Last October, it was reported that the first phase of the underwater data center (UDC) in Shanghai had been successfully completed. This week, Chinese media reported that the UDC, a pilot project, has now begun full operation.
It cost RMB 1.6 billion (~RM 935 million) and uses electricity generated by 50 24MW windmills with a cooling system that only requires seawater. In conventional data centers, the cooling system contributes to 50% of operating costs. In the UDC, it is reduced to only about 10%.
The UDC is located 10 meters below the sea surface and houses 192 server racks in a four-story building. Conventional cooling systems are not required because the data center is surrounded by water at an average temperature of 15 degrees Celsius at all times.
The construction of the UDC is an effort to make Shanghai a smart city with various intelligent intelligence systems. This first phase is the first step to building a UDC with a processing power of 200 exaFLOPS. It also welcomes the call of the Chinese government to reduce electricity consumption and water supply in data centers in the near future.
