Microsoft is testing the placement of a data center in the ocean utilizing tidal energy. Another advantage of this "drowned" facility is automatic cooling that takes advantage of low underwater temperatures.
The idea to place a data center beneath the ocean surface came from Sean James, who previously worked for the U.S. Navy and is now Microsoft's data center specialist.
On August 10, 2015, the company conducted its first test in the Pacific Ocean, submerging a seventeen-ton containerized server room in a bathyscaphe measuring 2.66M x 3.5M along with 300 computers for three months. The ninety-day test of operation, temperatures, and humidity was conducted via remote access. Once a month, divers physically inspected the site. Microsoft now plans to submerge another data hall for one year with twenty times the power consumption. red