Princeton Computers Stay Cool and Dry

Nov 1, 2004 12:00 PM

Like other universities and research centers, Princeton University has been tasked to protect the school's intellectual property, students and faculty. This includes securing facilities that house expensive equipment and sensitive data at the University's School of Computer Science building.

“We are always concerned about power supply, humidity, ambient temperature and related equipment that supports our facilities. If we have some sort of mishap that knocks out air conditioning in the middle of the night, we need to know about it,” says Chris Tengi, systems and network administrator at the Department of Computer Science.

Concerned about the prospects of system problems due to human or environmental impediments, Tengi chose to deploy the Remote Site Manager system from Omnitronix, Seattle.

The system uses as many as 16 different “EventSensors” that monitor temperature, humidity, airflow and noise, and it can be daisy-chained for connection to Ethernet, phone line, Internet or wireless systems.

“The threats we encounter are mostly heat and humidity,” Tengi says, “although we are certainly concerned about unauthorized entry or human actions that can compromise our systems.”

The system includes three self-contained units for three separate rooms. They are connected to sensors that monitor heat, humidity and door activity to each unit.

Tengi is considering the purchase of an additional SL10 for the computer facility's UPS room. He also forsees integrating other devices, such as surveillance cameras from Axis Communications, Chelmsford, Mass., with environmental event-sensing capabilities, which would activate cameras if a sensor detected any motion.

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