AKCPro Server Thermal Maps

AKCPro Server has many features that make it ideal for use as a Data Center Infrastructure Management tool (DCIM). It is tightly integrated with many of our Rack+ sensors, such as thermal maps, RFID swing handle locks, and in-line power meters.

Today we will take a closer look at the rack map features, and how they can be used together with thermal maps to give a visual representation of your rack and it’s thermal properties.

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To begin with you need to create a rack map, selecting the size (number of U’s), maximum allowable weight (kg) and maximum allowable current load (Amps). Then this rack map can be dragged onto one of your desktops, or onto your data center floor-plan to act as a submap in our drill down mapping feature.

To add thermal mapping properties to the rack map is quite simple, first, you must ensure that you have an AKCP thermal map sensor connected to your sensorProbe+ or securityProbe+ base unit and that this unit has been added to the server explorer via its IP address. It’s then just a matter of dragging any one of the thermal maps 6 sensors onto the cabinet and the rack map will self-configure the rest for you. You will then be presented with the temperature at the front and rear – top, middle and bottom. Optional humidity if you have the sensor equipped with this, will be displayed front and rear in the middle position.

Animated arrows will then begin to flow across the cabinet, showing the temperature differential between the front and rear. This important information can help to identify the hotspots within your cabinet. For example, you could have cold air coming in at the front of the cabinet, but then a high-temperature differential between front and rear. This can be a sign of a problem within the cabinet, high exhaust air temperatures could mean a blockage or fan failure for example.

Assets can then be added to the rack map, such as servers, network switches, UPS and so on. These assets are overlaid with the thermal properties, so you can see which equipment in your rack is being affected by the high temperatures, or are being sufficiently cooled. As with most features of AKCPro Server the rack map can be customized and the animated arrows or assets can be turned off if not required.