Ferrari, the name synonymous with high performance sports cars, has selected Enterasys Networks as its strategic supplier for its new high-availability network.
The new Gigabit Ethernet infrastructure will underpin all of Ferrari`s design, manufacturing and testing activities and ensure uninterrupted production of more than 4 000 individually crafted cars yearly from its plant in Maranello, Italy.
The new scalable network will guarantee performance and availability of critical bandwidth-intensive applications throughout the Maranello facility and assure integrated communications amongst its employees.
A combination of Enterasys` X-Pedition switch routers, Matrix multi-layer switches and Vertical Horizon stackable switches will be used to provide a solution that will support both new and existing voice, video and data applications, driving collaborative efforts between designers and manufacturing and testing staffs and yielding greater productivity.
"Our network is vital to us - not just for data transmission, but for voice and video as well," says Alessandro Sala, IT technical manager at Ferrari.
"Availability is paramount. In many cases, our systems run from 7am until late into the evening. On a Grand Prix weekend, they must be available the entire time," says.
Ferrari`s decision to redesign its data communications infrastructure was driven by the complex and time-consuming task of supporting multi-vendor systems within its existing network, coupled with an increasing demand for flexible communications.
With the introduction of Enterasys` Layer-3 switch routing technology; the network will migrate from a flat peer-to-peer architecture to a family of sub-networks fed by a core backbone.
The solution provides inherent Quality-of-Service (QoS) and traffic prioritisation functionality for enhanced application performance with the capability to scale significantly in line with future business needs.
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Enterasys is a sponsor of the "Ferrari Challenge Pirelli Trophy - Western Europe" for the 2001 season. The Ferrari Challenge Pirelli Trophy is a factory-backed, one-make racing series. About 200 drivers compete around the world in championships that are divided into geographical areas including, Western Europe, Southern Europe, Central Europe, Japan and the USA.
The Enterasys Solution
Ferrari is upgrading to a high-performance network solution consisting of Enterasys` X-Pedition 8600 and X-Pedition 8000 switch routers, its Matrix E7 multi-layer switches and Vertical Horizon workgroup series of stackable switches. The network will support more than 3 000 ports.
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