You can’t just model a train in Netbox: About Architecting and running modern IT Infrastructure in Trains#

Vanessa Gaube (DB Fernverkehr)

• Why: A genuinely novel operating environment: running modern IT infrastructure on a fleet of ICE high-speed trains. The constraints (no racks in the traditional sense, intermittent connectivity, hardware lifecycle on a moving vehicle, NetBox not fitting the model) produce architectural lessons that productively challenge DC assumptions.
• What: An overview of IT infrastructure on ICE trains — evolving from embedded systems and passenger WiFi toward a broader modern IT stack including passenger information services. Covers challenges versus datacenter-built infrastructure: how to get proper internet on a train, what a network looks like in that context, hardware selection and lifecycle differences, whether racks exist, and why NetBox's model doesn't map cleanly to rolling stock.
• How: Not detailed in the abstract. (from abstract only)
• Where applicable: Uniquely DB-specific in context, but the meta-problem — modeling and operating infrastructure that doesn't fit DC patterns in standard tooling — challenges any architect who assumes NetBox/DCIM metaphors are universal. Interesting as a boundary case for infrastructure modeling and for edge-network design with highly variable connectivity.