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IOT‐Tree Server Project (IT Room Monitoring) ‐ 0 overall description

bambooww edited this page Nov 10, 2025 · 3 revisions

A computer room automation monitoring project has just been implemented and completed recently. The main content includes computer room air conditioning docking monitoring, temperature and humidity monitoring UPS、 Monitoring of electrical current and water leakage for each cabinet.

These monitoring and control contents are ultimately consolidated into a touch computer and all installed on standard cabinets. Configure monitoring software to interface with SMS platform, enabling SMS reminders to be pushed for important situations

This article provides detailed explanations in multiple series based on the connected devices, hoping that you can refer to and easily handle similar projects.

1. Equipment selection

1.1 Air conditioning selection

The air conditioning equipment used in the computer room is VERTIV Liebert DME precision air conditioning. This air conditioner provides Modbus RTU or YDN23 electrical master protocol with RS485 interface. Just one two core shielded cable is needed for easy docking.

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1.2 UPS selection

The computer room uses APC UPS, and the host equipment is supported by AP9631 network management module. The interface of this network management module supports Modbus TCP protocol, and only one Ethernet cable is needed to connect to the internal network switch.

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1.3 Current Monitoring and AD Module Selection

The user requests to monitor the two-phase current of each cabinet, and therefore requires the UPS to configure an AC current detection module for the output of each cabinet. The user has 4 cabinets, so each cabinet requires a corresponding AC current monitoring module. The module we selected is a perforated current detection module, powered by 24V DC, with a range of 0-30A, converted to 4-20mA current signal output.

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In order to convert the four current signals, we also configured a multi-channel current signal conversion module, which enables the current signals to be converted into Modbus RTU output with RS485 interface.

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1.4 Temperature and humidity sensor

Although the air conditioner also has these two parameters, users need to perform temperature and humidity monitoring remotely on the air conditioner. Therefore, we have configured a temperature and humidity sensor:

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This sensor can be powered by 5-24V DC and output via RS485 Modbus RTU, making it easy to connect.

1.5 Leakage Monitoring Sensor

The computer room requires separate water leakage monitoring and alarm for the ceiling and floor. Therefore, we have equipped sensors for water leakage detection for both the ceiling and floor.

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This sensor is also powered by 24V DC and provides Modbus RTU docking protocol with RS485 interface.

1.6 Serial Server

The above devices, except for the UPS of APC which directly provides Ethernet interface, are all RS485 interfaces, so a module for converting RS485 to Ethernet interface (also known as a serial port server) is required. This can enable all RS485 device data to be ultimately imported into the internal Ethernet of the data center. The module I am using supports the conversion of 3 RS485 channels to Ethernet:

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This serial server can be powered by 9-36V DC, which is very convenient to use.

1.7 Touchscreen PC

In order to display these monitoring indicators on the server cabinet, we have configured an industrial touch screen tablet PC that can be mounted on a standard rack. I5 CPU with 4GB of memory, supports Windows.

2 Software selection

2.1 SMS platform

Due to the need to support SMS alerts, we chose domestic SMS service platforms that are very similar. After registration, we provide platform access keys, configure corresponding SMS templates, and then the program accesses the corresponding URL through HTTPS protocol.

2.2 Monitoring software

We use the open-source IOT Tree monitoring software, which can be downloaded from GitHub.

3 Implementation steps

Next, I will provide a detailed explanation of the entire process in the order of project preparation and actual implementation. The process of reading this series of articles is basically equivalent to participating in this project. You only need a little knowledge of circuits to quickly master the project process.

During the project implementation process, I plan to provide a detailed explanation in the following sections (specific details may vary):

  1. Pre project preparation: mainly involves making monitoring boxes and rough circuits according to project needs

  2. Temperature and humidity docking: Detailed explanation of the process of docking temperature and humidity details

  3. Water leakage sensor docking: Detailed explanation of the process of docking the water leakage sensor

  4. Docking of air conditioning equipment: Detailed explanation of the detailed process of docking with VERTIV Liebert DME precision air conditioning

  5. UPS equipment docking: Detailed explanation of the process of docking APC UPS

  6. Current detection and signal docking: Detailed explanation of the process of docking the current monitoring module

Production and deployment of 7 software monitoring screens: detailed explanation of IOT Tree monitoring screen configuration

8 SMS docking instructions

For some related knowledge points, I can also recommend which materials to read for you. Because although this project is simple, the knowledge points used are indeed very universal. You can easily apply it to other automatic monitoring projects.

I hope you can derive practical project enjoyment from it and quickly master this part as part of your abilities.

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