VCL-2457, Smart-Rack Management Unit

Description

Orion Telecom Networks Inc. offers The VCL-2457, Smart Rack Management and Control unit shall convert and transform standard equipment racks into “Smart-Racks” and allow the users to monitor the parameters and status of multiples of rack units, remotely, from an NMS. The VCL-2457, Smart-Rack Management Unit provides the following options:

Data Sheet (PDF)

• Designed to monitor and control the ambient temperature of an equipment rack by automatically “switching on” / “switching off” racks ventilation fans / cooling unit according to the user desired thermal environment in the equipment rack.
• Monitors up to 3 temperature zones.
• Provides “4” binary inputs for sensing dry contact relays (open loop / closed loop status) and “2" potential inputs with timestamping. These binary inputs may be used to connect to rack door-open alarm, smoke alarm, fire alarm, water-level alarm, or used to connect to dry-contact relays that are normally provided on other electronic equipment that is installed in the racks to provide alarms that indicate equipment failure.

This unit not only assists in conserving power by selectively switching off the rack's cooling fans according to the prevailing temperature conditions in the equipment rack but also greatly increases the life span (MTBF) of the fans, because fans are switched off when they are not required to operate, while always maintaining the rack ambient temperature at the user desired levels.

As a rule, all fan units have a “life cycle” that is specified by its manufacturer and stated in “number of operating hours” after which the fans become increasingly susceptible to failure. The VCL-2457, Smart-Rack Management and Fan Control Unit monitors the user set RPM thresholds of each fan unit to track their RPM and forewarns the users of a fan failure, or even its impending failure. In the event of a fan failure, or if its RPM falls below a user set threshold (which could occur due to a due to a “faulty fan rotor bearing” or a “chocked” air filter), the VCL-2457 triggers its alarm relay (which may be connected to an external Logic, Audio or Visual alarm) to alert the administrator. The VCL-2457 also generates an “alarm” message which is transmitted to the administrator as an Ethernet string containing all the vital information of the rack to a remote PC over IP link through its Ethernet interface. All events and alarms are accurately time-stamped since the VCL-2457, Smart-Rack Management and Fan Control Unit can be synchronized to an external (remote) NTP / SNTP Server for accurate time and date synchronization.

Even when the fans are not in use, the VCL-2457, Smart-Rack Management and Fan Control Unit is designed to “test and prime” the fans, once in every 24 hours, by switching them “on” for a short duration to ensure that the fans always remain operational at their optimum speeds. Such a feature ensures that all fans are exercised periodically and shall function normally, without fail, whenever required by the rack's changing ambient conditions. The VCL-2457, Smart-Rack Management and Fan Control Unit not only becomes an important tool to improve the operating efficiency of an electronic equipment rack but also to assist in providing preventive maintenance and enhancing the operating life of the equipment that is installed in the rack by maintaining an optimum operating environment.

Features:

• Saves Power. Designed to monitor and control the ambient temperature of an equipment rack by “switching on” / “switching off” racks cooling fans according to the user desired thermal environment in the equipment rack
• Provides 3 separate temperature sensors to monitor up to three temperature zones within the rack
• Maintains ambient rack temperature. Extends equipment life
• Extends fan MTBF life
• Fan Performance Monitoring
• Fan Failure Alerts
• Supports user configurable fan speed (RPM) thresholds
• Monitors up to 4 dry-contact relay inputs, with timestamping, which may be connected to:
• Rack-door open alarm
• High Water level/Flooding alarm
• Multiple equipment failure alarm(s)
• Monitors up to 2 potential inputs, with timestamping, which may be connected to:
• Smoke Alarm
• Fire Alarm
• High Humidity Alarm
• Compact size, DIN rail mount
• Provides NTP / SNTP Time and Date Synchronization
• Provides Real-time Alarm and Event Logging
• Daily Automatic Fan Test and Priming Routine
• LCD Display (External)
• Provides Serial Management (USB) port to manage the unit locally
• Provides remote (10/100BaseT Ethernet) management port to enable the user to manage multiple units remotely from an NMS over the IP network
• Transport protocol supported MQTT/TCP-IP/UDP
• Certificate based “Unified Management System”. Allows the user to securely monitor '000s of racks from a central management server.

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