Microsoft tests underwater data center

Feb 27, 2016

The software giant, Microsoft recently did a trial of a prototype underwater data center to keep the servers cool and to evaluate if it can slash the cost of cooling and also bringing the data center close to where users live. The ocean water would serve as a natural refrigerator for the data center. The tech industry has been collectively spending billions of dollars each year to cool such data center on the land. 

“Project Natick,” started around 3 years ago as an internal Microsoft research and a white paper was published, and the company is now testing whether it could be a model for the data center of the future. The company warns it is "still early days" to evaluate whether the concept could be adopted by the company and other cloud service providers.

This revolutionary data center can serve the fifty percent of people who live within 200 km from the ocean. The lifespan of the data center would be at least 20 years. After that it will be salvaged and recycled. Also, the concept is all green and no waste products, whether due to the power generation, human maintenance, or computers are emitted into the environment. However, major challenges with underwater placement of data centers would be flooded water if there’s a leak, or the machine could be damaged in a strong underwater storm. 

Source:http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/microsoft-built-a-super-efficient-underwater-data-center