WallBotz makes monitoring datacenters a breeze

NetBotz’s Linux-based WallBotz 500 is more than worth its price — comparable that of a high-end laptop — when it comes to network management and datacenter monitoring.

The small appliance has three components: the base station, a “docked” sensor pod, and a camera pod. It can be deployed out of box, but WallBotz shines in its expandability and deployment flexibility.

The WallBotz base station has connections for power, CAT5, serial, four USB ports, and a PC card connection for Wi-Fi connectivity. The USB ports can accommodate four remote cameras or dozens of sensors deployed via specialized “sensor pod 120” hubs.

The sensor pod monitors temperature, humidity, airflow, dew point, audio, and includes a door sensor. Additional sensors can detect fluctuating amperage, wet/ dry conditions, even particles per cubic inch of  air.

The camera pod is a surveillance-class color camera with up to 1024 x 768 resolution and a frame rate of 30 frames per second. I found the camera’s motion detection especially handy — it even captures the blinking of an alert light — and WallBotz will send out alerts via e-mail, pager, SNMP trap, HTTP, or FTP post when it senses motion. An embedded microphone for detecting equipment alarms is also on the camera pod.

WallBotz’s management software console is well laid out and easy to navigate in both its centralized and Web versions. I would have liked to see better right-click options — for setting thresholds, for example — but overall the interface is better than many software packages I’ve used.

The WallBotz 500 is a reliable, simply deployed security solution for monitoring datacenter equipment and other sensitive areas. With powerful management software and extensible hardware, it offers a very attractive return on investment.