Environmental conditions – such as temperature, humidity, and air quality – have a significant impact on the performance and lifespan of electronic equipment. Data center network infrastructure, automated industrial machines, and other expensive and business-critical devices typically require a specific range of conditions in order to avoid failure. However, they’re frequently installed in remote or hard-to-access locations with little human interaction, which can make it difficult to monitor and maintain the environment.

An environment monitoring system gives operators the ability to view the conditions in remote facilities in real time without leaving the office. That means organizations can proactively address environmental concerns before remote equipment fails, preventing business interruption and extending the lifetime of expensive machinery.

Why you need an environment monitoring system

Enterprise networks are large and highly distributed; critical infrastructure is hosted in remote data centers, branch offices, manufacturing sites, and other locations with little-to-no IT support presence such as remote oil pipelines, offshore oil rigs, and satellites. That means network administrators can’t physically see if a device has been tampered with, hear if the fans are running too hard, or feel that the network closet is too humid. Without a way to remotely monitor for environmental risks, organizations often don’t know there’s a problem until it’s brought a critical device offline.

An environment monitoring system uses a variety of sensors to collect data on the temperature, humidity, air quality, and other conditions in remote environments. These sensors report back to the monitoring software, giving administrators the ability to see and respond to changes. In essence, environmental monitoring provides network teams with a virtual presence in the remote facilities that house critical infrastructure.

Environment monitoring sensors are also used in conjunction with SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) systems that manage high-level machine automation. SCADA computers are operational technology (OT) controllers that are often used to control automated processes in dangerous and hard-to-reach environments such as water treatment plants, oil and gas pipelines, and even the International Space Station. Some environment monitoring systems can integrate with SCADA solutions to enable real-time data collection on conditions underwater, inside pipelines, and in other environments that humans can’t safely access.

What to look for in an environment monitoring system

A robust environment monitoring system should include the following features:

Cloud management

Since environment monitoring sensors are typically deployed in remote and hard-to-reach areas, it’s important to consider that operators may not access the monitoring system from the same LAN. In addition, an environmental emergency could occur at any time, including in the middle of the night or while an admin is on vacation. Cloud management access ensures that network teams can monitor and respond to environmental threats quickly and from anywhere in the world.

Enterprise-grade security

However, if the monitoring system is accessible from the public internet, it must be protected by enterprise-grade security features to mitigate the possibility of a breach. Even with an entirely on-premises system, steps must be taken to prevent a malicious actor from gaining access to sensitive and proprietary data from the monitoring platform. A secure environment monitoring system supports advanced authentication methods like RADIUS, integrates with SAML 2.0 solutions for SSO (single sign-on) and 2FA (two-factor authentication), and includes additional security features like data encryption and secure boot.

Vendor freedom

The administrators and operators who manage remote equipment have a lot of tasks and responsibilities. Business requirements are growing more complex every day, while the Covid-19 pandemic and recession cutbacks are forcing everyone to do more with fewer resources and staff. A vendor-neutral environment monitoring system can easily integrate with other hardware and software solutions, providing a single unified platform for admins to log in to. This simplifies remote management and ensures comprehensive coverage, reducing the risk of issues slipping between the cracks.

Plus, a vendor-neutral monitoring system supports the use of third-party and custom automation solutions. That means administrators can use the automation and orchestration tools they’re most comfortable with to automate management and remediation tasks. Not only does this make their jobs easier by reducing manual workflows but also ensures that environmental issues are addressed quickly, even when a human technician is unavailable. When a critical device is overheating, fast remediation times often make the difference between a minor performance hiccup and a complete network or plant outage.

Out-of-band management

Sometimes, even with the most robust environment monitoring solution, a device will still fail and need to be recovered. However, if that device failure brings down the LAN, the environmental sensors and on-premises monitoring system won’t be reachable on the main network. That means administrators won’t be able to see which device failed or what environmental conditions caused that failure, let alone fix the problem, without dispatching an expensive and time-consuming truck roll.

Out-of-band (OOB) management uses serial consoles with redundant network interfaces to provide continuous management access to remote equipment. An OOB serial console directly connects to remote devices including environmental sensors, SCADA computers, and servers. Administrators can then remotely access the serial console via a dedicated internet connection (often cellular LTE) and monitor, manage, and orchestrate all connected devices without relying on the primary ISP or LAN connection.

Using OOB management in conjunction with environment monitoring allows administrators to continue viewing and troubleshooting remote devices even when the network is offline, reducing the need for on-site repairs. If remote troubleshooting reveals that a problem must be fixed in person, technicians can be dispatched with the exact tools and parts they need, decreasing the risk of further delays and speeding up the time to recovery.

Why choose the Nodegrid environment monitoring system

Nodegrid rolls up environment monitoring, out-of-band management, and end-to-end infrastructure automation in a single platform. Nodegrid’s environmental sensors collect valuable data on conditions in your rack, with the ability to monitor for physical tampering, temperature, humidity, smoke, airflow, and dust & particulates. Connecting these USB sensors to a Nodegrid serial console or integrated branch gateway router gives you a powerful environment monitoring system with fast, reliable, and secure OOB management.

The Nodegrid platform provides complete vendor freedom, with the ability to directly host third-party solutions such as Docker containers, security solutions, and automation playbooks. This gives administrators a single pane of glass from which to manage every aspect of the network architecture. They can use Nodegrid to orchestrate automated workflows, view environmental and security monitoring data, deploy and maintain infrastructure, and so much more.

Nodegrid’s vendor-neutral hardware and software allow you to create a fully integrated and highly customized platform containing all the tools and solutions you need to monitor, manage, orchestrate, and troubleshoot remote devices.

Ready to learn more?

To learn more about Nodegrid’s environment monitoring system, contact ZPE Systems today.

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What is LTE failover?

LTE failover uses a cellular data connection – such as 4G or 5G – to provide backup internet access in the event that the primary connection goes down. Since LTE uses cellular infrastructure, it’s often unaffected by events that may cause a wired ISP network to go down, such as natural disasters, construction accidents, and power outages. When the cellular failover router detects that the primary internet connection is offline, it automatically takes over to ensure continuous network availability. The goal of LTE failover is to provide reliable, 24/7 internet access for production network resources and users. An automated failover solution reduces the impact of ISP outages by allowing businesses to continue operating as usual with a seamless experience for end users.

What is LTE out-of-band?

LTE out-of-band (OOB) management, on the other hand, uses a cellular data connection to provide continuous management access to remote network infrastructure. Cellular OOB solutions typically use serial consoles (i.e., console servers, serial switches, or serial routers) to directly connect to production network infrastructure such as servers, PDUs, and storage devices. Administrators remotely access these serial consoles using a dedicated cellular interface, and can then manage and orchestrate all connected infrastructure without relying on the primary ISP or LAN connection. The goal of LTE out-of-band is to ensure that administrators have high-speed, 24/7 access to remote network infrastructure even if there’s an ISP, WAN, or LAN outage. With LTE OOB, organizations can recover from outages faster and without dispatching costly truck rolls. Plus, engineers can employ resource-intensive automation and orchestration workflows on the dedicated OOB network without impacting the performance or reliability of the production network.

Comparing LTE failover vs. LTE out-of-band

LTE failover is essentially just a secondary internet connection that automatically kicks on when the primary internet goes down. It ensures that production network processes and workflows can continue functioning during ISP outages. However, LTE failover does not provide business continuity in the event of a LAN outage, for example when there’s an equipment failure, configuration error, or traffic bottleneck in the data center. When enterprise infrastructure issues bring down the network in a remote business site like a colocation data center or branch office, organizations need a way to remotely fix the issue, which is where LTE out-of-band comes into play. Since OOB serial consoles directly connect to the serial ports of network devices, administrators can still remotely access those devices without an IP address. This gives network teams the ability to remotely assess, diagnose, and fix many issues without dispatching anyone onsite, decreasing recovery time and reducing the cost of outages. While LTE failover is designed to provide seamless internet access in the event of an ISP outage, LTE out-of-band ensures continuous management and orchestration access to remote infrastructure even when there’s a LAN failure. These two technologies work together to improve the resiliency of enterprise networks, making them valuable components of business continuity and disaster recovery strategies.

Using LTE and automation for network resiliency

A resilient network continues to function when the unexpected occurs – whether it’s a hurricane taking down the ISP network, a firmware update crashing a critical remote device, or a global recession forcing a reduction in support staff. In addition to LTE failover and out-of-band management, automation is crucial to network resiliency because it reduces the amount of human intervention that’s required to maintain and troubleshoot enterprise networks and infrastructure.

Ready to learn more?

To learn more about the role of LTE failover, OOB management, and automation in building a more resilient enterprise network, download the Network Automation Blueprint from ZPE Systems.

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