Microsoft has stopped its experiment to place a data center on the bottom of the sea, despite its success. The experience will be used to develop new solutions for energy-efficient server cooling.
Subsea Data Center
Reasons for termination of the project
Microsoft Corporation completed the Project Natick research project, as part of which, since 2013, has been studying the possibility of placing data centers (DPCs) under water. Despite the successful results of the experiment, the company decided to stop the initiative. According to the head of Microsoft Cloud Operations, Noelle Walsh, the experience gained during the implementation of the project will be used to develop other solutions to optimize server cooling.
Benefits of underwater placement
During testing, Microsoft was able to achieve a significant reduction in server hardware failures when its location underwater compared to traditional land-based data centers. Thanks to the stable seawater temperature and the protection of servers with inert nitrogen, equipment losses in the underwater version were only 0.7% versus 5.9% on land.
Data center development prospects
Experts predict rapid growth in the number of data centers in the coming years. Thus, in 2022 alone, NVIDIA sold more than 3.76 million processors for data centers, consuming about 14.3 TWh of electricity annually. About 40% of data center energy consumption comes from cooling systems, so finding alternative solutions in this area is an urgent task.
Robotics in the data center
Speaking about the prospects for using robotics in data centers, Noelle Walsh noted that the main emphasis is on automating the maintenance of heavy server equipment. At the same time, she emphasized that the company does not plan to completely abandon human resources in this area.
Glossary
- Microsoft is a transnational corporation and software developer.
- Project Natick is Microsoft's experimental project to locate data centers underwater.
- NVIDIA is an American company, a developer of graphics processors and systems on a chip.
- OpenAI is an artificial intelligence research company and a Microsoft partner.
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Questions Answered
What caused Microsoft to end its Project Natick underwater data center experiment?
What advantages of underwater server location were revealed during the experiment?
What challenges is Microsoft considering using robots in data centers?
What plans does Microsoft have for creating new data centers?
Have other countries started similar underwater data center projects?
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Discussion of the topic – Microsoft has closed its revolutionary underwater data center after 11 years of operation
Microsoft has completed its Project Natick innovation experiment, which featured an underwater data center. After 11 years of work, the company confirmed that this project was a success and brought a lot of valuable knowledge about the operation of servers under water.
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Макс
Guys, did you hear that Microsoft abandoned the underwater data center project? 🤔 It’s a pity, it would be interesting to see such a breakthrough technology in action.
Анна
Yes, I also read about this. It looks like they decided to apply what they learned in other areas. Although the idea was really bold and innovative. 💡
Виктор
Savings could be made on cooling and power consumption. But the technical difficulties and costs appear to have outweighed the potential benefits. 🤷♂️
Франсуа
I am not surprised. Such projects require huge investments and long-term research. Microsoft has probably decided to focus on more promising areas, such as artificial intelligence and modular nuclear reactors. 🔬
Бруно
Well, at least they were able to collect valuable data and experience. Perhaps in the future, when technology becomes more accessible, underwater data centers will become relevant again. 🌊
Лукаш
Ha, imagine if they succeeded! 😂 It would be possible to organize diving tours to the servers and watch how they work underwater.
Ян
Wait, but China started its server dive project in 2023. Maybe they will achieve greater success in this direction? 🇨🇳
Иван
Yeah, there’s somehow too much enthusiasm around this idea. 🙄 Personally, I think that underwater data centers are just another fashion trend that will soon fade away. It is much more practical to build conventional ground-based centers and improve cooling systems.