During my studies, after I got more and more into the details of how businesses operate these days and of the way they use and analyse data, i was convinced of the importance of cloud computing and its role as an essential component of all software solution providers. It is defined as the delivery of computing services on the Internet in order to offer faster innovation, flexible resources and economies of scale. That includes, among others, servers, storage and databases.
The technology has gotten so far on this particular field, that businesses are constantly searching for ways to work more efficiently and reduce their costs, while expanding their influence using data analytics. Microsoft, one of the biggest players in the software industry, not only couldn’t stay out of the game of adapting its technology to the newer norms, but also decided to take it one step further. The highly interactive cloud future increased the need for Microsoft to offer its services close to all users, even those living near the shore, who account for almost half the world’s population. Sean James, a Microsoft employee, had been observing data centers on the ground and pointed some maintenance issues due to poor cooling techniques and un-controlled environment conditions. He later published a research paper in 2013 that started a revolutionary journey. Having been familiar with advanced electronic deployments beneath the sea level, his suggestion was that the above problems would be eliminated if the data centers would be moved underwater. Effectiveness would be increased due to less factors that could cause failures such as oxygen, and the company could be serving a higher number of costumers on a smaller budget, while reducing the need for the last few free spaces on land.
The results amazed the software industry. The proven reliability of the underwater data centers is able to help serve costumers who need to deploy and operate tactical and critical databases anywhere on Earth, and they can also help Microsoft maintain a sustainability strategy around energy, waste and water. Phase 2 of the project is already in progress and it is aimed to surface design and operational issues that may occur post-deployment and will require subsequent work, in particular, productization. After all, 50% of us live near the coast, why doesn’t our data?
References:
- https://www.analyticsinsight.net/underwater-data-center-is-the-future-of-cloud-computing/
- https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/overview/what-is-cloud-computing/
- https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/analysis/project-natick-microsofts-underwater-voyage-discovery/
- https://news.microsoft.com/innovation-stories/project-natick-underwater-datacenter/
- https://natick.research.microsoft.com
- https://www.techzine.nl/nieuws/infrastructure/409693/microsoft-zendt-livestream-uit-van-zijn-onderzees-datacenter/
- https://news.microsoft.com/innovation-stories/project-natick-underwater-datacenter/
This is a really interesting solution to the problems that data centers can bring.
Recently there was some public outcry in the Netherlands after it was announced that Microsoft’s new data center would consume nearly all of the power of the largest wind turbine park in the Netherlands. The park could supply power to over 370,000 households. However, instead the park is going to supply power to just one data center. A large amount of the energy that data centers use, goes towards creating the best possible climate for the hardware inside.
By placing the data centers underwater, you can passively cool the data centers with the water, thus using significantly less power. What should not be forgotten as well is that data centers take up a large amount of land mass. Most of the space inside a data center is actually used for cooling equipment, like airconditioners. I am not sure to what extend sea life might be affected by the increase of water temperature around the data center. However, data centers underwater might be the future.
Links:
https://cceit.com/opening-largest-wind-farm-in-the-netherlands-most-power-to-data-center-microsoft/
https://www.lenntech.com/applications/process/cooling-water-data-center.htm
This is a very nice post. I must agree that putting datacenters underwater to solve common issues currently experienced by datacenters on land is a great idea. I am interested to see how Microsoft develops this project to make it a viable solution in the future. One thing that does concern me is that coastal towns (and some cities) thrive/survive because of fishing. Since the capsule generates (a lot of) heat, the temperature of fishing waters will rise. In my geography education I learned fish tend to find relatively cool water for their man habitat. Thus, deploying the capsules close to the coast could influence the fisheries’ catch. On the other hand, these coastal towns will probably find use in the possibilities that come with a datacenter so close to home. New business might develop, due to modernisation, and fishing might become less important for these communities.