Remember when Microsoft announced they would test a data center by placing it underwater to see if it was feasible due to the use of renewable energy and other factors? That was back in 2015 and nearly a decade ago. And it has ended, at least for the very first one.
Project Natick by the Windows maker has officially been declared a success and they have retrieved the data center after it had been underwater for some time.
The project aimed to determine if placing a 38,000-pound container with data center components in the sea could offer benefits such as reduced setup and operating costs or environmental friendliness. The initial location was off the coast of California.
In 2018, they repeated the experiment in parts of Scotland’s sea. Though that phase lasted only a couple of years, the findings were significant. To their surprise, underwater servers proved to be up to eight times more reliable than traditional land-based servers. The issues encountered, such as with cables and servers, were considered “non-critical.”
As a result, the experiment provided Microsoft with valuable insights. Corporate VP Noelle Walsh stated:
“We learned a lot about operations below sea level and vibration impacts on the server.” This knowledge will help other projects, like developing new ways to cool datacenters using liquid. Project Natick might be done, but its impact will continue to shape the future of datacenter technology.”
Sources: Data Center Dynamics
