RackView

A data-center rack elevation and cable-management tool. Visualize racks, devices, and cabling as realistic SVG diagrams — no build step, no framework, just Python/Flask and vanilla JS.

Download

Just want to try it? Grab the Windows desktop build — no Python or install needed:

⬇ Download RackView.zip — unzip, run RackView.exe, it opens in your browser automatically with demo data.

(Unsigned .exe — Windows SmartScreen may warn "Unknown publisher" on first run; click More info → Run anyway.)

Why

Tracking what's plugged into what in a data center usually means a spreadsheet, a Visio file nobody updates, or a trip to the DC. RackView keeps rack elevations, cabling, and device details in one place, browsable and searchable.

Features

• Realistic rack elevations — 220+ real device models (Dell, HPE, Cisco, Arista, …), front/rear views, drag-and-drop placement, and empty U's auto-collapse so long gaps don't eat the screen
• Smart cabling — automatic front/rear port matching, medium-aware color/dash styles (fiber, DAC, Cat6a, power, SAS), routes that never cross over other ports
• Configurable server rear panels — pick FC/NIC port counts and speeds, LOM, and iDRAC per device instead of a fixed template; warns before deleting cables on ports you remove
• Right-click actions — jump to a cable's other end or delete it, show only one device's cabling, delete a device, rename a port/device/group label, drag labels out of the way
• Search (Ctrl+K) — find devices by IP, MAC, serial, port, or VLAN across every rack
• Impact analysis — "what breaks if this device goes down," including redundancy loss, across the whole customer's infrastructure
• LLDP discovery & change detection — paste switch LLDP output, match it against existing cabling; changed/new/removed/matched links are called out and can be marked on the rack itself
• Multi-rack / floor view — customer-isolated racks, a hall-level view, inter-rack cabling
• Excel export — download a rack's or a device's cabling as .xlsx

Screenshots

Getting started

Requires Python 3.11+.

git clone https://github.com/kursatbal/rackview.git
cd rackview
python -m venv venv
venv\Scripts\activate        # Windows
# source venv/bin/activate   # macOS/Linux

pip install -r requirements.txt
python seed.py                # first run only — creates and seeds the demo database
python app.py

Then open http://127.0.0.1:5000 in your browser.

Project structure

app.py           Flask app + REST API
models.py        SQLAlchemy models (Rack, Device, Cable, ...)
seed.py          Demo data generator
static/          Frontend — HTML/CSS + vanilla JS, rendered as inline SVG

Tech stack

• Backend: Python, Flask, SQLAlchemy, SQLite
• Frontend: vanilla JavaScript + inline SVG — no React/Vue, no build step
• Export: openpyxl

Changelog

UX & readability

• Contrast pass on faint text (rail U-numbers, device labels, secondary text) to meet WCAG AA
• Long runs of empty U's collapse into a single "N U empty (click to expand)" row instead of eating the whole screen
• Blank panel fields (Owner team, Warranty, etc.) are hidden instead of shown as -
• Tighter side-panel and general spacing

Configurable server rear panels

• Server rear ports are now per-device configurable instead of a fixed template: FC (0/2/4/6 ports, 16/32/64Gb), NIC (0/2/4/6, 10/25/100GbE), LOM, and iDRAC can each be set independently
• The three port types are visually distinct (FC green, NIC dark, LOM copper) and each gets the right cable medium automatically
• Devices left on the model default render exactly as before — nothing already placed changes

LLDP-based cable change detection

• Comparing pasted LLDP output against recorded cabling now reports four states: changed (red), new (green), removed (yellow), and matched (silent)
• Changed ports are marked on the rack itself with a thin colored outline — not a big circle, so dense/two-row port layouts stay readable
• A summary panel lists every difference with an action (update/ignore/delete) per item
• Every comparison is saved to a discovery history: pick a past run from the list to see its results again without re-pasting, and each entry tracks whether its changes were applied or are still pending

Cable-creation flow

• Port click targets are slightly larger so an edge click still registers, without overlapping neighboring ports
• After the first click, the cable end follows the cursor to the second port instead of giving no feedback
• Step-by-step hints, dimmed invalid targets, ESC to cancel, and a confirmation toast on success

License

MIT — see LICENSE.