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NetIO PDUs

We have had several projects where we have desired a remote way of enabling and disabling power sockets, and monitoring power usage at a socket level.

In the past we have used APC MasterSwitch and similar PDUs, which are quite expensive, as well as some cheap Chinese consumer-level devices.

APC tend to do quality devices, but a lot of them have too many sockets for our requirements, and didn't provide power monitoring at a socket level unless you paid quite a lot more for a higher-spec model.

After several months of research, we decided to try a NetIO PowerPDU 4C (Price €269, April 2020). This is a rack-mount device, and offers 4 C13 sockets and 2 network ports.

It has a really nice form factor, and comes with a 19" rack-mount kit.

If you need more sockets, there is a PowerPDU 8KS, which has 8 C13 sockets.

It has a crazy number of spported protools - Web GUI, SNMP, Telnet, MQTT, RS-232, Modbus/TCP, as well as JSON, XML and URL APIs.

We have mostly used the Web GUI and URL APIs, and the Android app. All work easily and reliably.

Lua scripting is also available, which is nice, but we have not needed to use this function.

We use LibreNMS for monitoring, and although specific OIDs have to be added to log power usage (which is not NetIO's fault), the counters are reliable, and we have a good history of power usage.

In April 2024, we bought a PowerBOX 4KG WiFi model (Price £366.84 inc VAT). This is not rack-mount, but can either be screwed to a surface, or mounted on a DIN rail.

While it is a different format and is a newer model, all the functionality and Web GUI is exactly the same as the earlier model, which is nice.

Pros

  • No internet access required, although a cloud manager is available
  • Reliable - we have never needed to reboot the device because something became unresponsive
  • Schedules can be created to automatically disable and enable sockets, although we don't use this function
  • Devices can be daisychained using the 2nd network port, which is nice to save on switch ports
  • The PowerPDU 4C has hardware buttons on the front of the unit to control the sockets
  • The PowerBOX 4KG has been used at nearly its maximum power rating, with no problems whatsoever.

Cons

  • Not the cheapest device around, and to be fair, it is not aimed at consumers, but it is cheaper than APC
  • URL API can only be secured with a single password. It would have been better if specificly defined users could be created, so you could restrict specific users to toggle specific ports, for example
  • Not many firmware updates - SNMP support isn't great (an snmp walk fails). This was raised with support, but it was never fixed
  • The PowerBOX 4KG does not have hardware buttons to control the sockets

Conclusion

We like these devices, and the company is European, which is nice.

If we needed any models for different areas of the offices, I would not hesitate to buy more of the same models (or try their newer products).