Control of your Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning Systems is critical to maintaining healthy and happy occupants to your building.  Controls can vary from a single thermostat to a full building automation system.  A full building automation system can seem like a whole new language to some. More recently Cloud Based Servers are becoming more and more popular.  Here are some things to consider…

Pros

Maintenance and Upgrades 

Based on your monthly service costs, most providers will include any required upgrades to maintain the system. One less item for you to worry about… No need to mobilize a technician to install any upgrades to get the system up and running again. 

Remote Storage

All of your data is stored on the cloud. You can work with your vendors to define extra storage if needed.  If you want to maintain trend data for six days, six weeks, or six months…  You can make that happen!

Access it Anytime and Anywhere

Versus a local server that may not be connected to the internet, a cloud based server allows you to see your facility anytime you have access to the internet.  Bonus: You can build your system to include multiple buildings.  Log in and see everything, everywhere, all at once. 

Cons

Speed

Depending on your system configuration, local servers tend to have higher operating speeds. Communication between your local server and controllers will allow for quicker response times. 

Security

Some might feel that maintaining a physical server in locked space along with login credentials only known by authorized users as the most secure path to maintaining your servers..  Hosts for cloud based servers follow good security practices but some feel additional benefit in the physical barriers being applied.

These are just some of the items you should consider when it comes to what type of server you should use for your building automation system.  You can talk to other facility managers, your controls vendor or someone like us to help steer you in the right direction.