Microsoft to place future data centers under water

By Staff Writer

Feb 01, 2016 04:22 AM EST

Researchers at software leader Microsoft hope that the prospect of data centers may be under the water. The company has put a prototype of data center under the ocean to examine its efficacy to work hundreds of feet beneath the ocean surface. By creating a data center under the sea, Microsoft could remove the problem of air conditioning bill.

The software leader aim to take the data center below the sea mainly due to the heat generated by the servers. The data centers that control every aspects like social networking, email and streaming videos includes several computer servers, which produces ample of heat. The surplus heat generated lead to the distraction of the servers, according to The New York Times.

The company could fix this hurdle by placing the gear under the chill sea water. This move may also satisfy the growing energy demands in the computing arena as the company is considering coupling the system with either a tidal energy system or a turbine in order to produce electricity.

The effort named 'Project Natick' constructed a capsule called Leona Philpot and placed it 30 feet below the seawater of the California coast for a period of four months last year. The capsules, which could be placed under the water for 20 or more years, could also be motorised by renewable energy.

Microsoft researchers hope that they could tighten the distribution time of fresh data centers to only 90 days by manufacturing these capsules in huge quantity. "For years, the main cloud providers have been seeking sites around the world not only for green energy but which also take advantage of the environment," The New York Times cited Larry Smarr, a physicist as well as a scientific computing specialist.

The underwater capsule was equipped with 100 various sensors to gauge the oceanic environment where it is highly impossible to send a repairman during the mid-night. This underwater system could also fasten web services.

According to betanews, the heat from this underwater capsule may affect the eco-system of the sea and that more research is needed to determine the risk-free element of Project Natick. Things started in the year 2013 when Sean James produced a ThinkWeek Paper which lead Norm Whitaker to create a team to discover the idea of setting computers in sea and, in late 2014, the company commenced Project Natick, betanews said.

Fortune said that the metal capsule was watched by Microsoft's campus at Redmond, where the engineers received feedback on its status and performance. Recently, Facebook placed its data centers in Lulea to utilize the cheap hydroelectricity doe colling purpose. According to Fortune, Amazon may also join Microsoft in creating underwater system.

The vision of Project Natick is to serve the users living in areas close to large water bodies, where around 50% of the global population resides. The underwater data centers could also reduce the delay in web service.

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