Microsoft’s Project Natick in 2014 kicked off the trend of putting data centers in the ocean. Since then, there have been a couple of underwater data centers (UDCs) around the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. As reported by China Central Television (CCTV), China started to assemble what seems to be the world’s first commercial underwater data center off the coast of Sanya, a coastal city south of Hainan Island. According to CCTV, each data storage unit can process more than four million high-definition images in 30 seconds. The estimated performance claimed to be comparable to approximately 60,000 regular computers operating in unison.
The companies involved installed the first data storage unit back in April. On Friday, a team of engineers added another data storage unit on the sea floor south of the Hainan province. The units house racks of servers, although the exact number and specifications remain a mystery.
