Using Symphony Link As A Water Leak Detection System For Data Centers | Blog | Link Labs

Many data centers pump water past server racks in order to mitigate exhaust heat given off by the equipment. This is a time-honored method for cooling data centers, but it’s not without risk. A leaky or burst pipe can cause irreparable damage to the servers and systems. Not only is it incredibly costly to replace damaged equipment, it’s also expensive to deal with water-damage-related outages and network downtime.

Benefits Of Using Symphony Link As A Water Leak Detection System For Data Centers

Symphony Link is a wireless low power, wide-area network (LPWAN) solution ideal for those who want to connect devices to the cloud easily, inexpensively, reliably, and securely. Symphony Link sensors are simply placed in potential “problem” areas that may experience leakage, and the information collected from those sensors is transmitted wirelessly online.

There are several reasons why Symphony Link may work well as a water leak detection system in data centers. Here are three:

• You can achieve a ten-year battery life. The longer your network nodes are able to last, the lower your power costs and maintenance costs will be. Both of these elements should be considered when selecting your water leak detection system.
• Symphony Link operates well in areas with a lot of interference. Electromagnetic interference (EMI) occurs regularly in data centers—but this interference doesn’t bother the Symphony connection.
• The network doesn’t rely on WiFi. This has numerous benefits. First, there are fewer security concerns associated with its integration. Also, the network can be closed-loop—so it doesn’t have to rely on WiFi if an alarm needs to sound.

Alternative Solutions For Water Leak Detection

Mesh network topologies are common in this space, but you may be required to use more gateways or sensors than you actually need to ensure you have enough link budget. The last thing you want to discover is that your mesh network couldn’t make a link, and therefore couldn’t alert you right away to a pipe leak. On the other hand, Symphony’s star-based topology can support thousands of endpoints per gateway.

WiFi-based sensor networks can have difficult IT integration requirements, which makes them a pain to set up. The power consumption is also significantly higher in WiFi than it is when using Symphony Link, which may be limiting in some use cases.

Wired sensor networks are almost always a good option, particularly if the data center is new and cost isn’t a major concern. Symphony Link is better suited for retrofits or customers looking to save costs.

Need a top-of-the-line water leak detection system for your data center? Let’s talk.

We have Symphony-enabled off-the-shelf detectors that you can purchase today. Additionally, Link Labs is interested in developing solutions with partners—so if you’re building out a solution that fits this use case, get in touch with us.