Dumping computer equipment into water is not a very bright idea and that’s exactly why it raised a lot of eyebrows when Microsoft announced that it is it’s dumping data centers into the Pacific ocean. It is intriguing to say the least.
Data centers are basically buildings that house a variety of computer equipment responsible for processing all of the internet usage that’s going on. The increase in the usage of cloud-based services and multimedia content has created a very huge demand for data centers. The problem with the data center is that the maintenance charges are very high. They consume a lot of energy and that makes sense, however, most of the energy consumption is directed at the cooling of the data center to prevent overheating of the components.
Now, the Microsoft’s plan of placing data centers in the ocean doesn’t sound that bad, right? It makes sense actually, the idea is to make use of the low temperatures at the bottom of the ocean for the cooling down of the data centers. Microsoft has stated that this setting allows for zero maintenance of data centers for longer spans of time while setting up of the data centers will be easier as well. This has been based on the fact that over 4.5 billion persons live within 125 miles of a shoreline and this facilitates provision of a data center for the people living closeby while allowing to save space on the land that can be used for other more important purposes.
