# Project Natick > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Project_Natick > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Project_Natick.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Natick > Source revision: 1357290126 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{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](/source/research_and_development) effort by [Microsoft](/source/Microsoft) to create an experimental undersea [data center](/source/data_center). The company deployed its first prototype in August 2015.{{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}} It subsequently deployed and retrieved a "shipping-container-sized" data center off the coast of the [Northern Isles](/source/Northern_Isles) in 2018.{{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}}{{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}} Microsoft subcontracted [Naval Group](/source/Naval_Group) to spearhead the design and manufacture of the vessel.{{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|website=www.datacenterdynamics.com |date=15 March 2022 |language=en}} In 2024, Microsoft said that Project Natick was no longer active.{{cite news |last1=Fitzmaurice |first1=George |title=Microsoft scrapped its 'Project Natick' underwater data center trial — here's why it was never going to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}} == History == In 2013, a Microsoft employee with previous experience in the [US Navy](/source/US_Navy) suggested that an underwater [server farm](/source/server_farm) could cut on cooling costs and increase environmental sustainability.{{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}} A group of employees wrote and circulated a [white paper](/source/white_paper) to promote the idea. === Phase I === In late 2014, the project was launched with a meeting in [Redmond, Washington](/source/Redmond%2C_Washington).{{Cite web |title=Project Natick Phase 2 |url=https://natick.research.microsoft.com/ |access-date=2022-05-01 |website=natick.research.microsoft.com}} The first prototype was named ''Leona Philpot'' (after a character from the [Xbox](/source/Xbox) video game series ''[Halo](/source/Halo_(franchise))''{{--)}} and was deployed off the coast of [California](/source/California) on August 10, 2015.{{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}} 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.{{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}} 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](/source/Naval_Group), a [French](/source/France) defense contractor, was selected to lead in the design and deployment of the project.{{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}} The Natick Phase 2 vessel was deployed on June 1, 2018, off the coast of [Orkney](/source/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](/source/COVID-19_pandemic), the undersea data center was employed to process workloads for vaccine research via [Folding@home](/source/Folding%40home).{{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}}{{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}} In July 2020, the vessel was successfully lifted out of the water and retrieved for analysis.{{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}} === Termination === By 2024, Project Natick had been inactive for several years, though it was referenced in media as though it was ongoing.{{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}} That year, Microsoft confirmed that the project was inactive and that it had no servers underwater. == Impact == Project Natick was nominated for the [Scottish Renewables](/source/Scottish_Renewables) Carbon Reduction Award in 2018.{{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}} Additionally, the project showed that 864 servers could run reliably for two years with cooling provided by sea water at its natural temperature.{{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 }} A [United States Department of Energy](/source/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]."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. == References == {{Reflist}} {{coord missing|United Kingdom}} 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 --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Project Natick](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Natick) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Natick?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.