As data centers become more complex and rack densities increase, knowing what equipment is installed and where it is located is no longer enough. Operators increasingly need to know how that equipment is performing in real time.

Open-source data center infrastructure management (DCIM) platforms such as NetBox, OpenDCIM and RackTables can provide valuable infrastructure documentation, asset management, rack visualization and, depending on the platform, power or environmental data. However, their capabilities for live operational monitoring vary.

For high-density and AI environments, a best-of-breed approach can combine these capabilities: Open-source DCIM provides the system of record. while intelligent PDUs, environmental sensors and monitoring platforms provide the system of intelligence. APIs and protocols connect the two.

What is a system of record?

Answer: A system of record provides an authoritative model of what exists within the data center. Open-source platforms can help operators document:
• IT and infrastructure assets
• Rack locations
• IP addresses
• Network connections
• Power relationships
• Cabling
• Equipment specifications
For example, NetBox provides IP address management, infrastructure modelling, rack visualization and APIs for automation. OpenDCIM supports asset, rack and cable management and can also interact with certain infrastructure telemetry. RackTables provides centralized infrastructure and asset documentation.

These pieces of information are fundamental to capacity planning, asset management, troubleshooting and infrastructure changes. However, documentation alone cannot provide a complete picture of what is happening inside a live data hall at any given time.

What is a System of Intelligence?

Answer: A system of intelligence adds continuously updated operational data to the infrastructure model.

Instead of simply knowing that a rack contains a particular server or PDU, operators can see:

How much power it is consuming
Whether voltage or current is changing
Whether power quality is deteriorating
Whether rack temperatures are increasing
Whether airflow is adequate
Whether water or leaks are detected
Whether environmental conditions are approaching predefined thresholds

This distinction becomes particularly important as data centers accommodate AI and other high-density workloads. The AI infrastructure challenge is particularly relevant in Southeast Asia, where the IEA expects data center electricity demand to more than double by 2030.

These numbers will push rack power significantly beyond traditional enterprise densities, while GPU-intensive workloads can introduce rapidly changing electrical and thermal conditions. The IEA also noted that AI workloads “induce large and rapid power swings”, making it even more critical to have close monitoring of rack performance.

A static equipment record or nameplate rating cannot tell teams how that infrastructure is behaving at a particular moment or alert them to potential failures. That is where real-time telemetry becomes valuable.

How Can Intelligent PDUs Add Real-Time Power Intelligence?

Answer: Intelligent rack PDUs (iPDUs) from Raritan and Server Technology (both brands of Legrand), the PX4 and PRO4X, can provide granular power information from within the rack.

Through the Xerus technology platform that is built into both these iPDUs, supported devices can provide capabilities including:

Capability	Operational value
Real-time metering	Visibility into current power consumption and capacity with ±0.5% metering accuracy
Power-quality monitoring	Identification of conditions such as harmonic distortion and voltage abnormalities, enabling early detection of potential equipment faults
Waveform capture	Provides information for investigating certain power events
Breaker-trip forensics	Helps operators investigate the source of a trip and facilitate recovery
Remote monitoring	Enables teams to assess rack conditions without physical intervention
Standard protocols and APIs	Allows telemetry to be integrated into wider management systems
Open interoperability	Supports SNMP, MODBUS, REST APIs, and Redfish for seamless integration
Enterprise security	Secure Boot, encryption, and strong password policies

This transforms power management from a largely static capacity exercise into a live observation of infrastructure status.

For example, an operator may know from the DCIM system that a rack has a particular power capacity. The intelligent PDU can provide the additional information needed to understand how that capacity is actually being used.

What is The Xerus Technology Platform?

Answer: The Xerus Technology Platform provides the technology foundation for intelligence and connectivity across the PX4 and PRO4X power-management solutions.

It supports real-time data collection and interoperability through integrations including SNMP, Modbus, REST APIs and Redfish. This interoperability is particularly useful as operators would not need to replace their existing DCIM or building-management platforms to introduce greater infrastructure intelligence.
Instead, live data can potentially be incorporated into the systems they already use. The result is a layered architecture:
Infrastructure → Intelligent devices → Telemetry → API configurations → DCIM/BMS/monitoring platform → Operating teams

How Do SmartSensors Add Environmental Intelligence?

Answer: Power distribution is only one side of the AI data-center challenge. As rack densities increase, thermal conditions and cooling performance become equally important.

SmartSensors by Raritan can provide real-time visibility into environmental conditions like:

Sensor type	What it can help monitor
Temperature & humidity	Rack inlet/outlet conditions and thermal changes
Airflow	Cooling delivery and airflow performance
Differential air pressure	Pressure differences across floors or aisles
Water/leak detection	Water ingress and liquid-cooling risks
Contact closure	Integration with external devices and alarms
Dust/particles	Environmental cleanliness
Proximity/motion	Presence and activity around infrastructure
Vibration	Equipment or environmental changes

This information allows operators to move beyond simply knowing where equipment is located to real-time insight on the conditions in which it is operating.

SmartSensors can also connect directly or be cascaded in a single chain using standard Cat5/6 cables to the PX4 and PRO4X iPDUs, allowing environmental data and power data to be brought together rather than managed as separate systems.

Can Open-Source DCIM and Intelligent Monitoring Work Together?

Answer: Yes. In many environments, the two can be complementary rather than mutually exclusive. openDCIM already demonstrates this principle through its SNMP-based PDU and temperature polling capabilities, so it would be more accurate to say that operators can use a DCIM for asset and infrastructure context while intelligent PDUs, SmartSensors and other monitoring platforms provide deeper operational telemetry, analytics and alerting.

This approach can be particularly useful when an organization wants to retain an existing open-source DCIM investment while adding greater visibility to high-density or AI environments.

The key point is that operators do not necessarily have to choose between open-source DCIM and intelligent infrastructure monitoring. They can use both in concert for what each does best to enjoy the full picture of the ins and outs of rack power quality and behavior at any given time.

What Does Implementing SmartSensors with a DCIM Require?

Answer: Implementation would depend on the DCIM's integration capabilities. A platform such as openDCIM already has documented SNMP polling for intelligent PDUs and temperature sensors, while RackTables' documented SNMP functionality is primarily focused on device and network discovery.
For platforms that do not natively consume the required sensor telemetry, an integration layer may be needed to collect, normalize and pass data through an API, SNMP or another supported protocol. An enterprise deployment would likely include the following technical requirements:

• Compatible SmartSensors and sensor controllers
• Network connectivity between controllers and the management platform
• Supported protocol/API on both sides
• API credentials or SNMP authentication
• Firewall and network-security rules
• Device and sensor discovery
• Asset/rack/sensor mapping
• Data polling or ingestion intervals
• Thresholds and alarm rules
• Time-series data storage where historical trending is required
• Testing and validation of sensor values
• Monitoring of the integration itself

It should be noted that open-source DCIMs are not to be treated identically in terms of the integrations to be created. As such, the deployment architecture would look something like this:

Infrastructure Data Layer Architecture

Monitoring / analytics

Analyse trends, generate alerts and support operational decisions

DCIM

Associate data with assets, racks, locations and capacity

API / SNMP / Modbus layer

Transport data between systems

Xerus / intelligent controller

Aggregate, expose and manage sensor data

SmartSensors

Capture physical environmental conditions

Infrastructure Integration Flow

1

Connect and configure the sensors

Sensors measure parameters such as temperature, humidity, airflow, differential pressure, water/leak detection or other environmental conditions. The sensors need to be connected to a compatible controller or PDU and correctly identified.

2

Establish the communications interface

An integration team determines which protocol the DCIM can consume. The Xerus platform supports SNMP, Modbus, REST-based APIs and Redfish. Depending on the platforms involved, this could include SNMP/SNMPv3, REST API, Modbus or another supported interface.

3

Map the data to the DCIM's asset model

This is one of the most important implementation steps. Rather than receiving isolated temperature value, the DCIM needs to understand that: Sensor X → Rack 42 → Row 5 → Data Hall A. The same mapping can associate power measurements from an intelligent PDU with the rack, equipment and circuit represented in the DCIM.

4

Configure thresholds and alerts

The DCIM or monitoring platform can then establish operational thresholds: for example, high rack inlet temperature, excessive humidity or abnormal environmental conditions. The exact alerting capability depends on the DCIM platform.

5

Build dashboards and automation

Once the data is mapped, operators can correlate environmental and power information with their documented infrastructure. This provides considerably more operational context than a static rack record and offers operators much more visibility about equipment performance and conditions in real time.

From Documentation to Data-Driven Operations

The future of data center management is shaping up to include increasingly connected architectures in which documentation, telemetry and analytics work together.

For APAC data centers preparing for AI and high-density workloads, this combination can provide a stronger foundation for:
• Capacity planning based on actual utilization
• Proactive maintenance based on changing conditions
• Power management based on real-time consumption
• Thermal management based on live environmental data
• Troubleshooting using historical and event data
• Operational efficiency through better infrastructure visibility

The distinction is simple: A system of record tells you what your data center is, while a system of intelligence tells you what your data center is doing.

As AI increases the power demands, thermal and operational complexity of data centers, combining both becomes increasingly important.

FAQs

What is the difference between DCIM and real-time infrastructure monitoring?
A: DCIM generally models and manages infrastructure such as assets, racks, connectivity and capacity, while real-time monitoring provides continuously updated information about operating conditions such as power, temperature, humidity and equipment status. Combining both gives operators a more complete view of their infrastructure.

Q: Is NetBox a DCIM platform?
A: NetBox combines network and data-center infrastructure management capabilities and is primarily used as a source of truth for documenting infrastructure, connectivity, power relationships and assets. It is not primarily a rack-level power-quality or environmental monitoring platform.

Q: What is RackTables, and how does it fit into a DCIM strategy?
A: RackTables is an open-source DCIM tool used for data center asset and cable management, providing a centralized, web-based repository for documenting racks, servers, switches, IP addresses, and physical connections. Unlike monitoring platforms, it is a documentation and planning tool that helps teams visualize rack layouts, track U-space, and record cable connections, making it lightweight and well-suited for small-to-medium data centers seeking structured infrastructure records without commercial licensing costs.

However, RackTables is not a real-time monitoring system and does not natively support SNMP or live power and environmental data

Q: Can OpenDCIM monitor real-time data?
OpenDCIM can interact with certain infrastructure telemetry, including intelligent PDU and temperature-sensor data, but it is not intended to function as a dedicated monitoring system. Operators may therefore use complementary monitoring and alerting technologies where more extensive real-time visibility is required.

Q: Can open-source DCIM tools work with intelligent PDUs?
A: Yes. Depending on the platform and integration architecture, intelligent PDU data can be exposed through protocols and APIs such as SNMP and REST APIs. This allows operators to combine infrastructure documentation with live telemetry.

Q: How does the Xerus technology stack in the PX4 and PRO4X intelligent PDUs complement DCIM?
A: Xerus provides an intelligence and connectivity layer for supported Raritan and Server Technology power-management solutions. Its interoperability capabilities can allow infrastructure telemetry to be integrated with DCIM, BMS and other management systems, helping operators combine asset information with live operational data.

Q: How do open-source DCIMs differ in the ways they can be implemented with intelligent PDUs and environment sensors?
A: NetBox provides REST API, GraphQL API, webhooks and Prometheus metrics. Its REST API can be used to automate data exchange, while webhooks can notify external systems when infrastructure objects change. openDCIM can integrate with intelligent PDUs and poll PDU and temperature-sensor data via SNMP. Its API also exposes PDU statistics and sensor-reading functions. RackTables, on the other hand, can interact with network devices through SNMP, SSH, Telnet and other mechanisms to document and discover infrastructure but would need telemetry data from the sensors and PDUs to understand their operating conditions.

Open-Source DCIM vs Real-Time Monitoring: What Data Center Operators Need to Know