Microsoft plans to build underwater data center

Microsoft has just finished testing a self-contained data center operating underwater. The experiment included a server with the power of about 300 PCs positioned into a water-tight steel cylinder. It was lowered deep down the ocean off the coast of central California.

Data centers usually generate massive amount of heat as they contain thousands of servers to power literally everything. Cooling data centers are mandatory as overheated servers may crash. Thus, the ever increasing air-conditioning bills are one of the concerns of the technology industry today.

Wastage of humongous amount of energy in the process of cooling the current data centers prompted Microsoft to conduct such a unique experiment, reports The New York Times.

The Project Natick aims to benefit from the cold ocean water for sufficiently cooling down the servers inside the steel cylinder. The ocean currents can create energy via turbines to power the underwater data center.

Placing data centers underwater may also augment the speed of Web services as much of the world’s urban centers are located close to the ocean. The Project Natick is both cost effective and environment friendly.

The successful experiment encouraged Microsoft to continue the process longer than they planned, mentioned Peter Lee, corporate vice president of Microsoft Research, reports CNN Money.

The experimental data center has now been taken out of the water. The next step will see a larger pod equipped with turbines going down the ocean floor for testing.

Data centers create much heat as well as noise. The tech giant is in the process of analysing its environmental repercussions on the oceanic ecosystem.

Since 2013, Microsoft has been exploring the idea of a submerged data center. Last year in August, the company deployed a submarine server off the coast of California for 105 days. Microsoft has more than 100 data centers across the globe, running more than 200 online services.