Sproutboard.com - Server Room Monitor

Open Source Server Room Monitor
Open source design to meet todays IT needs

Overview

Project Info:
Server Room Monitor
Code Version: 0.9
Build Date: 6-1-2010
Build Status: Stable
Download Source

This project is near and dear to the sprout board crew. Ultimately this concept was the genesis of a flexible platform with many applications. As our designs evolved we realized the tremendous opportunity to create something meaningful with this concept. This focus ultimately guided our decision process create completed projects in place of generic code snippets as a way to encourage the actual use of our projects.

The server room environmental monitoring system is a low cost high performance device with the same onboard features as commercial devices costing hundreds of dollars more. In addition to a low cost platform we will provide low cost sensors for many important devices to insure your equipment stays safe and sound.

Parts List

The base part list for this project is very short and is focused on typical rack mount server room installations. Below you will find a list of the parts needed to build this project. This represents only the core requirements for this system and even then some components are optional.

Sprout Board:
The sprout board is the core to this project. It allows the microcontroller and an accessory shield to dock with it and utilize the onboard features with ease.

Arduino Duemilanove:
The world famous Arduino. A great platform for learning microcontroller basics on and a great platform for real world devices. For this project we will be using an Arduino Duemilanove. A Atmel 168 chip found on older board will work, but you will have limited resources to work with for this sketch.

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Ethernet shield:
A brilliant piece of work! While this is optional it is highly recommended as it provides both a real-time interface for monitoring statistics, but as well provides the ability to send alerts if an exception occurs and yup, all the work is already done for you if you add it.

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Rack Mount Chassis:
So we will be assuming you will be using this in a standard rack mount scenario and thusly we would recommend the 19" rackount chassis for your project. But if your server room is more like a old broom closet then you may prefer the wall mount chassis. Either way it will help protect your project from the stray broom handle.

LCD Screen:
So I say this is an optional component... but technically so are many things that we call conveniences. the serial lcd screen uses only 3 wires and provides real time information about the climate it is monitoring. You may want to save the 25.00 and just use the web interface and that's just fine, but you will definitely lose the bling factor.

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Audio Board:
Ok, Some components are more optional than others and this falls into that category though it is recommended. Most Servers and UPS's have alarms on them for when bad things happen. You may also have a smoke detector or building alarm. This ambient noise is what this really is used to detect. if there is an audio spike then you know there is a problem.

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Temperature / Humidity Board:
The most important thing to have for your server room monitoring system. This sensor board monitors temperature and humidity using the front accessory socket on the sprout board. Additionally these can be used for external sensors for temperature or humidity individually or combines with ease.

Power Supply:
We recommend a 7-9V DC regulated power supply for your project. 12V can be a bit on the high end and may damage your arduino over time.

Buy one at Spark Fun

Configuration and Setup

The setup for this project is very easy and all the information you will need is contained in the sketch. The default IP address for the Ethernet real time reporting is 192.168.0.123 and is setup as a variable that is easy to change. We used the Arduino 0017 Dev environment found here. Simply download, Unzip and load on your arduino to use. The sketch also includes information for sending email and tweets with information pertaining to its configuration.

Ideas and Accessories

In addition to the features of the base configuration , there are many other devices you may want to add to your project to increase its capabilities. In our pilot installation of our server room monitor we utilized our additional I/O on the front panel to connect several other sensors.

The sensors we used were as follows:
One additional remote temperature sensor installed at the AC vent.
One magnetic reed sensor installed on the door to the server room to act as a entry monitor.
One Smoke Detector with a built in alarm I/O port connected to our digital I/O.
One simple water sensor plate connected to our analog inputs.
One AC powered relay to detect City power Failures.
One solid state relay connected to an emergency exhaust blower.

In the Near future we will have simple articles detailing how to use these additional devices with your sprout board.

Image Gallery

Below are some nice pics of the sprout board server room monitor project. Yeah its kind of fun to show off some of the cool stuff we have built and we hope it inspires you to build your own creations!

News and Events

30 June 2010
Lots of new guides added!
We have added a bunch of new guides to help you expand what you can do with your sprout board. Check them out!

21 June 2010
How to drive an AC load
In about 10 minutes we will take you through a simple process to control an AC load using the sprout board…

1 June 2010
Open Source Server Room Initiative
The Sprout Board is the center of a move to open source high priced server room monitoring equipment in an effort…

25 May 2010
Sprout Board available for order!
That’s right! The sprout board can be purchased now!

Testimonials
What people have to say about us.

" Working with the sprout board has been one of the best tinkering project experiences I have ever had. The attention to detail and feature set of the board as well as its clean design lends its self to many applications. Additionally the flexibility in allowing for external sensor and devices makes this extremely powerful for real world projects."
-Jayson Givens

" We needed a server room environmental monitoring system at my employer. After looking into the options we decided to buy the sprout board and rack mount chassis. The project works flawlessly and reliably at 1/5th the cost of a comparable system."
-Tom Needer

Open Source Server Room Monitor Open source design to meet todays IT needs