The San Francisco 49ers will set up a unified information storage system from NetApp as a part of a much bigger undertaking to construct an clever information infrastructure at Levi’s Stadium. The technological upgrades are a part of a plan to assist Levi’s Stadium put together for 2 large occasions in 2026: the FIFA World Cup and Tremendous Bowl LX.
NetApp’s Keystone storage-as-a-service platform underpins the modifications to the stadium, supporting each on-premises and public cloud, in line with Gabie Boko, NetApp’s chief advertising officer.
“With a silo-free infrastructure constructed for intelligence, the 49ers can leverage seamless information administration to optimize efficiency on and off the sector, which is the last word game-changer,” she stated.
NetApp’s platform will combine with the stadium’s Cisco Wi-Fi 6 system, which includes 1,300 entry factors sprinkled all through the sector; Xfinity offers free Wi-Fi to followers. The 49ers additionally not too long ago upgraded to a Cisco hyperconverged collapse core community. The topology simplifies a community by combining the core and distribution layers, making information transmission extra environment friendly.
Bandwidth on the backend of the community lets information circulation from the server to new 4K video boards, which require big information information, stated Costa Kladianos, govt vice chairman and head of expertise for the 49ers.
.jpg?width=800&auto=webp&quality=80&disable=upscale "An evening view of Levi's Stadium during a 49ers game, as fireworks go off")
CREDIT: 49ERS.COM
CREDIT: 49ERS.COM
Constructing the Clever Stadium
When Levi’s Stadium opened in 2014, it was referred to as the world’s most linked stadium, Kladianos stated. However as expertise has improved, he stated these capabilities are “now desk stakes.”
To that finish, the workforce is constructing what it calls the “clever stadium,” counting on information churned out by SAP’s Govt Huddle, a customized analytics platform that tracks key stadium operations in actual time.
A companion app, HappyOrNot, gathers fan suggestions on a wide range of buyer experiences, from the standard of concessions to how lengthy it would take to go to a restroom. Different information instruments present perception into whether or not a concession is operating out of a selected meals or if employees must be redeployed to ticket gates or different areas. AI-powered video cameras, meantime, let the workforce put up wait instances at ticketing gates. If traces get too lengthy, employees will be repositioned shortly, Kladianos stated.
“We would like folks to get off their sofa and are available to the sport and make it a frictionless and straightforward expertise, however [also] a enjoyable social expertise for them,” he stated.
The brand new 4K video board is an integral a part of the workforce’s clever information technique. It does not simply show sponsorships or fan engagement content material. It should present replays and different associated sport motion inside seconds of them taking place.
“Seconds are tremendous necessary for us in tech once we’re at a sport as a result of now we have three hours, 4 hours, to supply one of the best expertise attainable for the followers,” Kladianos stated. “If one thing goes down, I don’t have two hours or a day to repair one thing. It needs to be fastened proper there.”
Underpinning all these techniques is NetApp’s unified information storage, in line with Boko.
“This allows the 49ers to retailer any information, anywhere, in a really unified setting,” she stated. “From media information to ticketing information, the 49ers’ IT workforce will get their information the place it must go sooner and extra simply to allow them to ship a high-quality fan expertise at Levi’s Stadium.”
The system is absolutely redundant, Kladianos stated. If issues happen, they usually should restart techniques, they’re “beginning on the 50-yard line as a substitute of the 30 after the touchback,” he stated.
Future-Proofing an Clever Information Infrastructure
One other necessary element of the Keystone system is to help the workforce’s future initiatives, Kladianos stated.
“What NetApp is permitting us to do with their velocity is give us that potential to take our content material and future-proof it,” he stated. “If, sooner or later, we need to use AI to tag digital asset administration and [improve] the velocity of getting our content material out into the arms of our followers faster, we’re ready to try this with them,” Kladianos stated.
Kladianos suggested different organizations to maintain future-proofing in thoughts when constructing an information infrastructure.
“If you happen to’re speccing out for what you want at this time, you are going to be in hassle tomorrow,” he stated, including that organizations ought to look three to 5 years forward. “You are not going to get it excellent, as a result of we won’t inform the long run, however you are going to get a good suggestion.”