Microsoft is going underwater to cool some things down. The vast amount of data centres requires an efficient cooling system. So, drowning it in the sea is a cheaper and sustainable way to save expense and reducing carbon footprint.
The project is called Natick. It is submerged below 200 ft below the surface of North Sea near the Orkney islands, UK. It will also bring data centres closer to hubs resulting in a better speed of the server. According to Microsoft, nearly half of world’s population lives within 150 km of the ocean.
The data centres will be buried in the ocean at the depth to keep the cooling cost down. The project is made up of 864 servers placed in 40-foot container kept 14 miles from the coast. And this is only a testing unit. If it turns out to be a success, the numbers of servers will be increased that could cover hundreds of thousands of square feet.
The testing will be done for 12 months first. It will go through a testing of power consumption, humidity levels, noise creation and temperatures before letting users operate on those servers.
Currently, it is located at the bottom of the sea near Scottish region in shipping tanks. And it’s eco-friendly as it is powered by the local energy source. If the local source turns out to be fossil fuels, still it would require a significantly less amount of energy compared to the usual dry approach. The cost will also be reduced.
“It’s our belief that this type of data center could lead to reduced costs and simpler structures that incorporate fewer materials, requiring less maintenance and electricity,” a Microsoft spokesperson said.