EkkoSense launches IoT-enabled temperature sensor for data centers

EkkoSense has launched the world's first Internet-of-Things (IoT) enabled wireless thermal sensor.

The new low-cost sensor aims to disrupt the traditional data center sensor cost model, enabling it to be deployed in such vast numbers that true real-time thermal management of critical facilities such as data centers now becomes realistic.

The new low-cost EkkoSensor family will be displayed on the EkkoSense stand (D1210) at Data Center World 2018 in Excel, London on the 21st and 22nd March.

Visitors to the stand can enter a business card draw to win their own wireless EkkoSensor with Display.

The new EkkoSensor Wireless Temperature and Humidity sensor features a local display of the measured temperature and relative humidity values, with additional screens that can be cycled through to show temperature profiles over the last hour, 24 hours and 7 days for quick thermal assessment on site.

All temperature and humidity data is encrypted with 128-bit AES encryption before transmission to an EkkoHub wireless data receiver for forwarding to EkkoSense's cloud-based EkkoSoft 3D visualization and analysis software.

EkkoSense head of product management Paul Milburn says, "With cooling now representing 30% of a data center's operating cost, organisations are currently spending far more than they need to on expensive data center cooling hardware, so there's a pressing requirement for thermal performance optimization.

"However, to achieve this it's essential for data center managers and their energy teams to have access to much more granular levels of data.

"Unfortunately, less than 5% of data centers currently gather this kind of rack-level precision-data, and that's largely been due to the expensive hardware required to measure effectively, with the introduction of our low-cost wireless IoT sensors barriers to high spatial resolution have been removed.

Wireless EkkoSensors are entirely self-contained and battery-powered for simpler installation. The sensors provide a direct sensor-to-hub linkage to keep the radio network simple and deliver predictable levels of battery life and performance.

Milburn concludes, "At EkkoSense we know that it's only by combining rack-level granular cooling and thermal data, increasingly smart 3D thermal visualization monitoring software and proven Data Center Optimisation services that you can actually start to track cooling loads in real-time."