Honda revs up with complete IT refresh

Honda has launched a web site to support the new design of its cars

The Honda Racing Formula One (F1) team is replacing its entire IT infrastructure ahead of the new season, which starts later this month.

The team’s IT systems travel with drivers and support staff to races around the world, and is refreshed every two years because of the difficult conditions they are subjected to, says IT director David France.

‘The equipment must withstand heat, cold, dust and noise at different venues,’ he said.

Races are held in such diverse locations as Australia, Bahrain, Canada, England and Brazil.

‘The equipment is vital to get data from the cars and make it immediately available for trackside analysis,’ said France.

‘There must also be connectivity to the main factory to enable a data exchange with our strategic systems. We will be replacing everything, from the servers to the switches, routers and laptops for staff,’ he said.

Honda has also released the new design for its cars and a web site to support it, www.myearthdream.com, which had to be launched in a matter of weeks.

‘The IT department was brought in five weeks ago to develop the site,’ said France. ‘Pipex has hosted our site for several years and was asked to develop the new site.’

Pipex moved the existing and new sites to a new location to increase bandwidth and provide continuous availability, speed, security and support.

Butler Group analyst Mark Blowers says F1 racing teams are always looking to technology to deliver a competitive edge.

‘It is critical that data is available all the time so the infrastructure must be robust and resilient and must be replaced before it breaks,’ he said. ‘Cost is not as much of an issue as it is in other commercial environments.

‘Because Honda has a mobile infrastructure, it should be easier to simply remove and replace existing equipment.'