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Microsoft once sank a sealed cylinder full of servers off Scotland's coast and left it running for two years, testing a surprising place to put computers.
Microsoft placed the sealed data center on the seabed to use cold seawater for natural cooling, since deep ocean water stays consistently cold and could passively absorb server heat without the energy-intensive air conditioning land-based data centers typically require. The sealed, oxygen-free capsule also experienced fewer equipment failures than comparable servers on land.
Hiding the data center from passing satellites was never a stated purpose, since satellites cannot see through seawater anyway, making such secrecy pointless. Letting the servers float away also contradicts the design, since the capsule was anchored and sealed to stay stationary and functional for its full test duration.
Cooling is one of the largest ongoing energy costs for any data center, so Microsoft's two-year underwater trial, known as Project Natick, offered a tempting glimpse of how the ocean's natural chill might one day cut a major expense in running the internet's physical infrastructure.
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