Microsoft to dump it's computers into the sea.

[Succubus]

The theory is that the cost of cooling the computers will be cut by placing them underwater.

"We think we actually get much better cooling underwater than on land," says Ben Cutler, who is in charge of what Microsoft has dubbed Project Natick.

What am I missing here, why not keep the thing onshore and cool it with pumped sea water?

An undersea cable brings the data centre power and takes its data to the shore and the wider internet - but if the computers onboard break, they cannot be repaired.

What the fuck‽ Why bother? I'm obviously missing something here but what?
The cost of this project has to be in the millions, a ten horsepower water pump and a few hundred meters of 6" pipe would cost... fuckall.

My bold.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-44368813

Edit to fix link.

[I_am_not_mafia]

Working link here:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-44368813

I must say I'm intrigued.

The point is that any savings you make scale up as you get much larger data farms. If you have to pump water in to cool your computers then it won't be as efficient because it takes energy to pump the water, which also produces heat. If you have it underwater then you don't need to pump any water or air and rely on tidal power instead.

The problem is though if that a single component fails then the entire server is unusable. They're saying that in an oxygen free environment this is less likely to happen but I'm sceptical because components don't just fail for environmental reasons but because they weren't built properly in the factory. So whether it actually saves money is unknown.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

'less likely to happen' is engineer-speak for 'Eventually, you're fucked.'

Boru

[The Grand Nudger]

The theory is that the cost of cooling the computers will be cut by placing them underwater.

"We think we actually get much better cooling underwater than on land," says Ben Cutler, who is in charge of what Microsoft has dubbed Project Natick.

What am I missing here, why not keep the thing onshore and cool it with pumped sea water?

An undersea cable brings the data centre power and takes its data to the shore and the wider internet - but if the computers onboard break, they cannot be repaired.

What the fuck‽ Why bother? I'm obviously missing something here but what?
The cost of this project has to be in the millions, a ten horsepower water pump and a few hundred meters of 6" pipe would cost... fuckall.

My bold.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-44368813

Edit to fix link.

So, obviously I have no idea..but I can offer two possibilities for their decision.  One, if the choice with water is between pumping and in-situ use, you always pick the latter option.  Second..if you do have to pick the former option..pumping saltwater is about the most costly thing imaginable..when it comes to pumping water.  Maintenance.  Better to pump freshwater in, mix salt in a tank, then discharge and do it again......but there are huge costs (and a bevy of laws) about that as well.

[zebo-the-fat]

Service engineer equiped with screwdriver, soldering iron and a rubber suit!

[johan]

What am I missing here, why not keep the thing onshore and cool it with pumped sea water?

Well right off the bat, the title of the article says they're investigating. They're not rolling this out large scale, they're just investigating to see if works and makes things more efficient. 

Beyond that, I think your 10hp pump comment is a little off the mark. Data centers are the size of large buildings. You're going to need something a little more substantial than a 10hp pump to keep it cool. And when you think about it, seems it would be way cheaper to move bits down a data pipe than it is to move water. As for not being able to repair broken computers, we've been sending computer equipped objects into space for decades. Can't fix the computers on those either that seems to work out ok most of the time.

[Minimalist]

[brewer]

The russians or chinese will steal it. Damn commies!

[Minimalist]

[Fireball]

What am I missing here, why not keep the thing onshore and cool it with pumped sea water?

Well right off the bat, the title of the article says they're investigating. They're not rolling this out large scale, they're just investigating to see if works and makes things more efficient. 

Beyond that, I think your 10hp pump comment is a little off the mark. Data centers are the size of large buildings. You're going to need something a little more substantial than a 10hp pump to keep it cool. And when you think about it, seems it would be way cheaper to move bits down a data pipe than it is to move water. As for not being able to repair broken computers, we've been sending computer equipped objects into space for decades. Can't fix the computers on those either that seems to work out ok most of the time.

The cost of space grade components to increase the reliability of their servers would be orders of magnitude more expensive than remaining cooled on land.