In one embodiment, other sensors can also be used to further monitor the environmental conditions associated with the electronic equipment, such as humidity sensors 1240 and flow sensors 1245. The humidity sensors 1240 allow the controller 1180 to monitor the humidity that the electronic equipment is being exposed to and to adjust the humidity accordingly, such as through use of a de-humidifier 1112 that is in fluid communication with the electronic equipment. The flow sensors 1245 allow the controller 1180 to monitor the flow rate of air, such as for determining heat transfer via convection. The use of flow sensors 1245 can also be used for determining other environmental characteristics, such as air flow turbulence, that can have an adverse impact on the cooling of the electronic equipment or the equipment itself

The sensors can communicate with the controller 1180 via hardwire (e.g., cables 1181) and/or wireless links 1182. The particular communication protocols that are utilized can vary and can include Wireless Fidelity or WiFi services, Bluetooth, GSM, CDMA, UMTS, WiMAX, and so forth. A combination of communication techniques can also be utilized, such as allowing the sensors to communicate both wirelessly and via hardwire to provide redundancy so that data is not lost in the event of a link failure.

The controller 1180 can receive the environmental information from the sensors and adjust the environmental conditions accordingly. In one embodiment, each of the cabinets 10 can have a range of environmental conditions that are acceptable. In real time, the controller 1180 can receive the environmental information associated with each of the cabinets 10 and then in real time can adjust one or more of the temperature, pressure and humidity associated with the cabinets.