i3 Solutions Group awarded US patents for innovative data centre power control system

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i3 Solutions Group, a specialist data centre MEP engineering services firm, has been issued two patents by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for its Adaptable Redundant Power (ARP) topology control solution. This innovative system solves the service level agreement (SLA) disparity problem by providing hardware and software control over the inflexibility of common data centre electrical designs. ARP is capable of aligning power service levels with IT load, enabling applications and the hardware they sit on to be provisioned with varying levels of electrical power resilience.

The wholesale colocation industry faces challenges in fully utilizing available data centre power, often leading to energy waste and higher costs. ARP addresses this issue by providing Inherent Redundant Power (IRP), which accesses previously stranded or trapped power, preventing it from going to waste by utilizing it to provide additional levels of redundancy. This innovation offers colocation data centres the opportunity to create new business models based on their power infrastructure, as ARP enables a staggered approach to infrastructure rollout that responds to end-user load and not design criteria.

Ed Ansett, Founder and Chairman of i3 Solutions Group, said, “Every business has low to high levels of application criticality and interdependency. Through developments such as Kubernetes, IT can be orchestrated to reflect this. However, when it comes to electricity, the power chain is fixed, wasteful and difficult to change. ARP is a way to flex the power SLA to match the IT workload SLA without the considerable expense of rewiring the entire topology design.”

Traditionally, power chain designs for data centres are based on a chosen level of capacity, resilience, and redundancy of N, N+1, N+2, and less commonly 2N, 2N+1, and 2(N+1). But once the topology is decided and deployed, it is fixed and extremely difficult, expensive, and time-consuming to change. ARP solves this problem by providing a dynamic approach to power topology, offering flexibility in terms of IT load criticality and power resilience.

ARP provides a range of benefits to data centre operators and their IT customers. By enabling power service levels to be aligned with that of the IT load, it allows for automatic provision of power resilience across the topology that is dynamically matched to the criticality of the IT load. This innovation solves the inherent redundant power challenges faced by the wholesale colocation industry.

ARP is capable of providing power-as-a-service and can be deployed on day one, providing flexible power to serve the start-up load. Coupled with its IRP capability, ARP enables a pay-as-you-grow approach to power use without the drawbacks of stranded capacity. ARP modules are flexible enough to provide power across multiple halls, enabling developers to move away from traditional and capital-intensive methods of infrastructure deployment.

i3 Solutions Group has applied for six US patents to protect ARP, with two granted, two pending, and two under consideration. To learn more about ARP and its capabilities, please contact i3 Solutions Group at +44 (0) 203 953 8457 or email info@i3.solutions.