Microsoft’s project, Project Natick, is exploring if and how putting data centers under water can prevent overheating, thereby reducing the cost of air conditioning, and if pairing the system with a turbine or tidal energy system could create electricity, according to the report.
The company’s first prototype, named Leona Philpot, was submerged Aug. 10, 2015 off the central coast of California, and it was recently returned to the company’s corporate headquarters after 105 days spent 30 feet underwater. The trial was “more successful than expected,” according to the report.
Now, Microsoft is developing a new underwater data center that will be approximately three times bigger than Leona Philpot and will begin trial next year, according to the report.
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