With COVID-19 restrictions likely to limit access to data centres for several months, remote UPS monitoring remains as important as ever.
We speak to the first Data Centre Review (DCR) magazine of 2021 to share our thoughts about why the ability to remotely monitor UPS systems is a crucial tool for IT admins.
Data centre operators have become used to having to comply with all the pandemic-related restrictions. These include limited site access, social distancing, all remote working.
In the short-to-medium term, such constraints are likely to remain in place.
That’s why cloud-based remote UPS monitoring like our Riello Connect platform offer them the confidence of a “virtual” power engineer keeping a round-the-clock eye on their mission-critical equipment.
Exploring Remote UPS Monitoring
As well as explaining network-based, Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) monitoring, our article also outlines some more basic approaches.
These include the simplest form of monitoring – dry contacts. Also known as voltage-free, this involves terminals placed on the UPS that offer “true/not true” responses to queries such as “is the UPS running off its batteries?”.
Network-based approaches include RS-232 connections that enable single-ended signalling, or much-used communications protocols such as Profibus and Modbus.
SNMP remote UPS monitoring messages the uninterruptible power supply on regular intervals. If there’s a fault with the UPS itself or a major change in operating parameters (i.e. a mains failure), then the external service centre manned 24/7 by expert technicians gets alerted and springs into action.
They remotely interrogate the UPS further to diagnose the problem in detail. Then, if necessary, they’ll order field engineers to attend site with the correct information and parts to aim for a first-time fix.
Our article concludes by highlighting the many benefits of data centre remote UPS monitoring. Not only do you immediately know if there’s a fault, you can actually prevent issues from arising in the first place.
Rigorous remote UPS monitoring also reduces – although not eliminates – the need for physical service visits, cutting your maintenance costs.
And by building up a historical record of the UPS’s performance, you can also optimise load management and improve efficiencies in other areas.
