Cheaper Than Open Source? The Smallest and Greenest Server Monitoring Solution from ServersCheck Makes It Possible

Montreal, Canada, January 29, 2009 --(PR.com)-- Cheaper than Open Source? It seems paradoxical, but it’s possible. ServersCheck, which specialises in sensors, hardware and software for server room monitoring, launches a unique concept with the Monitoring Appliance for network monitoring. This device isn’t only the smallest solution for server monitoring on the market, due to its extremely low power consumption it also monitors servers more cheaply than a classic server or PC that runs with Open Source or free software.

Cheaper than Open Source
Every monitoring solution involves three costs: hardware (server), software and electricity. Those who use Open Source software have low or no software costs, but they do have hardware costs (purchase, electricity and cooling). The major advantage of the ServersCheck Monitoring Appliance is its electricity costs. A traditional server uses 438 W or more, while the ServersCheck solution is almost 30 times more efficient and uses less than 15 W.

A cost comparison example*:

Traditional server monitoring
ServersCheck Monitoring Appliance

Hardware
Not included
Is included

Software
Open Source or payable software
ServersCheck Monitoring Software

Purchase value
free or payable
1699 $

Electricity costs for hardware and cooling for 5 years
2066 $
71 $

Total cost over 5 years
at least 2066 $
1770 $

Conclusion: over a 5-year period the ServersCheck Monitoring Appliance (including the ServersCheck Monitoring Software and the electricity expenses) costs less than the amount spent on electricity (excluding the hardware and software) for a traditional server monitoring solution.

The greenest solution
The ServersCheck Monitoring Appliance uses almost 30 times less power and that’s very good for the environment. The ecological footprint of this apparatus is minimal. A traditional server discharges more than 2300 kg of CO2 annually**. For the Monitoring Appliance this is limited to barely 79 kg, once again almost 30 times less.

Plug & play
The extremely compact ServersCheck Monitoring Appliance is the size of a CD case (4.5 x 4.5 x 1.4 inches)) but is able to monitor the availability of 100 elements via the preinstalled Monitoring Software. In October 2008 this browser and SMS-based application was awarded the Network Award for the best network product during ITPro Expo in Japan. In addition to traditional alerting methods such as e-mail, this solution is one of the only on the market to offer a text message alert via an independent GSM modem. Therefore the system can always send an alert, even when the network is down.

Maarten Van Laere, CEO of ServersCheck, is extraordinarily proud of this innovative product: “We were able to develop a complete solution for server monitoring that requires little space, a small budget and very little power. Our successful server monitoring and network monitoring software is used by small and medium-sized companies as well as civil and military authorities, universities and large companies like Yahoo, Facebook, HP, Fujitsu, Toshiba, Yahoo, BT Ericsson and Philips. This solution was made to make monitoring accessible for smaller budgets but we see that larger organisations also choose our solution. We already have indications that the Monitoring Appliance will be just as successful as our Monitoring Software.”

Price and availability
The ServersCheck Monitoring Appliance with its preinstalled server and network monitoring software and a GSM modem costs 1699 $ and is available at http://www.serverscheck.com/store

A test version of ServersCheck Monitoring Software, the award-winning software by ServersCheck, is available at http://www.serverscheck.com

High-resolution photos are available at http://www.serverscheck.com/press

ServersCheck Monitoring Appliance highlights:
• The ServersCheck Monitoring Appliance is a complete browser and SMS based solution to monitor server rooms. This small, power efficient, cost friendly device can monitor up to 100 items.
• Small: it fits in the palm of your hand.
• Green: it uses less than 15W to operate. That's is 30 times less compared to a traditional PC. It's also silent: no fan.
• Browser based: just point your web browser to the appliance to manage the monitoring platform.
• SMS based: the device sends out text messages to your phone over the cell phone network using the included modem. This ensures that you will still receive alerts even when your complete network is down. Two-way traffic is also possible via SMS: the user can send an SMS to the device and then receive the network status from the device via SMS.
• Plug and Play: everything is installed so that the device is ready to go.

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