More Innovation, Less Maintenance
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The
Cowboys Stadium IT infrastructure includes the data center with more than 127
Hewlett-Packard blade servers and a 100 terabyte SAN (storage area network)
using HP's StorageWorks 8100 Enterprise Virtual Array systems. The team built a
high-speed communications network with Cisco Systems equipment that includes
WiFi, IP phones and an IP television system that will broadcast content to
3,100 flat-screen Sony televisions throughout the stadium, showing live game
footage, advertising and menus at the concession stands. The team also installed
more than 300 IP security cameras to safeguard the facility, Haggard said.
Meanwhile, for the Super Bowl, Jones is said to be considering adding up to
another 1,000 TV monitors throughout the stadium.
Security
is taken seriously at the Super Bowl. Indeed, Haggard said there will be up to
2,000 security specialists at the game, including hundreds of FBI and Secret
Service agents.
The
Cowboys Stadium IT staff is using 212 VMware virtual machines to run the
point-of-sale terminals in the concession stands. Another 30 virtual machines
are used as file and printer servers for daily operations, he adds. The team
also bought 25 HP ProLiant rack servers to run the stadium's video system and
IP security cameras.
Meanwhile,
Cowboys Stadium boasts enhanced cell phone service as well as WiFi service.
The stadium is an AT&T Wireless hotspot and charges users $3.99 for access
to the services. In addition, the stadium provides enhanced cellular service
for Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile and Metro PCS
users, Haggard said. The stadium has 700 IP phones and more than 700 wireless
access points, he said.
As
with most things in Texas, the Cowboys Stadium is built big. Yet only
two-thirds of the stadium itself is visible from the outside; the rest is
underground, Haggard said. The field of the Dallas Cowboys Stadium is 50 feet
below ground level. The entire Statue of Liberty and its base could fit inside
the stadium with the roof closed, Cowboys officials said.
Haggard
said that as opposed to how things worked in the old Cowboys stadium where his
staff had to spend 70 percent of its time on maintenance and 30 percent on new
technology, in the new stadium the team spends 80 percent of its time on
innovation and new technology and only 20 percent on maintenance.
"Our
on-site HP consultants are our linemen, our first line of defense," said Pete
Walsh, Dallas Cowboys head of technology. "They knew that if they did their
part, everybody behind them would have the opportunity to be successful."
And
the IT staff continues to improve its setup. With HP Rapid Deployment Packs "we
can throw servers up in 13 minutes," Haggard said. And HP VMotion and Insight
Dynamics provide constant monitoring and load balancing to keep the systems
humming, he added.
Regarding
future deployments and directions, Haggard said he is looking at VMware's Site
Recovery Manager as well as considering partnering with HP Services to handle
some of the IT efforts.
