Most data lives in the cloud. What if it lived under the sea?

• In one sense, it lives “on the internet” or “in the cloud”, just like your favourite social media platform or the TV show you might stream tonight.
• But in a physical sense, it’s stored and transmitted somewhere in a network of thousands of data centres across the globe.
• In search of cost savings, greater sustainability and better service, data centre providers are looking to get their feet wet.

Which companies are doing this?

• The initial premise was that since many humans live near the coast, so should data centres.
• An initial experiment in 2015 saw a small-scale data centre deployed for three months in the Pacific Ocean.
• China’s Shenzhen HiCloud Data Center Technology Co Ltd has deployed centres in tropical waters off the coast of Hainan Island.

Why move data centres under the waves?

• According to the International Energy Agency, data centres consume around 1–1.5% of global electricity use, of which some 40% is used for cooling.
• When it was brought back to shore in 2020, the rate of server failures was less than 20% that of land-based data centres.
• Locating data centres close to where people live reduces the time taken for data to reach them, known as “latency”.
• 4) Increased security and data sovereignty Moving data centres into the ocean makes them physically more difficult for hackers or saboteurs to access.

What about the environmental impact?

• Microsoft’s experiments showed some localised warming, but “the water just metres downstream of a Natick vessel would get a few thousandths of a degree warmer at most”.
• If underwater data centres go ahead, robust planning will be needed to ensure their placement follows best practise considering cultural heritage and environmental values.
• There are also opportunities to enhance the environmental benefits of underwater data centres by incorporating nature-positive features in the design to enhance marine biodiversity around these structures.

What’s next?

• Several companies are actively exploring, or indeed constructing, underwater data centres.
• Add in the environmental and economic savings and this may well be the future of data centres for a significant proportion of the planet.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.