Microsoft is set to take the next step with Project Natick, its experiment in efficiently cooling datacenters by submerging them in the ocean.
IT Business Edge reports that Ben Cutler, Microsoft’s project manager on the development, said that the submersible used in the next phase of the project will be four times as large and hold 20 times more server capacity as the first iteration.
Cutler said that environmental impact studies must be conducted. To date, Cutler told an audience at a DataCenterDynamics Enterprise event, the submerged datacenter has created what essentially is an artificial reef. The piece says that the concept is evolving from being an experiment to “a more significant project” for the company.
The project was announced earlier this year. The first submersible was deployed in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Luis Obispo, CA.
