微软将一座数据中心沉入大海

Microsoft has sunk a data center into the ocean

微软将一座数据中心沉入大海

The new data center is part of a project which aims to research more energy efficient data centers.

微软开展新项目，减少数据中心能耗，新的数据中心是该项目的一部分。

Microsoft has submerged an experimental data center into the ocean floor of the Northern Isles near Scotland.

微软将一座实验性的数据中心沉入了苏格兰附近北方群岛的海底。

The undersea data center is part of the technology giant’s Project Natick initiativeintended to research more energy efficient data centers. Microsoft said that it dropped the portable data center, dubbed the Northern Isles, into the sea last Friday and it’s now online and performing an unspecified amount of computing tasks.

这座沉入大海的数据中心隶属微软Natick项目，该项目旨在研究如何降低数据中心的能耗。微软表示，已于上周五在北方群岛将数据中心沉入大海，现在数据中心已联网并正在执行一定量的计算任务。

当我7岁时，我感到我父亲是天底下最聪明的人；当我14岁时，我感到我父亲是天底下最不通情达理的人；当我21岁时，我忽然发现我父亲还是很聪明的。

——马克·吐温

This marks the second phase of Project Natick, which kicked off in 2015 when Microsoft unloaded a mini-data center off the central California coast, where it ran for 105 days.

微软Natick项目于2015年启动，当时在加利福尼亚中部海岸建造了一座迷你数据中心，并让它在海里工作了105天。如今，新的数据中心沉海表明Natick项目进入了第二阶段。

Microsoft said that while the first Project Natick test was to see if it was possible to operate an undersea data center, the second test is intended to learn if the “concept is logistically, environmentally and economically practical.”

微软表示，Natick项目的首次测试是为了确定数据中心在海中运行的可行性，第二次测试是为了确定“这一概念在逻辑上、环境上和经济上都是可行的”。

Companies like Microsoft (MSFT, +0.34%) and Facebook (FB, -0.79%) that operate gigantic data centers tend to spend a lot of money and effort in cooling the facilities, which can run very hot due to the tremendous amount of servers and gear that essentially power a large portion of the Internet.

微软（MSFT, +0.34%）、Facebook（FB, -0.79%）等运营超大规模数据中心的公司往往在设备的冷却上投入大量的财力和精力，因为设备运行需要数量庞大的服务器和相关装置，正是这些服务器和装置支持着互联网大部分的运行。

Compared to more conventional data centers that can span football fields, Project Natick’s underwater facility is a gnat at about 40-feet long and resembles a cylinder-like cargo container typically seen on big, shipping vessels.

传统的数据中心可达到足球场大小，相比之下，Natick项目的海底数据中心则小得多，它长约40英尺，外形像大型运输船上常见的圆柱体形货物集装箱。

The Northern Isles data center contains 12 server racks and 864 servers. Microsoft staff will be monitoring the data center for the next year to see how it survives under water. The hope is that the test goes well and Microsoft can eventually deploy similar portable data centers off the coast of major cities.

位于北方群岛的数据中心包含12个服务器机架和864个服务器。微软的工作人员将在接下来的一年内对数据中心进行监测，观察它在海底是否能正常工作。微软希望测试顺利进行，最终实现在主要城市的海岸部署类似的数据中心。

“We know if we can put something in here and it survives, we are good for just about any place we want to go,” Microsoft Project Natick chief Ben Cutler said in a statement.

微软Natick项目的负责人本·卡特勒（Ben Cutler）在一次声明中表示：“我们知道，如果我们在这里放置一座数据中心而且它能正常工作，那么相同的项目可以在任何地方落地。”

初译 | 张愫恒

审校 | 张思琦

定稿 | 张思琦

本文由有译思翻译团队翻译