
Microsoft finds underwater datacenters are reliable, practical and sustainable - coloneltcb
https://news.microsoft.com/innovation-stories/project-natick-underwater-datacenter/?_lrsc=bc327fb3-15b0-49ce-9fb7-59bc01d22bf1
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ChrisArchitect
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24469643](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24469643)

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moocowtruck
curious, wouldn't warming oceans with data centers not be good environmentally
either?

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Qworg
I used to work on this project - water cooling is more efficient than air and
heat generated by computing is the same. The heat ends up in the ocean
anyways.

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moocowtruck
thanks, is there a paper on the topic that MS published that I can read? Would
love to understand more of the detail and analysis

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Qworg
Sadly, no. The physics follow though - water has a much higher specific heat
than air, so you have to move much less water than air for equivalent cooling.
The production of heat by the processors is the same (and you save on air
handling electricity/cooling processes, as the water is already cool in the
ocean). As for the oceans absorbing the heat, that's how it works anyways - a
unit of heat released in the atmosphere has to be sunk somewhere and the ocean
is the "Earth's biggest heat bucket".

