EkkoSense, the UK-based data centre thermal software and services expert, has launched the world’s first Internet of Things (IoT) enabled wireless thermal sensor. The new ultra low cost sensor disrupts the traditional data centre sensor cost model, enabling it to be deployed in such vast numbers that true real-time thermal management of critical facilities such as data centres now becomes realistic.
The new EkkoSensor Wireless Temperature and Humidity sensor features a local display of the measured temperature and relative humidity values, with additional screens that can be cycled through to show temperature profiles over the last hour, 24 hours and 7 days for quick thermal assessment on site. All temperature and humidity data is encrypted with 128-bit AES encryption before transmission to an EkkoHub wireless data receiver for forwarding to EkkoSense’s cloud-based EkkoSoft 3D visualisation and analysis software.
“With cooling now representing 30% of a data centre’s operating cost, organisations are currently spending far more than they need to on expensive data centre cooling hardware – so there’s a pressing requirement for thermal performance optimisation. However, to achieve this it’s essential for data centre managers and their energy teams to have access to much more granular levels of data,” commented Paul Milburn, EkkoSense’s Head of Product Management.
“Unfortunately, less than 5% of data centres currently gather this kind of rack-level precision-data and that’s largely been due to the expensive hardware required to measure effectively. Now, with the introduction of our ultra-low cost wireless IoT sensors, barriers to high spatial resolution have been removed and rack-level sensing – allowing the air temperature and humidity at each asset of interest to be accurately monitored at predefined intervals – making true data centre thermal optimisation a reality for operations of all sizes,” continued Paul.
“At EkkoSense we know that it’s only by combining rack-level granular cooling and thermal data, increasingly smart 3D thermal visualisation monitoring software and proven Data Centre Optimisation services, that you can actually start to track cooling loads in real-time,” added EkkoSense’s CEO, Dean Boyle. “Our new low-cost wireless EkkoSensor technology now makes this achievable, enabling the creation of a much more granular mesh of networked sensors that accurately capture not just temperatures, but also energy usage, heat outputs and airflows. And this is exactly the kind of information that data centre and energy teams will increasingly need to evolve towards the next generation of data centre AI applications.”
Wireless EkkoSensors are entirely self-contained and battery-powered for simpler installation. The sensors provide a direct sensor-to-hub linkage to keep the radio network simple and deliver predictable levels of battery life and performance.
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