Microsoft submerged a few days ago an experimental data center in the ocean near the southern coasts of Scotland named Project Natick.
The underwater data center is part of Microsoft's research into greater efficiency, and the project is called Natick. Microsoft said it launched the portable data center into the sea last week, and it is now operating normally with operations already underway.
This was the beginning of the second part of the plan that Microsoft had organized when in 2015 it sank a smaller data center in California, which «ran» for 105 days. The first part of the plan aimed to make clear whether such an infrastructure could be designed and implemented as well as whether it could meet the requirements, while the second part of the plan was to make clear whether such an idea stands logically, practically and ecologically. For that’ reason it will be tested under the water surface for the next 5 years.
Companies such as Microsoft and Facebook that consist of massive data centers tend to spend a lot of money annually on servers and the equipment they use, and the result of this project will show whether the underwater infrastructures can provide greater efficiency. In contrast to the usual data centers used by these companies, the underwater infrastructure of Project Natick resembles a typical cylindrical container.
In a statement made by Ben Cutler, manager of Project Natick, said “If we can put something inside a capsule that can survive, then we are capable of anything”.
