Installed in over 160 server rooms across the UK, Channel Islands, Gibraltar and continental Europe, Spook is fast becoming the IT professional’s choice in managed server room monitoring. Monitored Conditions
Spook is designed to monitor any environmental condition a client wants. However, typical conditions that are monitored are;
> Power
Management and control of power is becoming more important. Knowing if you have a power outage or that your UPS and/or Generator have invoked can be critical. Spook also provides an array of power monitors and Power Strips that offer data for our clients to review and be alerted to abnormal conditions. Please review our Power Management section for more information.
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> Temperature
The ambient temperature of a computer room has a direct effect on components within IT equipment.
Service providers of IT hardware offer guidelines to recommended temperature levels for equipment. A server will usually fail or invoke automatic thermal shutdown once the temperature rises to a sufficient level. Once a thermal shutdown occurs or if the equipment fails it can not be used again until the temperature recedes and the server is re-booted. Not only could this could cause serious errors immediately or delayed over a given period but equipment may be damaged and alternative kit may need to be provided or ordered.
There is a worrying trend for manufacturers of IT equipment to query warranties and maintenance contracts for equipment by suggesting the operating environment is inappropriate. By using Spook clients can prove, via audit trail, the operating condition of the environment of their IT.
Spook continually monitors the temperature of a given area and forms a comprehensive database for each sensor. Each sensor is allocated an independent "high" and "low" setting to account for hot spots of a computer room. Any events that cause the temperature to exceed or recede past these settings will invoke a real-time alert.
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> Water
Water Ingress, whether it is in the computer room or in a general office area, has far reaching effect. If IT equipment is exposed to water through a leaking or burst pipe or a faulty air conditioning unit it is likely they will fail. Not only will this impact the uptime of a business, the drying out process can be at best, protracted or at worst, debilitating.
The drying out of water with fans and heaters is likely to increase humidity to a level where it is impossible or illegal to work within. It is not uncommon for areas that are being treated after a deluge to be uninhabitable for employees for a number of weeks until the general area has been made safe and humidity levels have dropped. There are strict health and safety guidelines for employers not to allow employees to work in areas of contamination.
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> Humidity
It is important to maintain humidity levels for IT equipment:
High Humidity causes galvanic actions to occur between some dissimilar metals. This eventually causes a high resistance between connections, leading to equipment failures. High humidity also has adverse effects on magnetic tape media and paper.
Low Humidity contributes to high levels of electrostatic charges. This increases the Electro Static Discharge (ESD) voltage potential. ESD can cause component damage. Also, paper feed problems on high speed printers are usually encountered in low humidity environments.
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> Smoke
Whether it is a smouldering cable or smoke particles in the air, Spook alerts clients to the event immediately.
Spook can be integrated with your existing smoke detection service or Spook can install its own series of smoke detection units. Spook uses an array of different smoke detection units and installs a pair of smoke heads, for Ionisation and for Photoelectric (optical) detection.
Ionisation
Ionisation Smoke Detectors detect the presence of smoke by means of a small ionisation chamber and a source of ionizing radiation.
When smoke enters the ionization chamber, it disrupts the electrical current field generated by the Alpha Particles and by measuring this change in electrical current an alarm condition can be generated at the required sensitivity.
The amount of radiation in an ionisation smoke detector is extremely small and is predominantly Alpha Radiation. Alpha Radiation is very weak and is easily blocked by a sheet of paper or a few centimetres of air. Ionisation smoke detectors are therefore very safe to handle but should never be dismantled without the proper equipment.
Ionisation Smoke Detectors are generally better at detecting smaller smoke particles such as that produced by rapidly burning fires but are less sensitive to the larger smoke particles generated by smouldering fires etc.
Photoelectric (Optical)
Photoelectric Smoke Detectors detect the presence of smoke by means of a small light source and a separate photoelectric light sensitive cell housed within a sensing chamber. The sensing chamber is designed so that the light source and the photoelectric cell are mounted at acute angles to each other in separate sections of the chamber.
In normal circumstances light from the light source travels along the chamber in a straight line and does not enter the section where the photoelectric cell is. When smoke enters the chamber however the smoke particles scatter the light causing some to travel towards the photoelectric cell. By measuring the amount of light reaching the photoelectric cell an alarm condition can be generated at the required sensitivity.
Photoelectric Smoke Detectors are generally more sensitive to larger smoke particles such as that generated by dense smoke or smouldering fires but are less sensitive to small particles of smoke found in rapidly burning fires.
It is important to remember that Spook should not be used as a replacement or instead of a client's own building smoke detection service.
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> UPS Status
Many businesses invest in a UPS for the computer room to ensure equipment is powered in the event of a mains power outage. Spook connects to a pair of voltage free contacts to monitor when a UPS takes over the provision of power when there is a general power outage.
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> Generator Status
Many businesses invest in a generator to provide long term power in the event of a mains power outage. These are usually set to automatically invoke. Spook connects to a pair of voltage free contacts to monitor when a generator takes over the provision of power when there is a general power outage.
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> IP Ping
An unlimited number of IP addresses can be monitored for the availability of devices on a client LAN/WAN.
Each IP address is assigned a friendly name. If an IP address can not be polled Spook sends an alarm of the incident. Spook checks for the IP address a number of times (defined by the client) prior to raising an alert in line with the alarm methods prescribed by the client.
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