Ask the Ranger: Temperature Setting for a Rackmount Server Enclosure?
If I were to invest in a temperature sensor for my rackmount server enclosure, at what temperature would you recommend that I should set the internal temperature threshold for?
There are a number of things you can do with the temperature sensor to make your life easier. The first is to recognize that there are two thresholds for high and low temperature that can be set by the administrator. Secondly, there is an adjustment feature with the sensor hub that allows you to put in a correction factor that will match the sensor hub reading to the room thermostat (if you desire).
The next thing you need to do is select a reasonable target range for what constitutes 鈥渘ormal鈥? temperature. If you have the room thermostat set at 72 degrees, and you would like the internal temperature of the cabinets to exceed this by no more than 3 degrees, then here is the process you would follow:
路 after the sensor hub is up and running properly, place the temperature sensor in a location that approximates the normal room temperature
路 after the temperature has stabilized, note the difference between the sensor hub reading and the room thermostat reading
路 use the correction factor to adjust the sensor hub reading to be the same as the room thermostat reading
路 set the first threshold at 3 degrees above the 鈥渘ominal鈥? value, and set the second threshold at 5 degrees above that (in this example, nominal is 72, first alarm is 75, and critical alarm is 80)
路 install the senor hub in the appropriate cabinet, and place the sensor where it can monitor the ambient temperature in the cabinet.
