Underwater Data Center is the Future of Cloud Computing

According to Sean James' research paper, the future of cloud computing is the underwater data center.

We have experienced something genuinely innovative in the world of cloud computing and data management with undersea data centers, as bizarre as the concept may appear on the surface. In today's world, cloud computing is an essential component of every software solutions provider. At the same time, there has been a surge in demand for cloud computing. The growing use of cloud computing is backed up by some staggering statistics. It establishes once and for all that cloud computing is not a fad, but rather a technology that is here to stay and revolutionize.

Sean James, a Microsoft employee, published a research paper that started the undersea journey. Because James had served in the military for three years, he was familiar with certain advanced electronic deployments beneath the seabed. James had been watching data centers on the ground and had seen some maintenance issues due to several factors. Microsoft pursued the idea a year after the article was published, but only as an experiment. It was a very speculative and unjustified one this time.

The first phase of the Natick project was to deploy a subsea submarine. The set was 10 by 7 feet in size and weighed about 38000 pounds. It was only on the job for three months. The information gleaned from the recovery procedure points to the possibility of a full-fledged phase2. The bottom line was that the goal was to examine the option's viability. In the first part of the project, Natick's success was a strong indication that Microsoft would move forward with the second phase. The stakes were higher this time since the mission would be longer. Orkney, Scotland was chosen as the location for a full-fledged data center with 12 racks and 864 servers. The choice of site set the tone for what was to become a huge success. Orkney is a popular destination for renewable energy research. The nine-mile-per-hour tidal currents and waves that reach 10-60 feet high making it an intriguing site to evaluate the economic viability of a data center powered by a grid system.

The requirement for an undersea data center to be migrated.

Why is it necessary to convert to an undersea data center, you might wonder? There are a variety of justifications for such a shift.

A scarcity of space above ground

The area above the earth is limited, and it is rapidly filling up. As a result, an alternative solution is required. However, such land areas are unlikely to be filled in the next 10 years. Certainly, there is a greater case to be made for the widespread use of subterranean water.

Increased effectiveness due to fewer failures

Another common argument that makes the case for undersea data centers more realistic in the future is the efficiency it brings to the fore. For example, corrosion caused by oxygen and technical failure caused by human involvement plague land-based data centers. Also, while the cooling system under the water using nitrogen-filled containers works well under the seabed, it does not operate as well on land.

Serving a bigger number of customers for less money

The volume of the population they will service is one of the compelling reasons that corporations like Amazon and Google may be forced to seriously consider undersea data centers. People living within a 120-mile radius of coasts have seen a significant increase in the previous several decades, and this trend is likely to continue. Given the aforesaid situation, investing in tiny portions of data centers underwater for higher data flow and cheaper costs will be a lucrative proposition.

There will be less strain on clean water resources

Choosing beaches necessitates the use of high-salt water pools. The vessel's design allows it to tolerate the high salt concentration. Ocean water, by definition, has a higher risk of corroding. This might have been a stumbling block in the development of subterranean data centers. Another alternative was to use freshwater sources, although this meant settling for smaller water bodies with pure water or man-made water bodies. In both situations, the deployment costs would be rather significant. Excessive usage of freshwater would also result in a lack of clean water in other essential areas such as agriculture.

At the end of the day, it's critical to consider the undersea data center's overall image. Or, to be more precise, let's speak about the future of cloud computing as seen by the pioneer of this innovative method to data center housing. Microsoft's aim to being carbon-negative by 2030 was one of the major motivators for relocating underseas. The business intends to do this by developing long-term cloud infrastructure. In addition, by 2025, the firm hopes to have entirely shifted its technical reliance on renewable energy sources.