If you don’t know, in 2016, Microsoft successfully deployed a sealed server pod off the coast of California called Project Natick. Since then, they have deployed a new, larger pod off the coast of Scotland. What’s incredible with this is that deployment of one of these underwater server pods is so much faster than securing land, finding the right location, building out a data center, as well as the power and electric infrastructure.
These incredibly advanced underwater pods take about 90 days from start to deployment; that is truly amazing. Also, this is bringing the cloud closer to the population as more than 50% of the world’s population lives within 120 miles of the coast.
By doing that, not only can we deploy things faster, but even better is that the Scottish pod is using 100% renewable energy by utilizing wind-power from the Orkney Islands wind farm. So, they are giving us this pattern that allows us to expand the cloud and get ahead of capacity and doing it in a very renewable way.
There are some questions around how these underwater pods affect the environment and are they creating thermal pollution. Microsoft is studying all that to ensure this is a responsible deployment and that they’re doing it in ways and waters all over the world where it can be sustainable.
If you’re interested in how Azure itself continues to grow and how the Azure cloud works, check out all our Azure Every Day videos/blogs. Also check out the Microsoft website for videos from Ignite 2018 for more about the cool things Microsoft is doing and what the future holds.
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