A big cost for IT companies is the cooling of their data centers. This has led to Facebook placed its first data center outside the US in Luleå, where the winter cold curls.
Now, Microsoft has unveiled a new model of computer cooling in the new project Natick, writes New York Times.
Off the coast of California cut the company down a 2.5 meter wide steel capsule in the ocean, named Leona Philpot. In there was a server was running for 105 days and cooled by heat exchangers located on the capsule. According to Microsoft, was testing a bigger success than expected.
About half of the world population lives in areas that are not further away than 200 km from the coast and offshore data center can then be placed close to users, which among other things reduces signal delays ( latency), which is a problem when the big data centers located at long distances.
In addition to reducing the cost of cooling expects Microsoft to be able to install the new type of data centers in three months, compared with the two years it often takes to build a data center in the country.
A problem and a challenge for Microsoft will be to construct the offshore plants so they do not need to be monitored, repaired and maintained in place. The goal is to installations should be able to serve up to five years without supervision.
The researchers also believe that it may be possible to operate the facilities with electricity produced by underwater turbines or generators powered by tides.
Next year, Microsoft plans to test a developed version of Leona Philpot who will become three times as large, writes the New York Times.
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