RTU Face-off: Which NetGuardian is best for small/medium sites?

When monitoring a small to medium remote site, getting the capacity you need in monitoring equipment is a little tricky. It's OK to plan for the future and give yourself a little room to grow, but you don't want to over pay for capacity you'll never use.

The NetGuardian 216 G3 and the M16 G2 are both present themselves as good mid-size options. They both have 16 discretes, 2 control relays, and up to 8 analogs. On paper, at leasts, they have the right capacities for small or medium sites. But thats where the similarities end.

This small RTU is ideal for small to medium sites.

The NetGuardian 216 G3: Simpler and smaller

The NetGuardian 216 G3 is the simplest of the two RTUs. The small device is 1 RU tall but only about 8 inches wide, making it about have the width of a normal rack. This conserves rack space and you can put another small unit on the same RU. Alternatively you can purchase specialized ears to make the unit stable in the rack. The NetGuardian 216 G3 comes with 2-8 analogs, giving you the flexibility to customize the unit to your needs.

The M16 offers the same capacity as the 216 G3 but with more functionality and options.

The NetGuardian M16 G2: More functionality & history graphing

The NetGuardian M16 G2 has the same capacity as the 216 G3 but more functionality. The M16 can be upgraded from 2 to 18 control relays and has D-Wire sensor support built in to give you more monitoring options. The M16 G2 is slightly larger and fills out a whole 1 RU (which means it does not need specialized ears to mount in a rack). While both RTUs can be configured using DPS Telecom's web browser interface, the M16 G2 has the Extended Historical Analog Graphing option, giving you the power to graph and track analog trends.

For even more functionality, the M16 G2 comes with a voice build option (called the NetGuardian "V16"). The V16 build will call your phone with an automated voice alert. Verbal notifications provide all the key information you need to know: the site name, alarm status, timestamp, and more. This is ideal for networks without a 24x7 NOC who need a great deal of flexibility on how to notify their on-call team.