After two years of being at the bottom of the ocean, Microsoft's experiment has reappeared. That centre has been retrieved from the bottom of the ocean floor. Microsoft researchers are now looking at how it has performed, while also finding out if there is anything that they can do to try and boost the energy efficiency in general.
No Humans and Very Few Failures
The first conclusion is that the cylinder is very much filled to the brim with servers and it also has a lower failure rate when compared to a conventional data centre. When the container was lifted off the seabed after being put there a few years ago, just 8 of the servers had failed. The total number of servers there stood at 855, so this is incredible to say the least. Those who work in datacentre jobs or even in datacentre recruitment will understand what a stunning discovery this is.
Failure Rate
The current failure rate is around one-eighth of what you would see on land. Ben Cutler, who has led the Microsoft project has high hopes about it in general. The team are spectating that the reliability may actually be down to the fact that no humans were on-board at all. Nitrogen, as opposed to Oxygen was pumped into the capsule as well. A lot of people think that nitrogen reduces corrosion and that it is cool as well.
Orkney was actively chosen for the trail by the company Microsoft. It was a centre for renewable energy resources. The idea is that the cooling cost of keeping computers monitored would be much cooler if this was done underwater as well so it's important to keep this in mind as much as possible. This is all exciting news to say the least.
