On Monday, software giant Microsoft unveiled its new project codenamed 'Project Natick,' under which the company will evaluate the long-term prospects of building underwater data centers.

As part of its newly-introduced 'Project Natick' effort, Microsoft will essentially be testing the viability of locating energy-efficient, low- latency cloud data centers at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

In an evident indication of Microsoft's plans to locate cloud computing facility on the ocean floor, the company had - in August 2015 - submerged an approximately 38,000-pound, 10-foot by 7-foot Project Natick vessel at a distance of nearly half a mile from the Pacific coast.

The Project Natick vessel submerged by Microsoft housed a server rack which had the processing power of nearly 300 home PCs. The vessel remained submerged in water for three months, during which it was closely monitored by researchers from the Microsoft Research unit, housed in Building 99 at the company's Redmond, Washington, headquarters.

Sharing details about the submerged Project Natick vessel, Microsoft spokesperson Athima Chansanchai said in a blog post: "Using cameras and other sensors, they (researchers) recorded data like temperature, humidity, the amount of power being used for the system, even the speed of the current."