Enabling Topological Flexibility for Data Centers Using OmniSwitch

Most data centers deploy fixed network topologies. This brings difficulties to traffic optimization and network management, because bandwidth locked up in fixed links is not adjustable to traffic needs, and changes of network equipments require cumbersome rewiring of existing links. We believe the solution is to introduce topological flexibility that allows dynamic cable rewiring in the network. We design the OmniSwitch prototype architecture to realize this idea. It uses inexpensive small optical circuit switches to configure cable connections, and integrates them closely with Ethernet switches to provide large-scale connectivity. We design an example control algorithm for a traffic optimization use case, and demonstrate the power of topological flexibility using simulations. Our solution is effective in provisioning bandwidth for cloud tenants and reducing transmission hop count at low computation cost.