DC Control: a robust and low-cost SNMP agent for data centers

    this post, I’ll walk you through the entire design process I went through, as well as all features this network equipment is capable of.
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    ORIGINAL POST
    By Jaime Dantas
    details

    DC Control_1.png

    SNMP Network Protocol

    The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is a network protocol used for network management. It’s used to collect and control network devices such as routers, switches, servers, hubs, or any other equipment which implements the SNMP protocol. People usually mix SNMP with SMTP, so make no mistake, SNMP stands for network management, not an email protocol.

    That being said, I’ll not explain in detail how this protocol work, since it’s not the goal of this article. Basically, there is a manager node that receives and sends data to agent nodes. The manager always sends a GET/SET request, and it always receives a GET/SET response.

    The following diagram highlights the overall architecture used in this project.

    DC Control architecture

    Note that DC Control does not only monitor the temperature of the data center, but it also opens the rack’s door and controls the air conditioner system.

    Microcontroller

    As I mentioned above, the microcontroller inside DC Control is the ATmega328, commonly known as Arduino.

    ATmega328 UNO R3 with the Ethernet Shield W5100

    I used an Ethernet Shield with the Arduino to enable Ethernet 10/100 connection.

    Together, this combination gave the Arduino an incredible power. All I had left to do was to design the electronic circuit and build the code.

    he end result was quite satisfactory, with nice copper lines and a good overall look.

    DC Control Software

    Finally, I created a multiplatform desktop application for controlling and monitor the data center using the DC Control. The stack chosen was Java due to its multiplatform capabilities.

    Data Center Environment Control System

    For the GUI, I used our old school Java Swing with its several JFrame capabilities. Please, don’t judge me. At the time, back is 2015, Java Swing was a real thing (some may argue against that though). Anyways, aside from several graphs to monitor the temperature, this software has a window for controlling the rack’s door opening as well as the air conditioner.

    DC Control_1.png

    SNMP Network Protocol

    The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is a network protocol used for network management. It’s used to collect and control network devices such as routers, switches, servers, hubs, or any other equipment which implements the SNMP protocol. People usually mix SNMP with SMTP, so make no mistake, SNMP stands for network management, not an email protocol.

    That being said, I’ll not explain in detail how this protocol work, since it’s not the goal of this article. Basically, there is a manager node that receives and sends data to agent nodes. The manager always sends a GET/SET request, and it always receives a GET/SET response.

    The following diagram highlights the overall architecture used in this project.

    DC Control architecture

    Note that DC Control does not only monitor the temperature of the data center, but it also opens the rack’s door and controls the air conditioner system.

    Microcontroller

    As I mentioned above, the microcontroller inside DC Control is the ATmega328, commonly known as Arduino.

    ATmega328 UNO R3 with the Ethernet Shield W5100

    I used an Ethernet Shield with the Arduino to enable Ethernet 10/100 connection.

    Together, this combination gave the Arduino an incredible power. All I had left to do was to design the electronic circuit and build the code.

    he end result was quite satisfactory, with nice copper lines and a good overall look.

    DC Control Software

    Finally, I created a multiplatform desktop application for controlling and monitor the data center using the DC Control. The stack chosen was Java due to its multiplatform capabilities.

    Data Center Environment Control System

    For the GUI, I used our old school Java Swing with its several JFrame capabilities. Please, don’t judge me. At the time, back is 2015, Java Swing was a real thing (some may argue against that though). Anyways, aside from several graphs to monitor the temperature, this software has a window for controlling the rack’s door opening as well as the air conditioner.

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