Nautilus Data Technologies Successfully Launches First Waterborne Data Center Prototype

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Pleasanton, California, November 16, 2015 – Nautilus Data Technologies, a next-generation data center infrastructure company, announced the construction of its first commercial data center – a waterborne facility that will revolutionize the global data center industry.

Nautilus Data Technologies is the first company to successfully deploy a waterborne data center prototype, offering hosting, colocation, and cloud services for primary computing needs, business continuity, and disaster recovery services. With the introduction of its Waterborne Data Center solution, Nautilus will enable enterprises to dramatically reduce the cost of computing by providing the industry’s best-in-class power usage effectiveness (PUE), while operating the most environmentally sustainable data center on the market.

Construction of Nautilus’s first commercial data center follows the successful launch of its proof of concept prototype, which demonstrated a 30 percent decrease in energy consumption and operating costs when compared to land-based facilities.

The water savings were even greater.

Data centers rely on massive amounts of water for cooling. A single, mid-size data center can easily consume 130 million gallons of water a year — enough to supply nearly 2,000 people. But Nautilus’s proprietary technology consumes no water. By placing the disaster-resistant, marine-grade, data centers on Coast Guard certified barges, Nautilus Data Technologies utilizes the naturally-cooled water below the barge to reduce the temperature in the facility. This allows Nautilus to recycle the water and return it directly back into the body of water from where it originated, resulting in virtually no water loss.

“The Nautilus proof of concept prototype exceeded all expectations — validating how our waterborne approach will provide the most cost-effective, energy-efficient and environmentally sustainable data center on the market,” said Arnold Magcale, CEO and co-founder, Nautilus Data Technologies. “Our innovations are the most significant data center advances in decades — marking a revolutionary change in the data center industry.”

Traditional data center models are unsustainable. They are expected to consume 140 billion kilowatt-hours annually by 2020, costing American businesses $13 billion a year in electricity bills and emitting nearly 100 million metric tons of carbon pollution per year. With its proprietary infrastructure, and its complete suite of cloud and predictive data center infrastructure management (DCIM) technologies, Nautilus will help its customers reduce both their data center expenses and carbon footprints. Compared to current technology, annual savings in electricity costs are expected to be more than $4 million. Carbon dioxide emission reductions are estimated to be more than 19,000 tons per year — that’s the equivalent of taking 3,600 cars off the road.

“I admit I was skeptical at first, wondering who could have a material impact on data center economics while still reducing risk,” said Jay Kerley, CIO of Applied Materials, Inc. “But the leadership at Nautilus Data Technologies has done just that. Proprietary technology that will always keep you steps ahead of the efficiency curve no matter the underlying pace of change and innovation.”

Nautilus’s first commercial waterborne data center is being built at a Northern California Naval Shipyard and will be deployed at a secure port next year.

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Chad Romine

Chad Romine has over two decades of experience in technical and strategic business development. As Vice President of Business Development for Nautilus Data Technologies, Mr. Romine brings global connectivity to some of the most prominent global influencers in technology. Mr. Romine has led startups and under-performing companies to successful maturity built largely upon solid partnerships. Proven results in negotiating mutually beneficial strategic alliances and joint ventures. Outside of work, Chad has invested time fundraising for the American Cancer Society. Mr. Romine recently helped secure funding and led marketing for the completion of a new private University.

Ashley Sturm

Ashley Sturm is a marketing and strategy leader with more than 15 years of experience developing strategic marketing initiatives to increase brand affinity, shape the customer experience, and grow market share. As the Vice President of Marketing at Nautilus Data Technologies, Ashley is responsible for all global marketing initiatives; she integrates the corporate strategy, marketing, branding, and customer experience to best serve clients and produce real business results. Before joining Nautilus Data Technologies, she served as the Senior Director of Marketing Brand and Content for NTT Global Data Centers Americas, spearheading marketing efforts to open two out of six data center campuses. Prior to NTT, Ashley led global marketing through the startup of Vertiv’s Global Data Center Solutions business unit, where she developed the unit’s foundational messaging and established global and regional marketing teams. Ashley’s career experience includes extensive work with the US Navy through the Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness as well as broadcast journalism. Ashley earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism with an emphasis in converged media from the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism.

Paul Royere

Paul Royere is Vice President of Finance and Administration at Nautilus Data Technologies. For more than twenty years, he has specialized in finance and administration leadership for emerging technology companies, guiding them through high growth commercialization. In addition to senior team roles guiding strategic business operations, Mr. Royere has directed cross-functional teams in implementing business support systems, designing and measuring business plan performance, leading pre/post-merger activities, and delivering requisite corporate, tax and audit compliance.

While at 365 Data Centers, Mr. Royere served as Vice President of Finance leading a multi-discipline restructuring in preparation for the successful sale of seventeen data centers. As Vice President and Corporate Controller at Reliance Globalcom, Royere led the finance and business support teams to and through the conversion from a privately held company to a subsidiary of an international public conglomerate.

Arnold Magcale

Arnold Magcale is founder and Chief Technology Officer of Nautilus Data Technologies. As a recognized leader and respected visionary in the technology industry, he specializes in data center infrastructure, high-availability networks, cloud design, and Software as a Service (SaaS) Technology.

While serving on the management team of Exodus Communications, he launched one of Silicon Valley’s first data centers. Mr. Magcale’s background includes executive positions at Motorola Mobility, where his team deployed the first global Droid devices, and LinkSource Technologies and The Quantum Capital Fund, serving as Chief Technology Officer. He was an early adopter and implementer of Cloud Computing and a member of the team at Danger, Inc., acquired by Microsoft.


Mr. Magcale had a distinguished ten year career in the United States Navy Special Forces. His military and maritime expertise provided the foundation for inventing the world’s first commercial waterborne data center.

Patrick Quirk

Patrick Quirk is a business and technology executive who specializes in operations management, strategic partnerships, and technology leadership in data center, telecommunications, software, and semiconductor markets. Prior to joining Nautilus, he spent the past year working with small businesses and non-profits on survival and growth strategies in addition to PE advisory roles for critical infrastructure acquisitions. Quirk was the President of Avocent Corp, a subsidiary of Vertiv, the Vice President and General Manager for the IT Systems business, and the VP/GM of Converged Systems at Emerson Network Power, providing data center management infrastructure for data center IT, power, and thermal management products. He has held numerous global leadership roles in startups and large multinational companies including LSI and Motorola in the networking and semiconductor markets.

Rob Pfleging

Most recently, Rob was the Senior Vice President of Global Solutions at Vertiv Co, formerly Emerson Network Power. Vertiv Co is an international company that designs, develops and maintains critical infrastructures that run vital applications in data centers, communication networks and commercial and industrial facilities. Rob was responsible for the global solutions line of business at ​​Vertiv, which serves the Americas, Europe and Asia. Prior to Vertiv, Rob was the Vice President of Expansion and Innovation, Datacenter Engineering at CenturyLink, where he was responsible for 55 datacenters across North America, Europe and Asia. Before working for CenturyLink, Rob was the Executive Director of Computer/Data Center Operations at Mercy, where he led datacenter engineering and operations, desktop field services, call center services, and asset management and logistics for more than 40 hospitals. Before fulfilling this mission at Mercy, Rob held various engineering management and sales positions at Schneider Electric. Rob Pfleging additionally served for 6 years in the United States Marine Corps.

James Connaughton

James Connaughton is a globally distinguished energy, environment, technology expert, as both corporate leader and White House policymaker. Mr. Connaughton is the CEO of Nautilus Data Technologies, a high-performance, ultra-efficient, and sustainable data center infrastructure company powered by its proprietary water-cooling system. Before joining Nautilus Data Technologies, he served as Executive Vice President of C3.ai, a leading enterprise AI software provider for accelerating digital transformation.

From 2009-2013, Mr. Connaughton was Executive Vice President and a member of the Management Committee of Exelon and Constellation Energy, two of America’s cleanest, competitive suppliers of electricity, natural gas, and energy services. In 2001, Mr. Connaughton was unanimously confirmed by the US Senate to serve as Chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. He served as President George W. Bush’s senior advisor on energy, environment, and natural resources, and as Director of the White House Office of Environmental Policy. During his eight-year service, Mr. Connaughton worked closely with the President, the Cabinet, and the Congress to develop and implement energy, environment, natural resource, and climate change policies. An avid ocean conservationist, Mr. Connaughton helped establish four of the largest and most ecologically diverse marine resource conservation areas in the world.

Mr. Connaughton is a member of the Advisory Board of the ClearPath Foundation and serves as an Advisor to X (Google’s Moonshot Factory) and Shine Technologies, a medical and commercial isotope company. He is also a member of the Board of Directors at the Resources for the Future and a member of the Advisory Boards at Yale’s Center on Environmental Law and Policy and Columbia’s Global Center on Energy Policy.