What is the difference between a BMS and DCIM?
DCIM manages IT assets and capacity inside the data centre, while the BMS monitors the electrical and mechanical infrastructure. Data can be shared between them where needed.
Sectors · Data centres
Building management systems for data centres and server rooms
In a server room, a few minutes of rising temperature or lost cooling is enough to take services down. We connect power, cooling, leak and smoke detection to one system that watches them around the clock and gets the alarm to the on-call engineer before a fault becomes an outage.
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What the system monitors
- UPS units: operating status, load and transfer to battery
- Precision cooling units: return and supply air temperature and faults
- Temperature and humidity sensors at rack and aisle level
- Cable leak detection under raised floors
- Aspirating early smoke detection and gas suppression status (monitoring only)
- Generators, automatic transfer switches and distribution panels
- Energy meters for power usage effectiveness (PUE) where the readings allow
- Room access and door status where connected
From our projects: Barclays server rooms, KAFD
We connected the critical equipment of the server and electrical rooms in the Barclays office to one system, with five alarm classes, each routed separately:
| System | Equipment | Connection |
|---|---|---|
| UPS | Eaton 93PS | BACnet/IP |
| Precision cooling | Montair CRAC, MCX controllers | Modbus RTU |
| Water leak detection | TTK FG-NET | Modbus TCP |
| Aspirating smoke detection | ModuLaser | Modbus TCP |
| Energy meters | Schneider PM5340 / PM2120 | Modbus RTU |
How the alarm reaches you
- Phone callFor critical alarms such as high temperature or a water leak, through a modem on site that works without internet.
- SMS and WhatsAppWith the point name, value, limit and time of the event.
- EscalationIf the on-call engineer does not acknowledge within the set time, the next person is notified.
- Hard-wired autodialerFor signals that cannot wait, working even if the BMS server is down, as long as the controller is running.
Details: BMS alarm notification.
Common questions
Can you connect UPS units from any manufacturer?
Yes, if they support BACnet or Modbus through a communication card, or provide dry contacts. It is worth confirming the communication card before procurement.
Does the alarm still work if the BMS server stops?
Yes for signals wired to the hard-wired autodialer, which works directly from the controller outputs as long as the controller is running.
Free consultation or a quotation
Send us the drawings or the IO list, or call us directly. We review your project and reply with a clear quotation or the questions we need answered.