X

Microsoft's underwater data center has live fish cams

Catch a look at the schools of cute fish swimming around Project Natick.

Amanda Kooser
Freelance writer Amanda C. Kooser covers gadgets and tech news with a twist for CNET. When not wallowing in weird gear and iPad apps for cats, she can be found tinkering with her 1956 DeSoto.
Amanda Kooser
fishcams
Enlarge Image
fishcams

Here, fishy, fishy. Microsoft's data center has two live cams.

Screenshot by Amanda Kooser/CNET

Microsoft agrees with Sebastian the crab from The Little Mermaid. It's better down where it's wetter. 

The company's new undersea data center off the coast of Scotland includes a couple of underwater cameras that give web viewers a glimpse of the subsurface environs.

"We installed two video cameras on the outside of the pressure vessel to observe environmental conditions near our datacenter," says Microsoft. You could use the feeds to marvel at the engineering behind the data center or you could just enjoy the soothing view of silvery fish dancing through the water. And, gosh, there are a lot of fish down there.

The experimental data center is part of Project Natick, which is testing the feasibility of subsea data centers powered by renewable energy.

Watch this: Microsoft wants to put your data underwater

"The vision of operating containerized datacenters offshore near major population centers anticipates a highly interactive future requiring data resources located close to users," says Microsoft. 

It's great to contemplate the implications of the technology, but it's also okay if you just want to kick back, mix yourself a Pina Colada and follow the fish as they explore Microsoft's creation.

Yetis and UFOs and sea monsters, oh my! (pictures)

See all photos