- Created By : 09-Mar-2016
- Published In: Tutorial
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One of the most important issues of a physical security of a server equipment as well as a security of the entire IT-infrastructure is tracking and controlling access to server rooms. A tracking system must notify system administrators and technical specialists about any access to a server room or protected object 24 hours a day 7 days a week with a possibility to browse a history of events in any moment of time. Such way of informing allows system administrators to control an access to the object without using expensive access control systems, which contain different types of electronic locks, components of employee identification via electronic maps, coded key locks and other security elements.
In this article, an example of organising the system of tracking access to server room on the basis of NetPing device and a monitoring system PRTG Network Monitor will be examined. The essence of the system is in monitoring a door opening/closing sensor, which is connected to a NetPing device by means of the PRTG monitoring system, as well as building a graph of opening a door within different time intervals.
NetPing company announces the issue of firmware updates for devices of remote monitoring of server rooms UniPing server solution v4/SMS and UniPing server solution v3. New firmware versions for devices contain error fixes and small implementations of new functionality.
What has been changed in the latest version?
To control and monitor a corporate IT environment, it is possible to use the product from the Microsoft company named System Center Operations Manager (SCOM), which is included in the integrated management platform System Center. This product allows combining the information about the operability from different components of IT infrastructure, providing its generalized representation in one console. SCOM allows tracking services, devices and operations for many PCs in the network. Operators can rapidly estimate a state of IT environment and its IT services, run different systems and workloads using multiple representations, which show the information about a status, operability, and performance.
Previously, we examined an example of integrating NetPing devices with a cloud service dweet.io. A distinguishing feature of the service is a lack of the need to sign up or configure anything to work with it – data from your devices can be transmitted at once. You can watch changing data from sensors in the view of graphs via the address:
On the basis of a developed functionality of sensor monitoring devices and remote controlling of NetPing power supply, it is possible to implement collecting information in different systems of monitoring and accounting. First of all, it is necessary to watch important parameters in the field of interest, as well as building various reports and charts for a specified period of time.
Receiving the information from NetPing devices can be flexible when based on the support of an SNMP protocol and specialized HTTP API commands. Everything necessary to do is to have a NetPing device with connected sensors, certain software or a script and a little time for configuring.
In the previous publications on an integration of NetPing devices, two examples with cloud services of Internet of things concept (IoT) were examined: xively.com and thethings.io. Now it is a turn for the integration of NetPing devices with a similar service dweet.io to be examined.
A distinctive feature of this service is the fact that there is no need to sign up or configure something to work with it – data from your devices can be transferred at once. The service is built on the principle of objects named "things", into which a data is transferred through HTTP requests. In case if there is no object with such name, it is created automatically. A name for a future object must be unique.
NetPing devices for monitoring server rooms have one more remarkable feature – it will allow to organize a notification system on dangerous situations or emergencies at objects. Such systems are sometimes used at businesses for mass notification of staff or persons in charge, who must in turn take actions to evacuate people or eliminate adverse effects.
In this article an example of implementing «alarm buttons», i.e. a notification system, using NetPing devices will be regarded.
Three «alarm buttons» will be used in a notification system at the objects: №1, №2, №3. When clicking any of these buttons a siren alarm will trigger, which is installed at the object №4. In addition, there is one more button «Cancel» at the object №4, when clicking it a siren alarm is switched off.
The service thethings.io offers a full range of solutions for the market of Internet of Things (hereinafter IoT) (Internet of things concept), as well as a simple and flexible API for the developers of IoT applications. This service is not related to any certain hardware platform and can be integrated with almost any device if it supports one of the next protocols: HTTP, Websockets, MQTT or CoAP. More detailed information on the issue can be learnt at this page of the project.
As a majority of projects of the Internet of things concept (Internet of Things, IoT) or cloud services, the service xively.com:
- Provides a platform (backend) for integration with other devices: a service is not connected to any certain hardware platform, instead it uses a standard HTTP API mechanism – this allows easy integrating of any device;
- Can serve a platform for developing own applications: in the section for developers there are ready libraries for writing applications, including mobile ones, on different programming languages for different hardware platforms;
- Offers a possibility for automation – triggers: a service allows interacting between different devices through the mechanism of HTTP POST requests
Certain NetPing devices have got a possibility to work with 1-Wire sensors, such as 1-Wire temperature sensor, (THS), 1-Wire humidity sensor, (HS) and others. In turn, this allows to plug and configure sensors quickly and easily. After all, it is only to insert a cable with an RJ-11 plug into 1W (RJ-12) jack of the NetPing device to plug a 1-Wire sensor in.
In this article, we will examine plugging 1-Wire sensors to NetPing devices directly as well as using splitters and 1-Wire extenders.
TRASSIR software, which is developed by the Russian company Digital Security Systems Lab (DSSL), is a leader in the area of developing professional software for digital video surveillance systems. A possibility to integrate monitoring devices of a server room and NetPing remote power supply monitoring devices is implemented in TRASSIR software. In this case NetPing devices serve as executing devices and allow to increase a functionality of the system TRASSIR, as well as expand the applicability of the devices NetPing in different automated systems and video surveillance complexes.
In this article, connecting NetPing devices to TRASSIR software will be examined.
The company NetPing global Ltd. announces an issue of firmware updates for devices for a remote monitoring of server rooms UniPing server solution v4/SMS and UniPing server solution v3. New firmware versions allowed to make an operation of devices even more convenient, stable and functional.
So what have been changed in the last versions?
The company NetPing global Ltd. announces a start of sales of a new device for monitoring server rooms UniPing server solution v3.
The most typical issue of monitoring server rooms is controlling climate and environment while a computer equipment works. Tracking temperature parameters and making a decision on results may be automated.
Let us consider an example of automation for controlling a climate in a server room based on Microsoft PowerShell script.
NetPing company informs about issuing software updates for UniPing server solution v4/SMS and UniPing server solution v3 devices. New versions of software allowed to make the operation of devices more stable and functional.
So what has been changed in the latest versions?
A remote sensor monitoring device UniPing server solution v4/SMS allows to organise an access monitoring system to a server room remotely on the basis of a motion sensor and a door opening sensor. What happens when the sensors are triggered: when a door is opened or a motion is indicated in a server room, a device UniPing server solution v4/SMS can instantly send SMS notifications to a technical staff. Thus, UniPing server solution v4/SMS provides additional security functions to server rooms and other rooms to prevent unauthorized access.
The following 4 things prompted me to write this article:
- The article «Why It Is Important to Maintain Temperature Conditions in a Server Room. How a Server Room Cooling Usually Works», where the author tried to fulfill the honorable and very difficult mission of explaining why it is necessary to cool servers.
- Mistakes found in this article.
- My own experience.
- A very small number of rich in content articles on the topic of data center infrastructure (I mean that a server room = a little data center) at Habrahabr. However «Beeline» and guys from "Data Centres Russia" are great in this.
My name is Marat, as for now I'm an IT specialist in a wide range of areas, almost any-key. In my review I would like to pay a reader's attention to systems of microclimate maintaining and monitoring in a server room.
NetPing Global Ltd. company announces starting the sales of a new device of uninterruptible power supply - NetPing Mini-UPS