Are you maximizing your Cisco solutions? The ‘How I Cisco’ series showcases real stories of organizations solving big challenges and driving impressive results with Cisco. After featuring United Airlines’ journey to digital resilience, our next story shifts gears to the world of motorsport.
The High-Stakes World of Formula 1 and McLaren Formula 1 Team
Enter the fast-paced world of Formula 1 with the McLaren Formula 1 Team, a place where every moment is pivotal and digital performance can influence the outcome of a race. At the McLaren’s Formula 1 Team, success depends not only on engineering brilliance but also on seamless technology operations, high-speed connectivity and real-time visibility.
Global Operations and Unrelenting Data Demands
With a global fan base and races spanning five continents, the McLaren Formula 1 Team operates in one of the most demanding digital environments in the world. Each race weekend, the team sets up a trackside data center that connects directly to the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, UK. The McLaren IT team manages the continuous setup and deconstruction of this mobile data center at different global locations, adapting to unpredictable and varying network conditions at each racetrack. During the Formula 1 season, this mobile data center is assembled and disassembled 24 times, once for each Grand Prix race.
Engineers and analysts rely on this infrastructure to process and share massive volumes of data, between trackside operations and the McLaren Technology Centre. The scale of this setup is substantial: the McLaren Formula 1 Team transmits approximately transmits approximately 2.3 TB of data between track and factory every race weekend. Of this, 1.5 terabytes are generated at the track alone and transferred through a dedicated 100 Mbps MPLS connection. In Formula 1, any delay in data transfer can mean the difference between victory and defeat, making flawless data flow paramount.
Addressing Critical Performance Needs with Cisco ThousandEyes
To address these critical demands, the McLaren Formula 1 Team enlisted Cisco ThousandEyes for assurance. Specifically, the McLaren Formula 1 Team deployed Enterprise Agents within its data center connecting back to Mission Control, prior to the Montreal Grand Prix 2023. The setup process was remarkably fast and efficient, taking only a couple of hours, with immediate results.
Cisco ThousandEyes provides complete visibility into every link of the digital supply chain, from the circuit and paddock, across the Internet, to the team’s headquarters. This level of insight is crucial for proactively identifying and pinpointing the root cause of network or application performance issues, allowing the McLaren Formula 1 Team to optimize performance and enable reliable digital experiences.
Key benefits the McLaren Formula 1 Team has realized with Cisco ThousandEyes:
- Comprehensive, End-to-End Visibility: Cisco ThousandEyes allows the McLaren Formula 1 Team to proactively monitor the performance of all critical applications, including telemetry, video feeds, and collaboration platforms. The platform offers unprecedented insight into both owned and unowned networks by mapping dependencies across the entire digital delivery chain, from source to user.
- Faster Troubleshooting: Before Cisco ThousandEyes, diagnosing IT issues at a race could take hours. Now, with real-time monitoring enhanced by path visualization, cross-domain correlation, and clear metrics highlighting where degradation occurs, the McLaren’s Formula 1 Team can quickly pinpoint network bottlenecks and root causes. This enables them to resolve issues within minutes, minimizing disruption and maintaining focus on race operations.
- Empowered Remote Operations: The hybrid work model adopted by McLaren Racing Team means that key personnel, including engineers and strategists, often work remotely. Cisco ThousandEyes helps maintain a seamless digital experience across global locations, helping ensure no delay in critical decision-making. This is especially vital for maintaining reliable network connections for remote operations via dedicated MPLS networks.
One of the individuals behind these technological advancements is Dan Keyworth, McLaren Racing’s Director of Business Technology, who leads the team’s strategy across technology infrastructure, architecture, and real-time performance. His goal is to help ensure that every piece of technology functions smoothly without interruption, whether in the factory or at the racetrack. Listen to him discuss how the McLaren Formula 1 Team uses Cisco ThousandEyes to achieve this.
A Comprehensive Cisco Digital Foundation
Cisco ThousandEyes is a crucial component of a larger suite of Cisco technologies supporting the McLaren Formula 1 Team’s global operations. McLaren uses a comprehensive digital foundation powered by Cisco, including:
- AI-Ready Data Centers: At the heart of McLaren Formula 1 Team’s digital strategy is an AI-capable data center infrastructure which is supported by Cisco. Within the McLaren Technology Centre, advanced telemetry systems stream vast quantities of data from the car in real time. With AI insight and Cisco’s infrastructure, that data becomes actionable intelligence.
- Seamless Collaboration: In the world of Formula 1, global teamwork is essential. With staff and partners located across different countries, the McLaren Formula 1 Team utilizes Cisco’s secure and user-friendly collaboration platform Cisco Webex to function as one cohesive unit. Whether engineers are working in the garage or from the McLaren Technology Centre, Cisco Webex provides smooth video conferencing and messaging. Additionally, Cisco ThousandEyes helps ensure that collaboration platforms like Webex perform reliably, especially during races when every second counts.
- Advanced Cybersecurity: Beyond network performance, Cisco has also become an Official Cybersecurity Partner of the McLaren Formula 1 Team. The McLaren Formula 1 Team utilizes Cisco Security solutions, including Cisco Secure Firewall, through a combination of on-premises hardware and cloud-based software. Cisco Secure Firewall provides end-to-end visibility, simplified security management, and network segmentation across the McLaren Formula 1 Team’s hybrid and distributed networks.
With Cisco enabling fast connectivity, constant monitoring, and innovation, the McLaren Formula 1 Team continues to innovate both on the track and in the cloud.
This is how they Cisco.
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