manager or a remote access appliance having an integrated network manager the gateway device 40 may in turn be in communication with a data center infrastructure management u201c dcim u201d system 42 via either a local area network or a wide area network or possibly even by even a hard wired direct connection it will be appreciated that while the figures illustrate a data center implementation using servers 12 and 18 the pdu 14 and the ups 16 a wide variety of other types of data center assets could be used with the teachings of the present disclosure basically any type of asset which includes a service u2014 or controlling u2014 processor may be incorporated into the system 10 still further the system 10 is not limited to use with only data center assets the system 10 could be used in various other types of environments such as factory warehousing manufacturing or even health care environments to track the locations of various assets provided the assets incorporate some form of electronically stored identification information that can be read by an integrated or stand alone rf module as described herein optionally server 12 and pdu 14 may include built in battery backup modules 20 a and 28 a respectively to provide power to their respective sp rf modules 20 and 28 in the event power is lost to the server 12 and or pdu 14 this would enable the sp rf modules 20 and 28 to remain operational when ac mains power is lost this.