand-alone air conditioners she installed as back-ups in her data center.
• Multiple Temperature & Humidity Sensors monitor the intake and exhaust at the front and back of each server rack.
• Multiple Air Flow sensors tell her and her team the status of HVAC vents in the room.
• Light Towers with Audio inside and outside of her data center provide visual and audible indicators of alert, caution or clear conditions.
• Room Entry sensors let her know if the main door or server-rack doors are open or closed.
• Motion Sensors alert her to unauthorized presence in the room.
• A Room Alert Account means she and her team can see all of her data centers in one place, without having to worry about firewalls--her Room Alerts push sensor data automatically to their account. The interface is the same even though her collegues use different mobile devices.

The Products

Room Alert 32S Current Loop Room Entry Air Flow Digital Temp & Humidity Motion Room Alert Account

Conclusion

This data center manager can log into her Room Alert Account from anywhere, at any time to check on the organization's valuable equipment across the entire enterprise. She also likes the convenience of adding new users to her account so that new team members and outside contractors can easily share visibility of Room Alert sensor status when necessary. Comparing conditions at HQ and branch offices over time is a snap with the graphing and reporting tools in her Room Alert Account.

Hear more stories from AVTECH's customers.