Thales's new Onboard Data Center wins prestigious Crystal Cabin Award

The Crystal Cabin Award is the world’s leading prize in the field of cabin innovations and on-board products. Winning ideas shape the future of travel. During the special gala event held on June 6, 2023 at Aircraft Interiors Expo, Thales was recognized by the Crystal Cabin Award Association for its’ winning innovation, Onboard Data Center.

Thales’ Onboard Data Center brings state-of-the-art hardware architecture and web technologies onboard, revolutionizing how airlines operate and how passengers engage.

The Onboard Data Center features six patented technologies. Its hyper converged architecture is built around individual blades that support multiple functions. These blades share storage and compute capabilities, resulting in an aggregated storage space 10 times higher than the average IFE server. Each blade can be replaced or upgraded depending on the airlines’ needs.

Software is smartly distributed and redounded across blades to optimize onboard resources in real-time. In the event of one or two blades shutting down, service remains up and running without any impact on the passenger experience. The Onboard Data Center’s availability reaches 99.99%.

The Onboard Data Center brings web-based technologies onboard, drastically improving software and content deployment processes. It enables the virtualization of the entire software stack, removing the need for tests on physical labs. The Onboard Data Center runs cyber-secured cloud technologies, making software and content deployment happen in less than 12 hours on the entire fleet.

“We are very honored to win the 2023 Crystal Cabin Award with our Onboard Data Center in the category of Materials and Components. This award recognizes innovation and technological superiority in the aircraft cabin; a great recognition for our team. We’re excited to announce that the Onboard Data Center will fly on a Thales connected aircraft later this year. At Thales, we are all proud to innovate leading-edge IFEC solutions that shape the future of travel,” said TK Kallenbach, Chief Executive Officer, Thales Inflyt Experience.