The wireless environmental monitoring sensors range from Server Room Environments includes SD devices that rely on a Wi-Fi connection and NB devices that use sim-based Narrowband communications. Wireless sensors are single-purpose products that can be used to monitor a range of environmental factors in server rooms, data centres and remote locations. Using wireless sensors reduces installation cabling costs and provides a fast way to roll out additional monitoring points for temperature, humidity and water leakage, and digital input (DI) or digital out (DO) connections. Wireless monitoring devices can be monitored using the HWG-Cloud or SensDesk remote monitoring portals and are battery powered with a battery life of 3years. DIN rail and rack mount models are also available.
How to Monitor Applications Using Wireless Environment Monitoring Sensors
SD devices can be used with a Wi-Fi or local Ethernet connection. NB devices use narrowband communications and can be ideal where it is more difficult or costly to deploy a Broadband network over multiple locations. Narrowband communications can suit remote locations and those where the Wi-Fi or a standard GSM signal can be too weak to establish a connection.
Typical applications for wireless sensors include:
Temperature, humidity and water leakage monitoring in large server rooms, data centres and remote sites including mobile telecomms
Remote building security access and intrusion prevention requiring input and output contacts
Remote Environmental Monitoring Cloud Portals
The SD and NB wireless monitoring devices can be monitored and controlled using either the HW Cloud or SensDesk portals.
Climate change is driving up ambient temperatures and causing extreme weather patterns. For server room and datacentre operators, these environmental issues are placing a greater strain on their critical infrastructure systems. Server room air conditioning systems are placed under greater load during heatwave conditions and UPS systems must use their battery power more often to cover small power outages and complete mains power failures.
There are several good reasons for monitoring a server room or datacentre for temperature and humidity, but should you place sensors and detectors at the server rack or room level and just how many sensors is the right number?
Rising cooling requirements are a common problem faced by many organisations as they adopt the latest server technologies, including high power computing. The higher the power draw of the latest servers the greater the need for air conditioning as their kW power draw adds an equal demand to the size of the air conditioning required. Edge Computing and micro data centres add another layer of complexity to the need for a dedicated remote environmental monitoring system.
Narrowband is an alternative to the more widely adopted Broadband communications. Broadband can be referred to as Wideband communications. Narrowband or Narrowband IoT (referred to as NB-IoT) is a standards-based low power wide area network (LPWA) technology that can be used for communications over a wide area for Internet of Things devices. Narrowband is less costly to establish than a Broadband-based network with improved power consumption, system capacity and spectrum efficiency.
A narrowband sensor is one that is designed to monitor and provide data for a specific function and environment. A narrowband temperature monitoring sensor may be used to collate ambient temperature data which is then available via a low power wide area (LPWA) network. Other sensors can include humidity, water leakage, smoke detection, air quality and access.
A Narrowband IoT device is one that connects provides information over a wide area network and will be powered by either a mains power AC/DC adaptor and/or internal battery which may also be used for backup in the case of a mains power supply failure.
