14/09/2020
Have you seen cloud under water??? ;)
Microsoft started research around possibility of underwater datacenter in 2014 during their ThinkWeek, an event that roll out out-of-the-box ideas from employee.
This idea was possibly considered fantastic way to provide quick cloud services for coastal areas around the world and save energy.
Do you know 3 Billion people (approx) live within 200 KM of a coastline and hence this idea had enormous importance.
Microsoft started this in 2015 with name Project Natick in phase 1 where they wanted to check if this is feasible. They had put container of size 10x7 feet which was equivalent to computing power of 300 desktop PCs.
They researched around 105 days and the result were satisfying. They actually put sealed vessels underwater with computers inside it. Computer inside water may not
be new but the idea of deploying datacenter underwater has never happened earlier.
In 2018, during phase 2 Microsoft deployed datacenter underwater 117 feet deep to the seafloor. For the next two years, team members tested and monitored the performance and reliability of the datacenter’s servers.
On land, equipment can experience failure due various reason such as Corrosion from Oxygen, humidity, temp fluctuation etc. But the sealed container on the ocean floor could provide ways to improve the overall reliability of datacenters.
So on 14th Sep 2020, they concluded that this idea of underwater datacenter is reliable, practical and use energy sustainably.
Image credit: Microsoft
