Microsoft sunk a data center in the sea. The company wants to accelerate the development of self-sufficient underwater data centers with this pilot project, said Microsoft UK on Wednesday.
The container-sized data center on the seabed is a prototype. According to Microsoft, approximately twelve-meter-long white cylinder full of computers can store and process data for up to five years without maintenance. However, something should break during this time, and repair is not possible, as the broadcaster BBC explained. Cold seawater off the islands in northern Scotland cools the data center, so it uses little energy, the company said.
Data Center could store 5 million movies
The required energy comes by submarine cable from regional renewable energy sources. Tidal turbines of the European Marine Energy Center are used, as well as wind and solar cells. The data traffic also takes place via this cable. The data center hosts 864 servers from Microsoft and has a capacity of 27.6 petabytes – according to Microsoft enough space to save about 5 million movies.