It takes a lot of data, computer power and design talent to make cars form all over the world. Nissan, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Siemens AG announced they have developed the industry’s first next-generation vehicle design infrastructure that provides Nissan’s global R&D centers with a continuous, high-speed connection to the latest vehicle development data. The solution’s engineering virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) gives Nissan more flexibility and manageability of global vehicle design. Nissan has started to use the infrastructure in North America and Europe. Nissan plans to consolidate automobile design development globally to improve productivity and management efficiency.
Engineering VDI uses advanced graphics processing based on desktop virtualization technology. It allows engineers to access a virtual 3D CAD workstation on servers and control them on a desktop environment. With this technology, Nissan is able to store the latest data on its servers which teams around the world can access at any time. This will enhance productivity and usability, as well as improve cost efficiencies and disaster risk management.
This new platform is a fully scalable, next generation vehicle design solution that adopts engineering VDI globally, utilizing servers with the most advanced graphics processing, high-performance storage, software and network acceleration technology.
Nissan will initially use it at two development centers: NISSAN Technical Center North America and NISSAN Technical Center Europe. With this platform, Nissan expects to experience the same productivity of CAD operations at any global sites, and dramatically decrease costs associated with future system enhancements, version upgrades and operating costs by consolidating and improving infrastructure management. Furthermore, Nissan plans to expand use of the platform in the future, since it has the flexibility to be adopted globally for automobile development.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) proposed the innovative end-to-end Engineering VDI solution, including the hardware and software, as well as consulting and support services. HPE assembled project teams across Japan, the United States and Europe to deploy, verify and test the solution. This ensured a smooth implementation and ultimately a flexible, fast and reliable system for Nissan.
The Engineering VDI solution includes the following HPE technology:
- HPE ProLiant WS460c Graphics Server Blades – allows workstation-class high-performance graphics that provides engineers with a centralize, virtualized, full-fidelity desktop experience including support for demanding 3D graphics applications
- HPE 3PAR StoreServ 7400 Storage – allows Nissan to store and manage data from the next generation vehicle design solution on a single, highly scalable and robust Tier-1 storage platform
- HPE Systems Insight Manager – allows easy management of Nissan’s IT infrastructure, increasing system uptime for teams around the world
The solution also utilizes Citrix XenDesktop Desktop Virtualization Technology.
The software technology foundation for Nissan’s Engineering VDI solution was provided by Siemens’ product lifecycle management software business. Siemens’ NX™ software is the core computer-aided design (CAD) solution for Nissan, used throughout the engineering and development of its vehicles. To ensure a high level of VDI performance, NX has been fully certified on all of the hardware necessary to support this system. In addition, Siemens’ Teamcenter® software serves as the digital backbone for Nissan’s VDI solution. Teamcenter® is a comprehensive product data management system that provides easy and rapid access to all product related information to all appropriate personnel, regardless of their location.