Information is vital to the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team. To create a winning strategy, Porsche engineers collect vast amounts of data from the car, simulators, and even the race track itself. All that data must be stored, distributed, and analyzed by a team of engineers. This data mining happens both at the track and at the Porsche Motorsport HQ in Weissach. An intelligent cloud strategy that leverages powerful data management software and high-performance servers could ultimately mean the difference between winning and losing.  

The TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team begins compiling data long before the race starts. Drivers prepare by spending hours in a simulator designed to recreate the car, track, and weather conditions virtually. In addition, computer-based simulations explore options around race and energy management strategies. 

The car—a computer on wheels—sends vast amounts of information to the onsite operations crew. Every aspect is collected and analyzed, including tire pressure, temperature, car dynamics, and track conditions. Time is at a premium to collect data from the car as soon as wheels start turning on the track for their practice runs. 

But it's not just the engineers and pit crew at the race who rely on this information to help shape the team's strategy. The ops team at Porsche Motorsport HQ in Weissach, Germany counts on real-time data to make vital decisions that could affect the race's outcome. 

The Tag Heuer Porsche Formula E Team uses NetApp's Global File Cache (GFC), managed by ONTAP software, to ensure that every gigabyte of data is instantly available to team members worldwide. GFC provides real-time global file sharing for distributed workforces on private and public clouds. 

They also rely on NetApp to store an unwritable copy of all collected data. Denying write access to this copy ensures that a reliable backup is always available in the event of data loss or corruption. In a disaster, authorized personnel can recover this secure data and get back to work. 

In an interactive video produced by NetApp, Porsche Motorsport IT Director Thomas Kramer explains the necessity of their automated systems. "[With NetApp], the team can concentrate on their work and not bother about the system itself. …These are daily events, and you don't have much time. [Uploading] has to be done automatically in the backend." 

Kramer explains how vital it is for all team members to have simultaneous access to all available data so everyone can be on the same page when they make decisions. These mission-critical decisions include battery management, tire usage, and the best time to come into the pits for the soon to be enabled Attack Charge. It's a high-stakes competition that happens at astonishingly high-speed—both in terms of data delivery and the race cars on the track. And that's just the way the team likes it.