Microsoft is testing a self-contained data centre that could be deployed deep underwater so as to reduce cooling costs and emissions from land-based centres, the New York Times has reported. Code-named Project Natick, Microsoft's experimental data complex is enclosed in a steel capsule designed to sit on the cold ocean floor.
The company is also exploring suspending capsules just below the ocean surface in order to capture energy from currents and generate electricity.
"For years, the main cloud providers have been seeking sites around the world not only for green energy but which also take advantage of the environment," Larry Smarr, director of the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information technology at the University of California, San Diego, told the newspaper.
The initial 105-day trial of the prototype - named Leona Philpot after a character in Microsoft's Halo video game series - took place last year from August to November, 10 metres underwater off the coast of Central California.
The data centre was equipped with 100 sensors to detect hardware failures and potential leaks.
Along with lowering emissions and cooling costs, underwater data centres could help make web services work faster.
Half of the world's population lives within 200 kilometres of an ocean, so placing data centres closer to users would reduce the delay time many experience using land-based web services.
Microsoft will start a new trial with a system three times larger next year, either off Florida or in Northern Europe, researchers said.
The capsules are designed to last 20 years, but would be removed from the ocean every five years to swap out servers.
There was some concern that the noise from the fans and drivers could disturb ocean life. Researchers found that the clicking of the shrimp in the area drowned out the noise from the container.