Microsoft’s Underwater Data Center Maybe More Sustainable

In 2018, Microsoft sank a viable data center in Orkey, Scotland. They dropped the submarine-like data center 117 feet; the facility held over 864 servers and 27.6 petabytes of storage. Microsoft’s team believed that placing a data center underwater would lead to more reliability and energy-efficiency.

Now two years later, Microsoft retrieved the tanker. The tech giant explained the project successfully revealed considerable benefits. For example, the underwater data center had just one-eighth of a land-based data center’s failure rate. Conventional data centers face issues with corrosion from oxygen, humidity and temperature variations. The underwater data center was water-tight and pumped with nitrogen. They chose Orkney because of the chilly weather. The facilitators speculated this could lower the cost of cooling.

Imagine this could be the beginning of Azure Triton or some other sea-inspired brand for their cloud data center services. Microsoft plans to eventually have similar underwater facilities near the coast of areas that need them. This is not the first time Microsoft endeavored underwater data center projects. In 2015, the company submerged a data center off the coast of California. That experiment took place for several months as proof of concept.

Is your organization focused on creating a more sustainable future? If so, the only way to efficiently recycle your excess IT equipment is by partnering with a certified ITAD partner. Liquid Technology is eStewards, and NAID certified. We ensure your e-waste is not dumped into a landfill or illegally exported. To contact our team, email us or call us at 1-800-797-5478.