Lavawall® Sentinel

What is Lavawall Sentinel?

Lavawall Sentinel is a network monitor and out-of-band alerting system for server rooms, network closets, and the sites your business runs from. It discovers and polls the devices on your network over SNMP, checks servers and services for up or down, and watches for outages (internet, DNS, server, and power) and for physical and environmental problems (high temperature, humidity, water and flooding, smoke, carbon monoxide, motion or people in a room that should be empty, doors left open, and unauthorized access). When something is wrong it alerts you, and it can still reach you over its own radio mesh when your normal monitoring cannot.

Does Sentinel do network monitoring?

Yes. The appliance discovers devices, polls them over SNMP for uptime, interfaces, CPU, and health, checks servers and services for up or down, and receives SNMP traps, feeding all of it into the same Lavawall topology and dashboards you already use. It is one box, with no separate monitoring server to run. Network monitoring is in limited release.

What does the device fingerprinting identify?

It recognizes the things that live on a real network: network gear, printers, Room Alert sensors, Chromecast, Apple TV, thermostats, and Windows, Mac, and Linux machines, using SNMP, Bonjour and mDNS, and vendor lookup. The same recognition runs in the Windows LANscan agent, so the inventory is consistent wherever you scan from.

How does the appliance set up its radio?

By itself. The node auto-tunes its LoRa radio to the correct regional frequency, from its onboard GPS when it has a fix, or from a location the server works out and configures remotely, so there is no manual radio setup, and the on-device display shows the location it detected. New devices also register against your existing Lavawall company identity, with no new credentials to issue.

Can my own monitoring system see the Sentinel appliance?

Yes. The appliance exposes its own SNMP agent, so your existing network management system can poll it, with the community string set from the Lavawall console.

How does Sentinel send an alert when the internet or the power is down?

That is the point of out-of-band. Most monitoring rides the same internet connection it is supposed to watch, so when the line drops or the power fails, the monitoring goes quiet at the exact moment you need it. Sentinel tries several paths in order: it reports over the wired network (USB or Ethernet) when that is available, falls back to MeshCore, a long-range low-power radio mesh, when it is not. The alarm travels by radio to a repeater and on to Lavawall, so you hear about the outage during the outage.

What is MeshCore, and why does Sentinel use it?

MeshCore is an open, community long-range radio mesh built on LoRa. It moves small messages across long distances on very little power, and it keeps working when the internet and mains power do not. Sentinel uses MeshCore as its backup path so an alert can hop from device to repeater to Lavawall without any working internet at the site. See our MeshCore page for how we participate in the community and deploy repeaters.

What outages does Sentinel detect?

Loss of internet connectivity, DNS failures, a server or host going unresponsive, and loss of mains power. Because it has its own radio path and battery-backed devices, it can report the power or internet outage itself rather than simply going silent like network-dependent monitoring does.

What environmental and physical conditions does it monitor?

Temperature and humidity, water and flooding (through a flood rope and point sensors), smoke, carbon monoxide, motion or humans detected in a space that should be empty, doors left open, and unauthorized access to server rooms and network closets. Sensors connect to the Sentinel appliance, and you set the thresholds that trigger an alarm.

What hardware is involved?

Three Lavawall pieces. A Sentinel USB plug-in for servers that reports over the host computer, then over MeshCore when the network is down. A Sentinel network appliance for server rooms and closets, with ports for a flood rope and other sensor accessories and both USB and Ethernet for normal updates, falling back to MeshCore. And a Sentinel MeshCore repeater that extends the radio mesh. In areas with a high concentration of clients we also deploy solar-powered repeaters.

Is the MeshCore traffic secure?

Yes. Every Sentinel message carries Lavawall's own encryption and hash verification on top of the MeshCore mesh's own protections. That means an alert is both private and authenticated: the contents are not readable in transit, and Lavawall can verify a message genuinely came from your device and was not altered or spoofed.

How is this different from my RMM or existing monitoring?

An RMM watches devices over the network and stops reporting when the network or power fails, which is exactly when a flooding closet or a dead UPS matters most. Sentinel is built for that moment: it has battery-backed hardware, physical and environmental sensors an RMM does not read, and a radio path that does not depend on your internet or power being up.

Do I need cell signal or a SIM card?

The standard Sentinel hardware does not use cellular, and cellular is available as a custom option if you want it. We lead with MeshCore because in most locations it is more reliable during a widespread outage: cell networks often congest or go down in a regional power or network event, while the MeshCore mesh is independent and its repeaters are battery- and solar-powered. Sentinel's backup path is radio: the MeshCore mesh, reaching one of Lavawall's own MeshCore repeaters or a community MeshCore repeater nearby. That keeps it working in basements, rural sites, and buildings with poor cell coverage, and it avoids the per-device SIM and monthly data charges that cellular out-of-band monitoring bills.

What is the radio range, and do I need line of sight?

LoRa radio reaches well beyond Wi-Fi, and the mesh extends it further because each repeater passes messages along. Range depends on terrain and obstructions, and clear line of sight helps, but the mesh is designed to route around gaps. Where client density is high we add solar repeaters to strengthen coverage, and we can advise on placement for your sites.

Does it feed into the Lavawall dashboard?

Yes. Sentinel alerts appear alongside your other Lavawall findings, so outages and environmental alarms sit in the same console as your security and compliance monitoring, with the same notifications.

Who is Sentinel for?

Any organization that would lose money or trust if a server room overheated, flooded, lost power, or dropped off the internet without anyone knowing. That includes MSPs watching many client sites, clinics and firms with an on-site server or closet, and anyone running edge or branch infrastructure without staff on hand.

When is Sentinel available, and what does it cost?

Sentinel is in limited early release: we are onboarding a small number of sites at a time so each deployment gets hands-on attention. At sites that have devices on the Lavawall Complete plan, the Sentinel monitoring is included at no additional charge, and repeaters have no ongoing costs on any plan. Pricing otherwise follows Lavawall's usual month-to-month, no-minimums approach. Request early access to claim a spot, get deployment guidance for your sites, and lock in early-release pricing.

What is out-of-band monitoring?

Out-of-band monitoring watches your systems over a path that is independent of the connection it is monitoring. Ordinary monitoring rides your internet link, so when that link or the power fails the monitoring goes silent at the exact moment you need it. Out-of-band monitoring, like Lavawall Sentinel, keeps a separate channel, in Sentinel's case a long-range MeshCore radio mesh plus battery-backed devices, so the alert about an outage still reaches you during the outage.

What is environmental monitoring for a server room?

Environmental monitoring watches the physical conditions in a server room or network closet: temperature, humidity, water and flooding, smoke, carbon monoxide, motion or people in a space that should be empty, doors left open, and unauthorized access. Sensors connect to a Lavawall Sentinel appliance, you set the thresholds, and you are alerted the moment a reading crosses a safe limit, before a hot or flooding room becomes downtime or lost hardware.

How do I monitor a server room for temperature, humidity, and flooding?

Place a Lavawall Sentinel network appliance in the room and connect the sensors you need: temperature and humidity probes, a flood rope or point water sensors along the floor, plus smoke, carbon monoxide, door, and motion sensors. Set your alarm thresholds, and Sentinel reports over your network when it is up and over the MeshCore radio mesh when it is not, so a flooding or overheating room reaches you even during a power or internet outage.

Do you offer environmental and out-of-band monitoring in Calgary and across Alberta?

Yes. Lavawall is based in Calgary and is rolling out Sentinel out-of-band and environmental monitoring across the cities it serves. MeshCore repeaters are going in first in Calgary and expanding to Edmonton, Red Deer, Lethbridge, Grande Prairie, and Whitecourt, plus Vancouver and Mississauga. Coverage is early and still limited. See MeshCore in Calgary and the full regional picture on our MeshCore page.

Which regions does Lavawall Sentinel cover?

Sentinel runs wherever Lavawall's platform runs, and its MeshCore out-of-band coverage is expanding across the cities we serve: Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer, Lethbridge, Grande Prairie, Whitecourt, Vancouver, and Mississauga. Underserved areas like Grande Prairie and Whitecourt are a deliberate priority. See the MeshCore page for the region-by-region breakdown.

How do I get alerted about an internet or DNS outage when the internet is down?

You need an out-of-band path. Lavawall Sentinel keeps watching internet connectivity and DNS from a battery-backed device, and when the connection drops it sends the alert over the MeshCore long-range radio mesh instead of your dead internet link. The alarm hops device to repeater to Lavawall, so you are notified about the outage during the outage rather than the next morning.

How do I monitor server room temperature when the power is out?

Put a battery-backed Lavawall Sentinel appliance in the room with a temperature probe. If mains power fails, the appliance keeps reading the temperature, and because the network is likely down too, it sends any over-temperature alarm over the MeshCore radio mesh. So a cooling failure during a power outage still reaches you while there is time to act.

How do I monitor humidity, water, or flooding without a network connection?

Sentinel's appliance takes humidity probes and a flood rope or point water sensors, and it does not depend on your network to raise the alarm. When it detects rising humidity or water on the floor and the internet is unavailable, it routes the alert over MeshCore, so a flooding closet is caught even at an unmanned site with no working connection.

How do I get intrusion and unauthorized-access alerts when the network is down?

Connect door, motion, and unauthorized-access sensors to the Sentinel appliance. It watches for a person in a room that should be empty, a door left open, or an opened enclosure, and if the network is down it sends the alarm over the MeshCore radio mesh. An intruder who cuts the internet or the power does not also cut your alerting.

How do I know if the power is out at an unmanned or remote site?

Sentinel's devices are battery-backed, so when mains power fails the device itself reports the power loss over MeshCore rather than simply going silent the way network-dependent monitoring does. That means a dead UPS or a tripped breaker at a lights-out or remote site pages you immediately.

Can I monitor a site that has no internet, no cell signal, and no power?

Yes, that is exactly what Sentinel is built for. Its devices run on battery, its sensors are physical, and its reporting paths are radio, needing neither your internet, your power, nor a cell signal or SIM: the MeshCore long-range mesh. As long as an alert can reach one of Lavawall's MeshCore repeaters or a community MeshCore repeater nearby, the site stays monitored.

What connections does Sentinel use to report, and in what order?

Sentinel tries three paths in order and falls through to the next if one is unavailable: first USB, reporting over the host computer it is plugged into; then Ethernet, the appliance's own wired network; and finally MeshCore, the long-range community radio mesh that Lavawall's own repeaters run on, used when the wired paths are down. All three paths have to be down at once before an alert cannot get out, and every message is encrypted and hash-verified by Lavawall no matter which path it takes.

What happens if there is no MeshCore repeater in range?

MeshCore is a mesh, so an alert only needs to reach any one repeater, one of Lavawall's own or a community repeater, and each repeater extends the range of the next. Where client density is high we add repeaters, including solar-powered ones, to strengthen coverage, and for a site at the edge of coverage we can advise on placement or add a dedicated repeater. Coverage is early and expanding across the regions we serve.

Can Sentinel use cellular as a backup?

Cellular is available as a custom hardware option; it is not part of the standard build. In most locations we recommend MeshCore instead, because during a widespread outage cell networks frequently congest or fail, while the MeshCore mesh stays up on independent, battery- and solar-powered repeaters. For sites where a cellular path genuinely helps, we can add it alongside the MeshCore path.

Does Sentinel have monthly cellular or SIM fees for out-of-band monitoring?

No. The standard hardware has no SIM and no cellular data plan, because Sentinel's out-of-band path is license-free LoRa radio (MeshCore). That means no per-device SIM cost and no recurring carrier data charge to keep a site covered, unlike cellular out-of-band appliances that bill a monthly fee per device. Cellular is available as a custom option only if you specifically want it.

How does going without cellular keep out-of-band monitoring costs down?

Cellular out-of-band monitoring charges a monthly SIM or data fee for every device, which adds up fast across many sites and server rooms. Sentinel reaches you over license-free LoRa radio instead, so there is no carrier plan behind each device. Solar-powered repeaters keep remote nodes running without a power bill, and every Sentinel alert lands in the same Lavawall console you already use, so you are not paying for a separate monitoring service either.

Does Lavawall already notify me about outages without a Sentinel appliance?

Yes. Lavawall's normal monitoring already raises an outage notification whenever it stops hearing from a monitored device (a missed heartbeat) or cannot reach one over the network. Those checks run from Lavawall's side, over the internet. The Sentinel appliance adds to that: it reports the outage and the environmental conditions from the site itself, and it can still get the alert out over the MeshCore radio mesh when the site's internet or power is down, which is exactly when heartbeat and reachability checks can only tell you that a device went silent, not why.

Is Sentinel monitoring included in my Lavawall plan?

At sites that have devices on the Lavawall Complete plan, Sentinel outage and environmental monitoring is included at no additional charge. Repeaters have no ongoing costs on any plan. Talk to us about the Sentinel hardware for the sites you want to watch, and we will map it out with you during early access.