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Visual Data Center Combines RFID With 3-D Thermal Imaging
If the system determines that a particular area has become too warm, the facility manager or another staff member can receive an alert via text message or e-mail. The data can also be used to identify trouble spots, such as locations at which hot exhaust air might be circulating into the cold air intended for equipment intake. According to Webel, Optimum Path Systems selected RF Code's RFID-based system rather than a wired solution because of its simplicity of installation. "It makes a much easier, faster implementation with more flexibility as to where you place the tag," he states.
The use of RFID, says Chris Gaskins, RF Code's VP of product development, "boils down to cost and the time and effort to deploy." RF Code tags can be applied in just a few hours, with between one and four tags installed for every row of racks, and several RFID readers on a data center with 150 to 250 racks. Optimum Path Systems applies the tags at multiple locations in order to provide 3-D capabilities, such as at the top, middle and bottom of a rack. The temperature tags cost $49 each, while the humidity and temperature tag is priced at $99. Readers cost $1,245 apiece. If the tags beacon at a rate of every 10 seconds, the battery lasts about three years.
While a single RF Code reader can reliably cover up to 12,000 to 14,000 square feet in an office environment, in a highly metallic environment—such as a data center—an interrogator's coverage is limited to 2,000 to 5,000 square feet, depending on whether the tags are placed in closed or open racks.
RF Code has signed similar agreements this year with California data center monitoring company Modius and U.K. data center design firm Future Facilities, which provides "Computation Fluid Dynamics," a system that displays not only sensor data but also information regarding air flow through a data center. In both cases, the companies sell their own software packaged with RF Code's temperature- and humidity-tracking technology.
RF Code has also installed systems that utilize the company's own temperature-tracking software application (see RFID Protects 911 Center From IT Emergencies).
Other providers of RFID-enabled temperature-tracking solutions for data centers include AeroScout (see Belgian Hospitals Use RFID to Track Temperatures, Assets and Patients).
The use of RFID, says Chris Gaskins, RF Code's VP of product development, "boils down to cost and the time and effort to deploy." RF Code tags can be applied in just a few hours, with between one and four tags installed for every row of racks, and several RFID readers on a data center with 150 to 250 racks. Optimum Path Systems applies the tags at multiple locations in order to provide 3-D capabilities, such as at the top, middle and bottom of a rack. The temperature tags cost $49 each, while the humidity and temperature tag is priced at $99. Readers cost $1,245 apiece. If the tags beacon at a rate of every 10 seconds, the battery lasts about three years.
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| Shawn Griggs, director of VDC sales |
RF Code has signed similar agreements this year with California data center monitoring company Modius and U.K. data center design firm Future Facilities, which provides "Computation Fluid Dynamics," a system that displays not only sensor data but also information regarding air flow through a data center. In both cases, the companies sell their own software packaged with RF Code's temperature- and humidity-tracking technology.
Other providers of RFID-enabled temperature-tracking solutions for data centers include AeroScout (see Belgian Hospitals Use RFID to Track Temperatures, Assets and Patients).
