Network Communications News (NCN) September 2016 | Page 20

PROJECT FOCUS

Scuderia Ferrari

Such speed and precision requires a technology
infrastructure that is up to the task.

Racing ahead
Ferrari and Schneider Electric have teamed up to push limits on data
centre efficiency and reliability. Michael Crane races to find out more.

S

cuderia Ferrari is the racing team
division of the world famous
Ferrari sports car manufacturer.
The most successful team in
the history of Formula One,
they having recorded 224 (and
counting) race victories. The
team has competed in every major world
championship since 1950.

Speed and precision
A Formula One team is driven by a
culture of innovation at the highest
levels where speed is the literal key
to competitive advantage. It’s a
place where results are concretely
measured at each Grand Prix. Formula
One racing represents the pinnacle
in high performance automotive

racing. Competitive on all levels, from
engineering to the race, there’s no room
for error, downtime or delays.
‘One of the founding elements of
the Ferrari experience and success is the
ability to make decisions very quickly,’
says Vittoro Boero, chief information
officer at Ferrari’s automotive division
and its Formula One team. ‘At Ferrari
we’re constantly working to push the
limits, to break records.’
Such speed and precision requires
a technology infrastructure that is
up to the task of being both flexible
and reliable. The Ferrari data centres
support the Scuderia Ferrari Formula
One engineers by providing the high
performance computing environment
necessary to adapt and adjust quickly as
data is gathered in real time during races

and analysed. The time given to respond
to and accommodate new rules and
restrictions from one competition to the
next is often very short.
The regulatory changes can range
from technical directives during actual
championship events to modifications
in the car’s architecture. These changes
need to be quickly reflected in Scuderia
Ferrari’s working methods and IT
support systems. As a result, the data
centre physical infrastructure needs to
be high performing, reliable, flexible
and highly manageable.

A data centre upgrade
‘The data centre hosts solutions and
systems used by our engineers during
races,’ says Antonio Tornatore, head of

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