{{Short description|Experimental underwater data center program}}
thumb|The coast of Orkney Islands, where the Phase II Vessel for Project Natick was deployed '''Project Natick''' was a research and development effort by Microsoft to create an experimental undersea data center. The company deployed its first prototype in August 2015.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Project Natick: Microsoft Tests Putting Data Centers Under the Sea |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/innovation/project-natick-microsoft-tests-putting-data-centers-under-sea-n508946 |access-date=2022-05-01 |website=NBC News |date=February 2016 |language=en}}</ref> It subsequently deployed and retrieved a "shipping-container-sized" data center off the coast of the Northern Isles in 2018.<ref name="microsoft 2020">{{Cite web |date=2020-09-14 |title=Microsoft finds underwater datacenters are reliable, practical and use energy sustainably |url=https://news.microsoft.com/innovation-stories/project-natick-underwater-datacenter/ |access-date=2022-05-01 |website=Innovation Stories |publisher=Microsoft|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Microsoft hails success of undersea datacenter experiment—and says it could have implications on dry land, too |url=https://fortune.com/2020/09/15/microsoft-project-natick-undersea-datacenter-scotland/ |access-date=2022-05-01 |website=Fortune |language=en}}</ref> Microsoft subcontracted Naval Group to spearhead the design and manufacture of the vessel.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Comment |first=Peter Judge |title=Building underwater |url=https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/analysis/building-underwater/ |access-date=2022-05-01 |website=www.datacenterdynamics.com |date=15 March 2022 |language=en}}</ref>
In 2024, Microsoft said that Project Natick was no longer active.<ref name="ITPro">{{cite news |last1=Fitzmaurice |first1=George |title=Microsoft scrapped its 'Project Natick' underwater data center trial — here's why it was never going to work |url=https://www.itpro.com/infrastructure/data-centres/microsoft-scrapped-its-project-natick-underwater-data-center-trial-heres-why-it-was-never-going-to-work |access-date=22 December 2024 |work=ITPro |date=19 July 2024 |language=en}}</ref>
== History == In 2013, a Microsoft employee with previous experience in the US Navy suggested that an underwater server farm could cut on cooling costs and increase environmental sustainability.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-02-21 |title=Want an Energy-Efficient Data Center? Build It Underwater |url=https://spectrum.ieee.org/underwater-data-centers |access-date=2022-05-01 |website=IEEE Spectrum |language=en}}</ref> A group of employees wrote and circulated a white paper to promote the idea.
=== Phase I === In late 2014, the project was launched with a meeting in Redmond, Washington.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Project Natick Phase 2 |url=https://natick.research.microsoft.com/ |access-date=2022-05-01 |website=natick.research.microsoft.com}}</ref> The first prototype was named ''Leona Philpot'' (after a character from the Xbox video game series ''Halo''{{--)}} and was deployed off the coast of California on August 10, 2015.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-02-01 |title=Underwater home for Microsoft data center is pretty cool, which is the point |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/business/microsoft/underwater-home-for-microsoft-data-center-is-pretty-cool/ |access-date=2022-05-01 |website=The Seattle Times |language=en-US}}</ref> The prototype was placed 30 feet underwater. The trial lasted 105 days and the prototype was successfully lifted out of the water for further testing.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Markoff |first=John |date=2016-01-31 |title=Microsoft Plumbs Ocean's Depths to Test Underwater Data Center |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/01/technology/microsoft-plumbs-oceans-depths-to-test-underwater-data-center.html |access-date=2022-05-01 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Following the initial experiment, Microsoft wanted the next prototype to be larger in size, deployed in harsher conditions, and powered with renewable energy.
=== Phase II === Microsoft invited a group of marine organizations to submit proposals to realize the second phase of the project. Naval Group, a French defense contractor, was selected to lead in the design and deployment of the project.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Natick Project Phase 2: Microsoft and Naval Group, a successful first assessment for the underwater datacenter |url=https://www.naval-group.com/en/natick-project-phase-2-microsoft-and-naval-group-successful-first-assessment-underwater-datacenter |access-date=2022-05-01 |website=Naval Group |language=en}}</ref> The Natick Phase 2 vessel was deployed on June 1, 2018, off the coast of Orkney. The vessel stayed underwater for over two years, connected to the Orkney power grid.{{r|microsoft 2020}} After the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the undersea data center was employed to process workloads for vaccine research via Folding@home.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-06-16 |title=Microsoft's undersea datacenter helps the hunt for a COVID-19 vaccine |url=https://news.microsoft.com/innovation-stories/project-natick-covid-19/ |access-date=2022-05-01 |website=Innovation Stories |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Microsoft employs experimental undersea data center in search for COVID-19 vaccine |url=https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/17/microsoft-employs-experimental-undersea-data-center-in-search-for-covid-19-vaccine/ |access-date=2022-05-01 |website=TechCrunch |date=17 June 2020 |language=en-US}}</ref> In July 2020, the vessel was successfully lifted out of the water and retrieved for analysis.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Meisenzahl |first=Mary |title=Microsoft sank a data center the size of a shipping container 2 years ago in a wild experiment and just brought it up to see how it went |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-project-natick-shipping-container-data-center-retrieval-in-photos-2020-9 |access-date=2022-05-01 |website=Business Insider |language=en-US}}</ref>
=== Termination === By 2024, Project Natick had been inactive for several years, though it was referenced in media as though it was ongoing.<ref name="DCD2024">{{cite news |last1=Moss |first1=Sebastian |title=Microsoft confirms Project Natick underwater data center is no more |url=https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/microsoft-confirms-project-natick-underwater-data-center-is-no-more/ |access-date=22 December 2024 |publisher=Data Center Dynamics |date=17 June 2024 |language=en}}</ref> That year, Microsoft confirmed that the project was inactive and that it had no servers underwater.<ref name="DCD2024"/>
== Impact == Project Natick was nominated for the Scottish Renewables Carbon Reduction Award in 2018.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Scottish Green Energy Awards 2020 |url=https://www.scottishrenewables.com/events/112-sgea20/winners |access-date=2022-05-01 |website=www.scottishrenewables.com |language=en}}</ref> Additionally, the project showed that 864 servers could run reliably for two years with cooling provided by sea water at its natural temperature.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mytton |first=David |date=2021-02-15 |title=Data centre water consumption |journal=npj Clean Water |language=en |volume=4 |issue=1 |page=11 |doi=10.1038/s41545-021-00101-w |s2cid=231921544 |issn=2059-7037|doi-access=free |bibcode=2021npjCW...4...11M |hdl=10044/1/86841 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> A United States Department of Energy report used Project Natick as an example of how "marine energy combined with storage and potentially other renewable energy sources could provide the power or partial power for [data centers]."<ref>LiVecchi, A., A. Copping, D. Jenne, A. Gorton, R. Preus, G. Gill, R. Robichaud, R. Green, S. Geerlofs, S. Gore, D. Hume, W. McShane, C. Schmaus, H. Spence. 2019. Powering the Blue Economy; Exploring Opportunities for Marine Renewable Energy in Maritime Markets. U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Washington, D.C.</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
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Category:Data centers Category:Microsoft buildings and structures Category:Buildings and structures in Orkney Category:2018 establishments in Scotland Category:2020 disestablishments in Scotland Category:Sustainability in Scotland