WeatherGoose - Individual or Multiple Cabinet Monitoring

A simple, low-cost device for monitoring cabinets and racks, the WxGoos-1 contains five built-in environment sensors, door sensors and a serial bus port to for a variety of external sensors.

Internal Sensors	External Sensors
Air Flow	Air Flow
Humidity	Door Position
Light Level	Humidity
Sound Level	Power
Temperature	Temperature
	Water

The unit can be used stand-alone on a per-cabinet basis or easily expanded to monitor room conditions or the conditions in nearby cabinets.

General Features:

• Five internal sensors
• Multiple remote sensors
• Built-in receptacles for remote sensors
• Ethernet port, Internet-accessed
• Multiple mounting methods
• No hub or Master controller needed
• Price: $399, single unit quantity

External sensors and be added while the unit is in operation. No switches or hardware adjustments are necessary.

This architecture permits one WxGoos-1 to monitor multiple cabinets through remote sensors. All the sensors are internal (external magnetic-type door sensors are required to sense door position).

Self-contained Operation

Each WxGoos-1 is self-contained and does not require a master controller or "mothership." The internal computer collects the data and compiles the information into a web page and other protocols. The user needs only an Internet browser. Administration of the unit is through a Web browser or Telnet session. Access is user name and password protected. SSL security is implemented.

The WxGoos-1 uses a small, UL-listed wall transformer for power.

A variety of software is supplied so the data can be presented though a Web page, Excel&trade spreadsheets, Telnet, and Simple Network Monitoring Protocol (SNMP). When viewed through the Web format, a variety of graphs can be viewed.

Alarming functions via SMTP e-mail and paging are available and thresholds easily set. Multiple addresses and alarm threshold levels can be set.

Stand-alone or Console-monitored

The built-in Ethernet port makes the WxGoos effective both in single cabinet monitoring or in multiple cabinet installations for three reasons:

First, the user needs only an Internet connection to access the data from anywhere. Second, The unit can be part of a local sub-net operating beind a firewall which utilizes existing security infrastructure. VPN"s or private networks can be used. Third, the availability of SNMP based data allows dozens of Network Monitoring programs such as HP OpenView, IP Sentry, MRTG, or What"s Up Gold (Ipswitch) to easily add the WxGoos to the list of monitored devices.

The SNMP MIB supplied automatically expands as remote devices are added making integration straightforward.

Remote Sensors

The remote sensor serial bus was designed to make the cost of adding remote sensors or other remote devices minimal.

The Dallas Semiconductor 1-Wire protocol uses telephone wire or Cat3 cable. RJ-ll connectors are used. Lengths of up to 1,000" can be achieved in straight runs. Star topology reduces the aggregate length of the serial cable, but runs of hundreds of feet are common. All remote sensor devices are parasitically powered, so no remote device power supplies are required. Remote devices can be added or deleted without reconfiguration.

Simple Installation

The narrow flanged sheet metal housing gives the installer the most flexibility in attaching the unit. In existing cabinets the unit can be simply tie-wrapped or secured with self-tapping screws to the cabinet"s top grill or internal rail.

In new installations, a bracket secures the device to an vacant location. Upon start-up, the installer uses an automatic discovery program that assigns the desired IP address. If a subnet is operational, the WxGoos" internal DHCP software will automatically lease an address from the server.

Specifications:

Internal Sensors

Remote Sensors

User Software

In the most basic application, the cabinet end-user is presented with an IP address on a paper sticker or tag. The user connects a laptop to the cabinet"s Ethernet jack, types in the IP address and a Web page is displayed. If the user desires to change the IP address, a Configuration tab is displayed.

Data and Communication Protocols

The data created by the WxGoos can be presented to the user in a number of ways:

HTML

XML

Telnet

Excel

CSV

The most common presentation is Web page creation, but the other protocols offer the OEM or custom software developer a number tools to offer flexibility. Web pages are updated every five seconds or when the user requests a page refresh.

The following communication and data protocols are supported:

TCP/IP	DHCP	UDP	SNMP
SSL/TLS	HTTP	HTTPS	Static IP

Firmware, both in the data acqusition microprocessor and the communications processor, is field-upgradable. Bug fixes and upgrades can be easily downloaded.

Console Software

The Console application allows monitoring of hundreds of WxGoos units. Real-time data and graphs is displayed plus version and release number of both the hardware and software.

Using SNMP for Console Integration

Many Network monitoring console products such as HP Openview&trade, What"s Up Gold&trade (Ipswitch), IP Sentry&trade, and many others require that the data be presented in an SNMP MIB format. The WxGoos-1 is internally SNMP-enabled with the internal sensor data plus the external sensor data represented in the MIB. The MIB is automatically expanded to display the data of external sensors as they are added.

Traps can be enabled for each each sensor and the sensor"s MIB variable is included in the trap message. If a remote sensor is unplugged, all alarms on that sensor are considered "tripped." Therefore if you unplug a device with 3 sensors where all sensors are alarmed, three separate traps will be created. There are four trap addresses available

All sensors on all devices are eligible for being trapped. Each sensor can have a different alarm setting that is one of:

• Disabled (no alarm)
• E-mail
• Trap
• Both E-mail and Trap

Abbreviated MIB Contents

The following text displays the typical MIB contents; the data has been edited for space considerations. The most current MIB can be downloaded from any WeatherGoose Monitor.

IT-WATCHDOGS-MIB DEFINITIONS 
DisplayString, TruthValue
		FROM SNMPv2-TC
MODULE-IDENTITY, OBJECT-TYPE, enterprises, Unsigned32
		FROM SNMPv2-SMI;
itwatchdogs MODULE-IDENTITY
	LAST-UPDATED "200312170000Z"
	ORGANIZATION "I.T. Watchdogs MIB Subtree"
	CONTACT-INFO "support@itwatchdogs.com"
	 "The MIB for I.T. Watchdogs Products"
	::= { enterprises 17373 }
wxGoos OBJECT IDENTIFIER
	::= { itwatchdogs 2 }
deviceInfo OBJECT IDENTIFIER
	::= { wxGoos 1 }
productTitle OBJECT-TYPE
	 "Product name"
	::= { deviceInfo 1 }
productVersion OBJECT-TYPE
	 "Product version"
	::= { deviceInfo 2 }
productFriendlyName OBJECT-TYPE
	 "User-assigned name"
	::= { deviceInfo 3 }
productMacAddress OBJECT-TYPE

Alarms Set Through Web

External Sensors are Automatically Discovered

Console: Graphing and Multiple Site Monitoring

Using External Sensors