Why does Microsoft have underwater data centers?

As everything transfers to the cloud, we will require a growing number of data centers. These servers should ideally be as close to their users as possible for ultra-fast access. That’s why Microsoft has decided to try installing data centers on the ocean floor.

They are used to giving rapid cloud services to coastal towns while also saving energy, which is a key goal for the company. Microsoft’s first test of the concept was Project Natick. Back in 2018, the company submerged the Northern Isles, a purpose-built data center, in the Pacific Ocean, just off the coast of Scotland’s Orkney Islands.

The location was ideal for this experiment due to its relatively cool waters and close access to a power grid that was sourced from solar and wind power.

The submerged data center was equipped with 12 racks, 864 servers, and 27.6 petabytes of storage, and also met Microsoft’s energy-saving and sustainability objectives.

How well did Project Natick go? What lessons did Microsoft learn from its implementation? How many more underwater data centers is the firm planning to build? What is the science, engineering, and technology that goes into creating one of these centers?

We answer all these questions and more in our video.

#engineering

[blurglide]

1) I have to speed up the playback to make it sound normal speed
2) I wasn't aware Ireland was in the Pacific ocean

[drewparkes]

Wow, I didn’t realise the UK was in the Pacific Ocean! That explains so much!!

[johnish]

Next Video: How Chinese and Russian submarines steal your data

[anftrew]

How can we trust that any of this is accurate when such a fundamental error like Orkney moving to the Pacific got through?

[vickysharma]

Latter people protest for "stop boiling sea water."

[loop]

From cloud database to underwater database was quick evolution 😂

[eraofstupidity]

How does it interact with the biodiversity it's submerged in ? I mean you put a heating element in a cold environment and life will attract towards it to get heat from this source. Does that degrades the convection of heat from the data center ?

[chrisminnoy]

I disagree with this setup for the following reason: a computer converts all its power to heat. This means it is in essence a heating device. It is more smart to use that heat to heat buildings than to use it to heat seawater. That said, a landbased datacenter that doesn't reuse its wasteheat is even worse. If we look from the perspective of water usage, the submerged datacentre has its merits, as there is no usage of drinking water.

[RTXPLAYSYT]

Cooling the data centre wont require much cost also less green footprints

[pandit-jee-bihar]

How do site reliability engineers work ?
Do they dive into the ocean on a regular day ?

[lopamudrapradhan]

What about marine life, research should be conducted if there is any impact on the same

[mr.goldfarmer]

Likely in the event of war, subsea data centre's would be better shielded against radiation. These solutions seem more likely in preparation for nuclear fallout. The world's data and ultimately man kinds collective knowledge just before they die, would all be backed up for the world after.
Edit: If these solutions were actually efficient or increased profit in anyway they would be proliferating the business already. The inability to maintain the servers already tells us they're meaning to leave the servers unattended for long durations. The renewable energy sources used are discontinuous and unreliable at best which suggests the servers would be in a dormant state mostly. Also note most of the world's systems use Microsoft windows and so 'The Great Backup' would happen with a mere click of a button. There is more than meets the eye with what they're doing here and likely the governments around the world will be taking interest.

[WAITWHUT-wluj]

Deep water is a natural cooling system, portable data center but prone to the nature of the sea floor plus, maintenance cost will be super high...

[gregr]

or... putting them in international waters lets them avoid those pesky privacy laws and data sharing Allowing them to effectively break laws they would subject to on land.

[shameed]

How humidity is maintained inside deep water data centre?

[breakhart]

well, underwater would guarantee cool room temperature which is semiconductor friendly. rather than solar and wind, maybe if Microsoft could do underwater current powerplant would be best

[vts.gaming]

Imagine those data centers is leaking water...

[bernarduslopez]

What he says we already polluted the land, let do the same underwater.

[rxlky]

Now Microsoft engineers should have diving certificate

[TheAngelOfDeath]

I know we have climate problems, but to relocate the Orkneys to the pacific is deep!!!