Microsoft Undersea Data Center - Project Natick

FrgMstr

FrgMstr

Just Plain Mean
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I am just going to let you insert your own joke here about all the products that Microsoft makes that should be at the bottom of the sea along with its Project Natick datacenter. This project is all about getting the cloud closer to user.

Check out the video.

Microsoft's Project Natick is leveraging technology from submarines and working with pioneers in marine energy for the second phase of its moonshot to develop self-sufficient underwater datacenters that can deliver rapid and agile cloud services to coastal cities.
 
Sure dump all that heat into the ocean. Couldnt possibly have any negative side effects.

Side note: Wonder if this will be good or bad to fish near ;).
 
You guys are not reading beyond the lines of this announcement.

This is just Microsoft's way of avoiding any property taxes or dealing with anyone from code compliance. :)
 
Seems a large part of the issue is connectivity and the speed of that connection. I don't see how they plan to connect this datacenter to the Internet aside from running some cables down the beach and out into the ocean. I'm genuinely interested to know how they might solve that particular logistical issue. I checked http://natick.research.microsoft.com/ but don't see anything that addresses that question.
 
gixser said:
Seems a large part of the issue is connectivity and the speed of that connection. I don't see how they plan to connect this datacenter to the Internet aside from running some cables down the beach and out into the ocean. I'm genuinely interested to know how they might solve that particular logistical issue. I checked http://natick.research.microsoft.com/ but don't see anything that addresses that question.
Click to expand...

Periscope wireless?
 
gixser said:
Seems a large part of the issue is connectivity and the speed of that connection. I don't see how they plan to connect this datacenter to the Internet aside from running some cables down the beach and out into the ocean. I'm genuinely interested to know how they might solve that particular logistical issue. I checked http://natick.research.microsoft.com/ but don't see anything that addresses that question.
Click to expand...

There are underwater fibre cables that run all over the place. Tapping into those would not be cheap, but doable.
 
kju1 said:
Sure dump all that heat into the ocean. Couldnt possibly have any negative side effects.

Side note: Wonder if this will be good or bad to fish near ;).
Click to expand...

From the projects homepage is a link to a NYTimes article (https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/01/...pths-to-test-underwater-data-center.html?_r=0) In that article they partially address the question of environmental impact. They say:


In the first experiment, the Microsoft researchers said they studied the impact their computing containers might have on fragile underwater environments. They used acoustic sensors to determine if the spinning drives and fans inside the steel container could be heard in the surrounding water. What they found is that the clicking of the shrimp that swam next to the system drowned out any noise created by the container.
One aspect of the project that has the most obvious potential is the harvest of electricity from the movement of seawater. This could mean that no new energy is added to the ocean and, as a result, there is no overall heating, the researchers asserted. In their early experiment the Microsoft engineers said they had measured an “extremely” small amount of local heating of the capsule.
“We measured no heating of the marine environment beyond a few inches from the vessel,” Dr. Lee said.
​
 
For those worried about heat in the ocean, at least the cooling is probably near 100% efficient. As compared to burning X tons of coal per day to generate electricity at maybe 30% efficiency to send to an above ground data center to run a (wild ass guess) 90% efficient cooling system that contains all sorts of interesting chemicals.
 
;(

A Fatal exception has occurred at THE OCEAN!
The current OCEAN will be TERMINATED

PRESS ANYKEY TO TERMINATE ALL OCEAN-LIFE
Press CTRL_ALT_DELETE to restart the ocean
 
Dead Parrot said:
For those worried about heat in the ocean, at least the cooling is probably near 100% efficient. As compared to burning X tons of coal per day to generate electricity at maybe 30% efficiency to send to an above ground data center to run a (wild ass guess) 90% efficient cooling system that contains all sorts of interesting chemicals.
Click to expand...
Theoretically they might be able to use wind turbines or wave generation for the electric and/or cooling too.
 
Here i thought the unicorn had landed.. based on the image of the vid and headline...i though they were unavailing self-sustaining clean energy, instead they are putting computers under water for cooling.... lol
 
gixser said:
Seems a large part of the issue is connectivity and the speed of that connection. I don't see how they plan to connect this datacenter to the Internet aside from running some cables down the beach and out into the ocean. I'm genuinely interested to know how they might solve that particular logistical issue. I checked http://natick.research.microsoft.com/ but don't see anything that addresses that question.
Click to expand...

I see this as nothing but a publicity stunt to show Microsoft as a green company. Logistically this makes less sense than putting a data center on the moon.
HOW are you going to service the equipment? Sending certified diver IT people? How many of those are there? Are they going to exhume it from the ocean every time a drive or node fails?
How does this REALLY make sense on any level except to prove you CAN put a data center in the ocean regardless of how practical it is.
 
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