Introduction to Internet of Things(IoT) using Arduino (Temperature and Humidity IOT Sensor) Powered by CICT

Introduction to Internet of Things (IoT) using Arduino SYNOPSIS Introduction to Internet of Things (IoT) using Arduino This project's purpose is to discover a cheap but creative solution to monitor temperature and humidity that is caused by a very frequent air conditioning and electrical failure in our server room. After undergoing through a few study, our team learned that Arduino is the best project to explore since the total cost is less than RM100 and the hardware and information can be obtained easily. The Arduino acts as a sensor that will continuously sends information per minute to the MySQL server. The data obtained can be viewed through Web portal, Power BI and also Mobile Apps. This can be a game changer to our team especially to the standby staffs as they can use this tool as a part of their checklist in monitoring server room's health.

The importance of monitoring temperature and humidity in Data Center. Literature Review The importance of monitoring temperature and humidity in Data Center. Monitoring Data Center temperature and humidity is a must and becomes more critical if that area is left alone for a long period especially at night and over weekend. It can result in a fire which can cause damage not only to the equipment where the fire starts, but other equipments as well. The server room also must always stay within the accepted temperature range (Geistglobal, 2015).   The idea of running a data center at low temperatures within 18°C and 22°C has long be the norm and standard temperature monitors have been used to ensure that ambient temperatures remain within specified limits. (Computer weekly, 2013).

Background Problems Normally, standby staff will be near the Data Center to perform health check. However, this exercise is costly and unpractical at current age. Manual data collection cannot be processed at real time therefore impossible to react on time when incidents happen. Unable to immediately react if there are any emergency cases since staff must be there first to verify and may too late to respond at that time. Only a designated staff will do the monitoring and the rest are not able to help because limitation in conventional method. The commercial system for the purpose of temperature and humidity monitoring is expensive and it is not worth it. The commercial system also requires yearly subscription and difficult to tailor with creative future expansion such as adaptation of mobile Apps and Business Intelligence. 

What is IOT? IOT stands for Internet of Things Is a system of interrelated computing devices, mechanical and and digital machines, objects, animals or people that are provided with unique identifiers and the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction

IOT Examples Examples of objects that can fall into the scope of Internet of Things include connected security systems, sensors, thermostats, cars, electronic appliances, light in the household and commercial environments, alarm clocks, speaker systems, vending machines and more.

The Future of IOT As far as the reach of the Internet of Things, there are more than 12 billion devices that can currently connect to the Internet, and researchers at IDC estimate that by 2020 there will be 26 times more connected things than people.

Why Arduino ? It is an open-source project, software/hardware is extremely accessible and very flexible to be customized and extended It is flexible, offers a variety of digital and analog inputs, SPI and serial interface and digital and PWM outputs It is easy to use, connects to computer via USB and communicates using standard serial protocol, runs in standalone mode and as interface connected to PC/Macintosh computers It is inexpensive, around RM70 per board and comes with free authoring software  Arduino is backed up by a growing online community, lots of source code is already available and we can share and post our examples for others to use, too.

Arduino Arduino is an open-source electronics platform based on easy-to-use hardware and software. Arduino boards are able to read inputs – lights on a sensor, a finger on a button, or a Twitter message – and turn it into an output – activating a motor, turning on a LED, publishing something online.

Arduino

DHT11 The DHT11 is a basic, digital temperature humidity sensor. It uses a capacitive humidity sensor and thermistor to measure the surrounding air, and spits out a digital signal on the data pin (no analog input pins needed). Its fairly simple to use, but require timing to grab data.

DHT11

Interconnection Arduino board with DHT11 sensor Schematic Diagram Interconnection Arduino board with DHT11 sensor

IOT data flow network diagram

Web information for server room

Web information for network room

Web information for CCMC room

Data Collection in Business Intelligence

Data reading in Nov 2017

View on Mobile Apps

View on Mobile Apps

The true story of temperature abnormality in server room Case Study The true story of temperature abnormality in server room After installation, we found that there have been abnormalities in the temperature of the server room from 6pm to 8:30 pm everyday beginning on the 11th January 2017. The abnormality in the temperature has continuously happened and has affected the conditions of the equipment in the server room. We have informed PHB and have conducted meetings to address this. PHB has identified the source of the problem and it was one of the air conditioners. So, to rectify this, PHB has changed the timer of the second unit so that it could run earlier than the main unit based on the information gathered through the sensor.

The true story of temperature abnormality in server room Case Study The true story of temperature abnormality in server room

Conclusion The data obtained can produce intelligent information for decision making. The sensor will continuously sends real time data to central database that can be used later for various purposes. The information of critical location like server room can be obtained conveniently through gadget.