“Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea”: Why did the country’s first underwater data center choose to sink to the bottom of the sea?

Author: Zhang Yuzhi

A recent news (November 24, 2023): The world's first commercial submarine data center, its core equipment "submarine data cabin" was launched in Lingshui, Hainan. After installation and commissioning, the first phase of the world's first commercial submarine data center was completed.

Some friends are curious, what is an "undersea data center"? Is it put under the sea to count fish? This has nothing to do with fish. We have many data centers on the ground, and many units have their own data centers. The so-called data center is a bit like a supercomputer, used for storage, calculation and information processing, and is called the "base" of Internet services. This time, this data center is built under the sea. Then some friends said, our computers are afraid of being splashed with water, why is it put in the water?

Don't worry if you are afraid of water, we have waterproof and airtight technology. So why put it underwater? First of all, one particularly obvious benefit is that it is conducive to heat dissipation. Computers at home have fans, and data centers have a greater need for heat dissipation. If it is too hot, the performance of components will be affected and they will not work. Just like our mobile phones will automatically shut down when they get hot. Our data centers on the ground use air conditioning to cool down and maintain operation, but this will consume a lot of electricity, which is expensive and not environmentally friendly. This time we put it in the water and use seawater as a natural cooling source. The water keeps flowing next to it, which naturally dissipates heat. And it uses seawater instead of a tap, so it does not occupy fresh water resources.

Another thing is that the seabed will form an oxygen-free, dust-free, constant humidity environment. Oxygen will make oxidation easier, and dust will easily affect performance. We know that chip processing is done in a clean laboratory, and there is no dust in the seawater, which is relatively stable and not prone to failure.

Another benefit that everyone can think of is that it saves land resources. Now everyone knows that land is valuable, houses are valuable, and they take up a large area on the ground. It would be great if this area could be saved for other things. So putting it in the sea does not take up ground area, and no one lives under the sea, so it does not affect us. Moreover, it is naturally protected by the ocean barrier, so if someone wants to damage it under the water, it is not easy. We have seen many movies with similar plots, such as "Gamer", where the player gets angry and smashes the server in the end. This time you are under the sea, even if you really want to smash and damage it, most people probably don't have the ability to do so.

Some friends asked, "If it's so good to put it under water, why didn't we do it earlier?" In fact, although it has many advantages, it is also very technically difficult. Our country's scientific researchers have achieved this after many years of research and overcame many technical difficulties. Otherwise, how could it be the first in the world?

First of all, waterproofing and airtightness are the key. You have to do a good job of waterproofing, which is not easy. In addition, it must be corrosion-resistant. Many things soaked in seawater are more susceptible to corrosion, such as seawater scouring, which is mechanical corrosion, chemical corrosion and electrochemical corrosion of seawater, as well as biological corrosion. It cannot be corroded and leaked in two days. In addition, natural disasters must be prevented. For example, when a typhoon comes, will the data center be washed away by strong winds and waves? There are also earthquakes. Although they may not hit the seabed, they will cause tsunamis, which will have a great impact on this. Will the wires be broken? All of these must be considered and prevented. And a very critical problem is that it is difficult to maintain under the sea. If it is broken on the ground, it is easy for engineers to repair it and replace a part, but it takes a lot of effort under the sea. Just now I said that it is not easy to be damaged by others, and it is also not easy to be maintained by our own people. We saw in the news that the installation process is very strenuous, including some preliminary work, such as installing the base of the data cabin and laying cables. Many divers have to go into the water to work, which is very difficult and risky. This kind of operation is different from our underwater travel. This kind of operation usually uses oxygen supplied on the surface, although they also carry oxygen tanks as backup. Because the dive is quite deep, more than 30 meters, the divers have to go through a decompression process when they come up.

We have seen that scene in the news, where divers go down in a cage, and two people have to go together. Many friends may think of the movie "Gone Girl". Some said that they dare not dive with others after watching it. That movie is a movie, and work is work. Generally speaking, safety can be guaranteed. However, the installation and maintenance of this is indeed very laborious, so it must be designed to be remotely maintained or maintenance-free, and the design life must be relatively long, and it cannot be repaired several times a month.

The divers took the risk of installing it underwater, which was not easy. Our researchers also overcame many technical difficulties to realize the project of this underwater data center. This submarine data center will also provide a strong infrastructure guarantee for the development of our country's digital economy.

This article is a work supported by Science Popularization China Starry Sky Project

Author: Zhang Yuzhi

Reviewer: Liu Shiping, Professor of University of Chinese Academy of Sciences

Produced by: China Association for Science and Technology Department of Science Popularization

Producer: China Science and Technology Press Co., Ltd., Beijing Zhongke Xinghe Culture Media Co., Ltd.