Ferrari test drives Microsoft's HPC software

Piergiorgio Grossi, who, as IT manager of Ferrari Gestione Sportiva, leads the professional systems for the racing team, said the choice between Linux and Windows often came down to the expertise in the organisation. One of the reasons Ferrari decided to use Windows HPC Server 2008 was because it offered easier management.

"We run the company on Windows, so our engineers, our users and our system engineers are very used to Windows, and Windows HPC Server 2008 plugged easily into this infrastructure," Grossi said. "It's more compatible with the rest of our ecosystem," he added.

Performance is only one issue, he said. Management is just as important. "If we want to move from high-performance computing to high-productivity computing, we have to go not only in the direction of CPUs and number-crunching but also in the direction of productivity — building, managing, changing, developing," Grossi said.

He said high-performance computing was key to running Ferrari's Formula One team because of the short, 18-month life cycle of a racing car. "What is great about this business is the car is not built at the beginning and then we run nine months of races. The car evolves during all the pre-season. It just gets better because we have found better solutions," Grossi said.

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