Lifeline Data Centers Awarded Patent for Data Center Power Distribution

Lifeline Data Centers, Indiana’s only locally owned and operated group of data centers, today announces it has been awarded a new patent for innovative technology which helps combat the high energy consumption needs for data centers. The patent was issued for the power distribution center at the company’s data center located on the east side of Indianapolis.

Alex Carroll discussed Lifeline Data Center’s patent on a recent Inside Indiana Business with Gerry Dick:

Data centers are a vital resource for nearly every business on the planet, but their energy consumption is notoriously high. According to recent research, data centers may be responsible for consuming 20 percent of all available electricity in the world by 2025. To help offset this, Lifeline Data Centers’ founders Rich Banta and Alex Carroll developed a new data center power distribution system that will reduce energy burdens and help fight climate change without risking the reliability data center users have come to expect. The system has been engineered to ensure service level agreements are fully realized. 

“We are pleased and proud to see our company culture of relentless innovation continue to benefit our community, industry and clients,” says Banta. “The technology we designed for this patent ensures that our mechanical and electrical environments are concurrently maintainable and fault-tolerant, virtually eliminating service interruptions to our customers.”

Rich Banta

Data centers are using power in many ways – not just for powering servers – but also for cooling, fire suppression and data distribution equipment. 

Thanks to the new power distribution system, Lifeline Data Centers’ Indianapolis location is now redundant, continuously maintainable, scalable and can be easily isolated in the event of a failure in the local electrical grid. Their custom system is composed of redundant energy feeds, a 4-megawatt solar power array, uninterruptible power supplies, diesel generators and automated bus transfer equipment.

The patented power distribution system is currently being installed at the company’s Fort Wayne location.

U.S. Patent No. 10,243,397 Abstract

A data center power distribution system is disclosed. Utility power normally supports the devices (load) in the data center, but when utility power fails, backup energy from a generator and/or flywheel smooths out the supply. Each utility main/backup combination feeds one or more breakers, and each breaker supplies power to two or more servers, where each server receives redundant power input from to such breaker paths. In some embodiments, synchronization buses are absent between the breaker and the server. Redundant and well valved plumbing leads chilled supply water from chiller plants to air handlers (in some embodiments, through an isolation manifold) and back while enabling isolation of leaks and equipment failures. A special air handler design contains water and efficiently moves cooled air into the operational space of the data center.

This News is Revolutionary for Several Reasons:

• Lifeline Data Centers is both privately-owned and Indiana-owned, the only data center of its size locally-owned and operated.
• Lifeline Data Centers energy efficiency and patented distribution leads the industry – topping technology innovation giants such as Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
• Lifeline Data Centers has also integrated a 4MW solar array into their flagship Eastgate campus, roughly enough energy to power 3,000 homes.

If you’d like to interview Rich and Alex about the patent, their innovation’s impact on the environment, the impact it can have on the industry, their international recognition, or any other topic associated with energy efficiency, engineering, compliance, and data centers… please contact us and we can schedule an interview.

About Lifeline Data Centers

Lifeline Data Centers provides outsourced, affordable, secure data center and cloud services with three locations across Indiana. Lifeline Data Centers and the founders are international leaders in data center compliance, uptime and innovation. Lifeline has served clients in healthcare, software, utilities, life sciences, cloud computing, government and more. The company has been awarded the federal government’s highest recognition for compliance meaning they are providing the most advanced, secure environments for data.

Alex Carroll

Managing Member at Lifeline Data Centers

Alex, co-owner, is responsible for all real estate, construction and mission critical facilities: hardened buildings, power systems, cooling systems, fire suppression, and environmentals. Alex also manages relationships with the telecommunications providers and has an extensive background in IT infrastructure support, database administration and software design and development. Alex architected Lifeline’s proprietary GRCA system and is hands-on every day in the data center.