(With video) Recently, Microsoft concluded Project Natick, a research project to manufacture and operate an underwater datacentre.
The initial experimental prototype vessel, christened the Leona Philpot after a popular Xbox game character, was operated on the seafloor approximately one kilometre off the Pacific coast of the United States from August to November of 2015. It was powered by the land-based power grid during the 2015 deployment, but Microsoft envisions that future subsea datacenters will be powered by renewable marine energy sources such as offshore wind, wave, tide, or current.
Less Cables and Reduced Latency
According to Microsoft, half of the world's population lives within 200 kilometres from the coast, making underwater datacentres a viable alternative to reach them that may even cut cable distances and reduce latency. Latency is how long it takes data to travel between its source and destination. As placing datacentres offshore increases the proximity of the centre to the population, it will reduce latency and provide better responsiveness.
Seawater Cooling
In addition, the datacentre's cooling system is attached to the outside, thereby using (without consuming) seawater to cool the datacentre. This is a much cheaper option than the expensive air conditioning systems on shore. A Natick datacentre co-located with offshore renewable energy sources could be zero emission: no waste products, whether due to the power generation, computers, or human maintainers are emitted into the environment.
It may also be easier and faster to set up new data centres. According to Microsoft, an underwater datacentre can be deployed from start to finish in ninety days.
Twenty Year Lifespan
A Natick datacentre deployment is intended to last up to five years, which is the anticipated lifespan of the computers contained within. After each five-year deployment cycle, the datacentre would be retrieved, reloaded with new computers, and redeployed. The target lifespan of a Natick datacentre is at least twenty years. After that, the datacentre is designed to be retrieved and recycled.
Microsoft introduces the project in the video below. Picture by Microsoft.
