what you should Know
- Microsoft no longer has active underwater data centers.
- The company is experimenting with underwater data centers as part of its Natick project.
- Underwater data centers saw one-eighth the failure rate compared to those on land.
- Microsoft explained that it will use the learnings from the project in other cases.
As the heat dome causes temperatures to spike in many parts of the world, jumping into a cool sea can sound refreshing. But if you jump into cold waters, you won’t have the company of underwater data centers from Microsoft. The tech giant began testing underwater data centers in the North Sea in 2018, but no longer has any active underwater data centers.
The underwater data centers were part of Microsoft’s Project Natick, which aimed to test the feasibility of placing data centers underwater. The experiment saw giant pipes placed 117ft below the surface of the Scottish Sea. The unique environment of the data center allowed Microsoft to test several factors, such as filling the data center with nitrogen rather than oxygen.
Humans and machines have very different needs when it comes to creating an environment for optimal productivity. Oxygen is essential for humans, but it can cause damage to computers. Temperature requirements also differ greatly between humans and machines. Keeping data centers separate from people also prevented anyone from bumping into components.
The Natick project saw interesting results, including underwater data centers that have one-eighth the failure rate of data centers with the same components on land.
While the results looked promising, Microsoft has no active underwater data centers in 2024. The tech giant shared few details about why it stopped using underwater data centers. Project Natick was an experiment, so there’s always the chance that Microsoft just wants to learn from the project and take lessons elsewhere.
“I’m not building underwater data centers anywhere in the world,” Noel Walsh, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s cloud operations + innovation team told Data Center Dynamics.
“My team worked on it and it worked. We learned a lot about subsea operations and vibration and server impacts. So we will apply this knowledge to other cases.”
While Microsoft does not currently have underwater data centers, the tech giant plans to use Project Natick as a research platform. Microsoft explained the future of the project in a statement on Data Center Dynamics:
“Although we currently have no data centers in the water, we will continue to use Project Natick as a research platform to explore, test and validate new concepts around the reliability and sustainability of data centers, such as with liquid immersion.”
There’s a good chance Microsoft will use the findings from its Natick project to improve data centers in other environments.
Ever-increasing demand for data centers
Insights from the Natick project and other experiments will become increasingly important in the future. There is a huge demand for data centers on a global scale and it will increase with time.
Artificial intelligence is everywhere in 2024. From your smartphone to your computer, AI features are increasingly common. While some devices, such as Copilot+ PCs, perform AI tasks locally, much of the data processing for AI takes place in the cloud, creating an ever-increasing demand for data centers.
Of course, AI is far from the only type of technology boosting demand for data centers. Cloud computing, smart home device usage, and even web search all require data centers. With billions of devices connected to the network, the demand for data centers seems almost endless, and that demand will continue to grow.
Data centers require energy to operate and maintain. Reducing the amount of power required by data centers can go a long way in managing power grids and helping to distribute resources to other services and devices.
