Validus DC Systems

Validus DC Systems is a provider of fully integrated Direct Current (DC) power infrastructures for datacenters and telecommunications facilities headquartered in Brookfield, Connecticut in the United States. The company’s power infrastructure is the first-ever end-to-end DC power solution for mission critical facilities and high-density data centers.

History

Validus was founded in 2002 when Data Support Associates, Inc. (DSA), a company co-founded by Validus DC Systems’ founder and CEO, Rudy Kraus, provided $4 million of seed capital to start the company and begin development of Validus’ end-to-end DC-power solution for data centers.

The Validus DC solution was developed in partnership with Dr. Marcel Gaudreau, former head of Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center. The final offering is the result of 5 years of development and more than 100,000 team hours.

AC vs. DC power

Thomas Edison originally promoted DC for electrical power distribution, considering it a safer, more reliable option than AC power. Edison faced off against Nikola Tesla and George Westinghouse in the ensuing “Current Wars.” AC ultimately came out on top due to technological limitations of the time. AC had the advantage back then of being stepped up to high voltages by using transformers, sent via thin, inexpensive wires, and eventually stepped down again at distribution to the user site. Still, DC power has continued to be used in high voltage scenarios, as well as in low voltage deployments in the telecommunications industry and light transportation industry.

Today’s technology, however, enables users to leverage the advantages of DC power. As Edison realized, DC power represents a more stable option. Unlike the sine wave of AC, DC electrical charges flow in the same direction at a constant. This quality allows DC systems to not only offer greater stability (less equipment needed to synchronize sine waves), but also to enable easier integration of multiple power sources, since backup (or primary sources) such as photovoltaic, flywheels and batteries all produce energy in the DC format.

Additionally, current AC systems require a series of power conversions that result in energy being released in the form of heat, which then must subsequently be cooled. This power and cooling challenge has become a serious issue in the data center industry. The benefit of DC power includes a reduction in the number of power conversions, and therefore a reduction in cooling requirements.

AC vs. DC power for Data Centers

In a typical data center, the redundant power distribution system provides 480-volt AC power through an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and then to a transformer, which then steps it down to 208-volt AC at a power distribution unit (PDU) to feed racks of servers. Within the UPS system, the 480 volt AC is converted to DC and charges batteries and then is converted back to 480 volt DC.

Individual power supplies (typically redundant) within each server convert the 120/208-volt single phase AC into a voltage appropriate for the unit’s needs. These individual supplies are often inefficient, generating substantial heat that the room’s air conditioning system must remove at great expense. This heat can also limit the number of servers that can be housed in a data center and can jeopardize data center reliability if not handled properly.

In total, there can be up to six or more power conversion stages between facility power entry and the microprocessor or other data processing circuits. The power losses due to the use of inefficient power conversion devices from both outside and within equipment result in a large loss of useful electrical power, as well as directly increasing the energy required to remove the heat produced. Thus, for every watt of power utilized to process data, about 0.9W is required to support power conversion. In addition, about 0.6 to 1 watt will be required to cool the power conversion equipment.

By skipping conversion steps, a DC-powered datacenter saves overall electricity use through eliminating extra power conversions and reducing datacenter cooling needs, increases equipment densities, and helps reduce heat-related failures.

Product offering

Validus’ [http://www.validusdc.com/modules/smartcontent/page.php?pageid=27 end-to-end solution] begins with the Power Quality Module (PQM), which is an air-cooled, mission-critical grade rectification system that converts alternating current (AC) power from the utility to high voltage (-575 V) DC power.

From the PQM, high-voltage DC power is fed to the Power Distribution Module (PDM-575) which acts as a common interface for all system components in the power infrastructure of the data center. The PDM-575 is a scalable switchboard that simply integrates and controls power distribution from multiple system inputs such as the utility, stored energy devices, photovoltaic systems, distributed generation equipment, wind turbines and batteries and provides the necessary critical load distribution of -575 VDC power to the Power Converter Units (PCU).

The enabling component of Validus’ DC power solution is the revolutionary Power Converter Unit (PCU) 120, which uses patented technology to efficiently convert -575 VDC to safe, usable -54 VDC power, distributing 120 KW of power to the server row. Located at the mid-point of each server row, the PCU-120 consists of four (4) 30 KW integrated, hot-swappable Power Converter Modules, (PCM-030), which are highly efficient power conversion devices that deliver regulated output to power any load demand up to 120 KW per PCU. An optional Power Distribution Module (PDM-055) designed specifically to distribute low voltage DC power short distances mounts adjacent to the PCU-120 and delivers -54 VDC to the point of use (server rack).

Normal or stored energy power in the Validus DC solution can be provided by batteries, photovoltaic devices, wind turbines, fuel cells, fly wheels or any DC source with the proper voltage. Typical modular battery cabinets with a battery charging system can be seamlessly integrated into the PDM-575 offering the equivalent functionality of a UPS system. The standard PBS battery cabinet system supports predefined battery backup run time and utilizes a ten year “maintenance free” battery system in a stand-alone or parallel configuration. Validus’ PQX is an air-cooled, AC powered, stand-alone battery charging system that includes an interactive LCD display for monitoring information and an automatic restart after a high-voltage shutdown event.

Validus’ “Hybrid Power” technology brings together attributes of AC system design and DC energy efficiency to promote scalability, reliability and modularity, as well as an improvement in energy efficiency by up to 40%.

Corporate achievements

*Validus announced $10 Million in series A funding led by Oak Hill Venture Partners on December 18, 2007. [ [http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release.do?id=803988&k Validus DC Systems Announces $10 Million in Series A Funding Led by Oak Hill Venture ] ]

*Validus launched the first-ever, fully-integrated DC power infrastructure for mission critical facilities and data centers on January 28, 2008. [ [http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release.do?id=814475&k Validus DC Systems Launches End-to-End DC Power Infrastructure for Mission-Critical Data Centers ] ]

*Validus announced global service agreement and material support partnership with Siemens Energy & Automation, Inc. (SE&A) on January 28, 2008. [ [http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release.do?id=814476 Validus DC Systems Announces Global Service Agreement and Material Support Partnership With Siemens ] ]

*Validus became a Platinum Reseller of power quality solutions for GE Enterprise Solutions – Digital Energy, a unit of General Electric, on February 7, 2008. [ [http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release.do?id=818779 GE Digital Energy and Validus DC Systems Announce Platinum Reseller Agreement ] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.validusdc.com/modules/validus/ Validus DC Systems]
* [http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/dec2007/tc20071217_649099.htm?chan=search BusinessWeek.com] article on Validus DC Systems

* [http://www.itjungle.com/tlb/tlb020508-story05.html IT Jungle article] on Validus DC Systems

*Wall Street Journal [http://blogs.wsj.com/biztech/2008/05/19/a-direct-route-to-saving-power/?mod=WSJBlog Business Technology blog] on Validus DC Systems
* [http://www.validusdc.com/modules/smartcontent/files/ZDT_ARTICLES.pdf ZeroDownTime Institute article] on DC power in the data center

* [http://www.validusdc.com/smartsection.item.9/validus-short-subject-movie-on-dc-power.html Interview with Validus CEO Rudy Kraus]

* [http://www.validusdc.com/smartcontent.page.51/validus-short-subject-movie-on-dc-power.html Validus web video] on DC power in the data center

*Electric Power Research Institute [http://www.validusdc.com/modules/smartcontent/files/EPRI_DCpower_WhitePaper.pdf white paper on DC power production, delivery, and utilization]