{"id":236139,"date":"2016-11-14T11:32:23","date_gmt":"2016-11-14T19:32:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new-cm-edgedigital.pages.dev\/en-us\/research\/?post_type=msr-project&p=236139"},"modified":"2026-08-13T10:44:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T17:44:46","slug":"natick","status":"publish","type":"msr-project","link":"https:\/\/new-cm-edgedigital.pages.dev\/en-us\/research\/project\/natick\/","title":{"rendered":"Project Natick"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Project Natick<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

A research project to determine the feasibility of subsea datacenters powered by offshore renewable energy.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n\n\n

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The cloud, under the sea.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

50% of us live near the coast. Why doesn\u2019t our data?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Project Natick explores the benefits and difficulties of deploying subsea datacenters worldwide. Phase 2 extended this research with a full-scale, renewable-energy-powered datacenter module in the North Sea.<\/p>\n<\/div>

\"The<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Phase 2 results<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\"Stopwatch<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Reliability<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Servers in Natick Northern Isles showed a failure rate one-eighth that of the land-based control group.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"Globe<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Community service<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Natick supported COVID-19 research for Folding at Home and World Community Grid.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"Recycling<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Recycling<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The steel pressure vessel, heat exchangers, servers, and all other components will be recycled.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"Sun<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sea bed<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The sea bed is being restored to the same state it was in before deployment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Contact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

General inquiries:<\/strong> natick@microsoft.com<\/a>
Media inquiries:<\/strong> natick-media@microsoft.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Facts and figures<\/h2>
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Datacenter designation<\/h3>

Northern Isles (SSDC-002).<\/p><\/div><\/article>

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Pressure vessel dimensions<\/h3>

12.2 m long and 2.8 m in diameter; about the size of a 40-foot ISO shipping container.<\/p><\/div><\/article>

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Subsea docking structure dimensions<\/h3>

14.3 m long and 12.7 m wide.<\/p><\/div><\/article>

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Electrical power source<\/h3>

100% locally produced renewable electricity from on-shore wind and solar, and off-shore tide and wave.<\/p><\/div><\/article>

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Electrical power consumption<\/h3>

240 kW.<\/p><\/div><\/article>

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Payload<\/h3>

12 racks containing 864 standard Microsoft datacenter servers with FPGA acceleration and 27.6 petabytes of disk.<\/p><\/div><\/article>

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Location<\/h3>

European Marine Energy Centre, Scotland, UK.<\/p><\/div><\/article>

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Internal operating environment<\/h3>

One atmosphere of dry nitrogen.<\/p><\/div><\/article>

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Time to deploy<\/h3>

Less than 90 days from factory to operation.<\/p><\/div><\/article>

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Planned maintenance-free operation<\/h3>

Up to five years.<\/p><\/div><\/article><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Phase 2 timeline<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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September 2015<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phase 2 planning<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The team set out to make the datacenter full scale, deploy it deeper and in harsher conditions, and power it with completely renewable energy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>

\"The<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Project<\/figure>
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December 2015<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Request for Information<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

An RFI sought information about the feasibility of deploying a Natick datacenter in the ocean powered by renewable energy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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March 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Request for Proposals<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A select group of marine organizations was invited to present proposals to realize the Phase 2 vision.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>

\"Project<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Microsoft<\/figure>
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November 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Naval Group selected<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Naval Group and its subsidiary, Naval Energies, were selected to lead design, fabrication, and deployment of the Phase 2 datacenter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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October 2017<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Design complete<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The team designed subsea equivalents of networking, electrical and cooling systems, environmental monitoring, and more.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>

\"Eric<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"IT<\/figure>
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May 2018<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fabrication complete<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Fabrication was complete; IT equipment was installed and tested before the vessel was shipped to Stromness, UK.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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June 2018<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deployment<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Northern Isles was deployed at the European Marine Energy Centre.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>

\"The<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"The<\/figure>
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June 2018<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Operations<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Natick Northern Isles was used by more than 18 groups inside Microsoft.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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March 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pandemic work<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Natick Northern Isles was re-tasked to provide resources for COVID-19 vaccine research through Folding at Home and World Community Grid.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>

\"CDC<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Retrieval<\/figure>
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July 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Retrieval<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

After more than two years on the seafloor, Natick Northern Isles was retrieved for analysis.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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What\u2019s next?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Look for more information here soon.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>

\"Reflection<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Project Natick began in 2013 when Microsoft employee Sean James, who served on a U.S. Navy submarine, submitted a ThinkWeek paper. Microsoft began the project in 2014, deployed the Leona Philpot system off the coast of California in 2015, and later brought it back to Redmond for analysis and refitting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phase 1 timeline<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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February 2013<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Initial white paper<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A Microsoft white paper came to the attention of senior leaders. It described an underwater datacenter powered by renewable ocean energy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>

\"Project<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Project<\/figure>
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August 2014<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Project Natick begins<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Project Natick began with a kickoff meeting in Redmond.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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August 2015<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Project Natick operational<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Leona Philpot was christened and deployed off the coast of California.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>