Microsoft Plumbs Ocean’s Depths to Test Underwater Data Center
►http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/01/technology/microsoft-plumbs-oceans-depths-to-test-underwater-data-center.html
Putting the gear under cold ocean water could fix the [heat] problem. It may also answer the exponentially growing energy demands of the computing world because #Microsoft is considering pairing the system either with a turbine or a tidal energy system to generate electricity.The effort, code-named Project #Natick, might lead to strands of giant steel tubes linked by fiber optic cables placed on the seafloor. Another possibility would suspend containers shaped like jelly beans beneath the surface to capture the ocean current with turbines that generate electricity.
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The underwater server containers could also help make web services work faster. Much of the world’s population now lives in urban centers close to oceans but far away from #data_centers usually built in out-of-the-way places with lots of room. The ability to place computing power near users lowers the delay, or latency, people experience, which is a big issue for web users.
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The research group has started designing an underwater system that will be three times as large [as the first trial]. It will be built in collaboration with a yet-to-be-chosen developer of an ocean-based alternative-energy system. The Microsoft engineers said they expected a new trial to begin next year, possibly near Florida or in Northern Europe, where there are extensive ocean energy projects underway.
