ESIS Newsletter - April 2011
In this issue:
- New InterSeptor monitors the Server Room Environment
- Prevent Data Centre Meltdown with 24x7 Voice Alerts - FREE for 1 year!
- Temperature Loggers - Part 3 : Resolution and Accuracy
- New Vaisala HMW80 Wall Mount Humidity and Temperature Sensor
- Two Advantech products receive Taiwan Excellence Award
- Rugged PC Review: Advantech ARK-6320 Atom-based Mini-ITX Box PC
Quotes of the Month:
Concern for man and his fate must always form the chief interest of all technical endeavors. Never forget this in the midst of your diagrams and equations.
- Albert Einstein
Consider the rights of others before your own feelings, and the feelings of others before your own rights.
- John Wooden
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Note: Prices shown are subject to change without notice.
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New InterSeptor monitors the Server Room Environment
InterSeptor Prevents IT Meltdown
Esis has launched Jacarta's interSeptor, the first in a new generation of cost-effective IT monitoring devices designed to provide early detection of potential disasters in IT environments.
InterSeptor is a 10/100mbps Ethernet device that monitors the status of temperature, humidity, water leaks, UPS, smoke and security conditions in data centres, comms rooms and racks. interSeptor can be monitored via a browser interface or SNMP network management system such as HP OpenView. Email alarm notification can be provided to up to 12 recipients via an SMTP server. Daily status reports can also be sent via email to key personnel and a range of comprehensive logging and graphing tools are also available.
InterSeptor is supplied complete with temperature and humidity sensors, but it has the capacity to accommodate an additional temperature/humidity sensor and a further optional sensors. The unique range of interSeptor sensor accessories can ensure that early warning of all potential environmental threats can be provided.
With its simple ‘out-of-the-box’ operation and at a list price of $650+GST, interSeptor ensures that the essential function of efficiently monitoring critical IT environments can now be both comprehensive and inexpensive.
More Information on interSeptor>>
Please contact us for a solution tailored to suit your needs.
Prevent Data Centre Meltdown with 24x7 Voice Alerts —
FREE for 1 year!
Esis has enhanced its Jacarta interSeptor environmental monitoring solution by providing its Alert Centre service free for one-year.
Jacarta Sales Director, Kevin Fox, states: “The dilemma for IT Managers is not only how to cost-effectively monitor temperature, humidity, security, power, leak detection, etc. in their data centres and racks, but also to ensure that notification of alarm events can be received 24 x 7. The nightmare scenario is that an air conditioning unit fails late one Saturday evening, and by the time IT personnel arrive on Monday morning, the data centre is in meltdown.
“Unfortunately, it’s entirely possible that SMS and email alerts may go un-noticed in the early hours resulting in total catastrophe, but automated telephone calls relaying alarm details to key personnel will almost certainly be received.”
Alert Centre is an automated facility that sends voice, SMS and email alerts in an escalation sequence to up to 6 personnel. All alerts can detail the nature and location of the alarm. Should a recipient fail to acknowledge an alarm, the alerts will be sent to the next person in the sequence. Contact details can be managed via an on-line account allowing for changes to be managed by IT personnel as required.
The Alert Centre facility is supplied by Jacarta on an annual subscription basis ($300+GST p.a.) but is now available free-of-charge for the first year with all new interSeptor purchases. The interSeptor is priced at $650+GST and provides temperature and humidity monitoring as standard, with a whole host of optional sensors also available. The interSeptor Pro (pictured) is a multi-channel version for data centres and large server rooms, with pricing starting at $2579+GST (including 1 year free Alert Centre subscription).
Jacarta claim that the interSeptor will pay for itself (probably many times over) the very first time an alarm condition is activated.
More Information on interSeptor >>
To discuss how we can help your business please contact us.
Temperature Loggers - Part 3 : Resolution and accuracy
The next three parts of this series focus on understanding the specifications and the main features that you should be aware of when comparing temperature loggers. Many of the features apply to thermometers.
This part focuses on “resolution” and “accuracy”. They are two terms that are often misunderstood.
Resolution
The resolution is an indication of how specific the answer is. It is measured in degrees. The smaller the value, the better the device.
For example, a resolution of 0.5° means that a reading of 3.5° could be between 3.25° and 3.75°. A resolution of 0.1° means that a reading of 3.5° could be between 3.45° and 3.55°.
The maximum permissible resolution depends upon the application. For example, when monitoring body temperature it is critical to have at least 0.1° resolution. For food this degree of resolution is often not necessary. The change in temperature that has to be recorded is a couple of degrees and a resolution of 0.5° is often acceptable.
Accuracy
The accuracy indicates how close to the actual temperature a reading is. The smaller the number, the better the device. The current HACCP requirement in the food industry for accuracy is typically 1°C.
Accuracy versus resolution
The difference between accuracy and resolution can be seen in this simple analogy.
Two people have a watch. One watch shows the hours, minutes and seconds. It has a resolution of 1 second. The other watch only has hours and minutes. It has a resolution of 1 minute.
The first person sets their watch once a month and it can be up to 5 minutes fast or slow. It has an accuracy of +/- 5 minutes. The second person sets their watch daily and it has an accuracy of 1 minute.
In this example, the first person could state the time as "1:34 PM and 23 seconds" but could be up to 5 minutes out. Their answer is specific (good resolution) but inaccurate. The second person can only say the time is "1:36 PM" but will be within one minute of the time. Their answer has a lower resolution but is more accurate.
There are many thermometers on the market that will display the temperature to one or two decimal places but have an accuracy of greater than 1°. Do not mistake decimal places for accuracy. If the accuracy is not stated on the product then assume it is greater than 1°.
Sources of errors
(Many people can skip this section)
It should be noted that the accuracy is dependent upon a number of factors. They are:
- The instrument: The device itself will cause errors because of limitations in digital processing and physical issues (eg "cold junction compensation" with thermocouples).
- Sensor: The sensor is often the greatest source of error in the reading. It is also difficult to compensate for sensor errors. It requires that only sensor ever be used with the instrument and that it be used at a certain temperature. Thermistors and PT100s are interchangeable within 0.4°. Thermocouples, however, have much larger errors. Type K can have errors up to 2.2° and 1° for type T. Special tolerances can reduce the Type T's errors by half and make them acceptable for use with food. Type K should never be used with food. They are outside the 1° accuracy required.
Note that the accuracy required is the total of the instrument and sensor error. For example, if an instrument has a 0.4° error and a sensor has a 0.8° error then they are not acceptable because the total is 1.2° error.
Many devices fail because they have an accuracy of 1° plus a percentage error of the reading (eg 1° +/- 3% of reading = 1.3° at 10°). It is the total possible error that is important in determining if a system complies with the standards. - Measurement error: This is difficult to predict and depends upon the skill of the operator as well as what they are trying to measure. Using the wrong device will produce a false reading. For example an infra-red thermometer measures surface temperature only. The temperature within the item could be significantly different.
But why don’t they agree?
A very common question is “why don’t two monitoring devices show the same temperature?” For example a fridge may have a digital display and a temperature logger but they never show the same temperature.
There are a number of reasons for this:
- The inaccuracy of the units may cancel each other out or add to each other.
- They are monitoring different locations. There is a large temperature variation in fridges, containers, rooms etc as you move from the centre to the outside, top to bottom and even left to right. Unless the two sensors are in identical locations, they are measuring different temperatures.
- Some devices respond to the temperature faster than other devices. This is discussed in part 5.
- Some devices provide a calculated value. This is particularly true for vaccine fridges where they simulate a vial of a particular size.
Do not assume that one is right and one is wrong. There are reasons for the variations. If you have results that you can’t explain please contact us and we will gladly discuss them with you.
New Vaisala HMW80 Wall Mount Humidity and Temperature Sensor
Cost-efficient and reliable wall mount humidity and temperature measurement for ventilation control.
The Vaisala INTERCAP® Humidity and Temperature Transmitter Series HMW80 combines proven stability with easy installation and reliable operation. The HMW80 offers both combined relative humidity and temperature measurement, as well as temperature-only measurement for temperature control applications. Its unique design helps prevent the distortion of temperature and relative humidity measurements that often affects sensor performance.
Ready to use out of the box, the HMW80 requires no preconfiguration or adjustment, and is easy to install thanks to its simple two-piece construction: just complete the
wiring to the terminal block on the bottom of the unit, then snap on the lid of the electronics enclosure to complete the installation. This quick and simple process means that the electronics are not subjected to the dusty conditions often present during the early phases of a building project.
The HMW80’s enclosure is made of UL V0-approved materials and is IP30 protected. The new design in signal white (RAL9003) color, blends in well on most modern office
walls. The transmitter is compatible with European, US, and Japanese junction boxes, and is covered by a two-year warranty.
The HMW80 is available in four different versions:
- TMW82: 4–20mA (temperature only)
- TMW83: 0–10V (temperature only)
- HMW82: 2x 4–20mA (relative humidity and temperature)
- HMW83: 2x 0–10V (relative humidity and temperature)
The high power output required by the measurement signals often distorts temperature and relative humidity measurements in wall sensors. This self-heating increases the
temperature reading and decreases the humidity reading. This problem has been minimized in the HMW80 by using thermal modeling and testing during the design phase.
Please contact us for more information.
Two Advantech products receive Taiwan Excellence Award
The Taiwan Excellence Award program has been going on for over 19 years, and is recognized among industry insiders for highlighting the most innovative and exciting new products, and the 2010 winners were recently announced on Dec. 21, 2010. According to the organizer, there were 974 products from 381 companies nominated to participate in the annual award program this year. Advantech is proud to announce that 10 of its 11 nominated products received recognition, including the TPC series of Touch Panel PCs and the PEC-3240 Embedded Motion Controller. This outstanding performance is a result of the innovative and eco-friendly design of Advantech’s new products.
Advantech’s TPC- 650H/651H/1250H/1251H/1550H/1551H are cost-effective fanless touch panel computers that support a wide temperature range from -20~ 60° C, and can be used in any harsh environment. They also feature DC/DC power conversion efficiency and reduced standby power consumption, meeting the strict guidelines of the Energy Star certification.
The PEC-3240 is an Embedded Motion Controller powered by the Intel Celeron M processor with 4-axis motion control and 32-ch isolated digital I/O. It integrates many automation tasks, such as processing, control and communications, into one single compact controller, which helps customers shorten system development time and allows it to be seamlessly integrated into diverse applications. Featuring a robust design, advanced motion control capabilities and rich interfaces, PEC-3240 is one of the first all-in-one automation controllers in the market today.
Please contact us for more information on these products.
Rugged PC Review: Advantech ARK-6320 Atom-based Mini-ITX Box PC
In this article we're looking at the ARK-6320, yet another very compact box PC from Taiwanese industrial and embedded systems specialist Advantech. This is essentially a full computer in a very compact, industrial-strength package with emphasis on connectivity and longevity. Advantech describes the ARK-6320 as an all-in-one embedded box PC with great expansion capability, and is especially suitable for industrial automation, KIOSK/POS, digital signage (DSA), gaming, and other embedded applications. As you can see in the picture below, the 6320 is simply a black box, with a design dominated by the large finned cooling sink on top of the unit. This means no fan, no noise from a fan, and no fan that can break. That can be crucial in applications where absolute 7/24/365 reliability is a must.
What you get with the ARK-6320 is a standard Mini-ITX motherboard packaged into a compact steel chassis. Mini-ITX is a motherboard form factor standard designed specifically for low power consumption and passive cooling. The board itself measures 6.7 x 6.7 inches and shares mounting points and expansion slot and interface areas with the ATX standard, meaning they easily fit into regular ATX tower and desktop housings. Mini-ITX isn't about a lot of expansion via multiple slots. Instead, the small form factor is geared towards providing full PC functionality in compact, fanless systems, and that's how Advantech used it in the ARK-6320.