Home // International Journal On Advances in Networks and Services, volume 12, numbers 3 and 4, 2019 // View article

Techniques for Enhancing the Rebalancing Algorithm for Folded Clos Networks

Authors:
Satoru Ohta

Keywords: network; algorithm; routing; data center; packet.

Abstract:
Folded Clos Networks (FCNs) are switching networks constructed by connecting small switches aligned to (2p + 1)-stages (p = 1, 2, 3, …). FCNs have often been examined in previous studies on data center networks. To take advantage of the high bandwidth provided by an FCN, it is necessary to establish an adequate routing method that uniformly diffuses flows. A previous study proposed the rebalancing algorithm as such a method, which is executable with locally obtainable information at each switch. By applying the rebalancing algorithm to an FCN, it becomes possible to impose an upper bound on the number of flows passing through a link. This means that the rebalancing algorithm prevents the link load from becoming excessively high. This paper reviews theoretical aspects of the algorithm applied to three- and five-stage FCNs. Then, two techniques are proposed for improving the rebalancing algorithm in terms of the load equality between links. The techniques distribute traffic more uniformly and do not affect the upper bound on the number of flows on a link. The effectiveness of the two techniques is assessed via computer simulation for different traffic and network models. The network models include a three-stage FCN and a five-stage FCN. The simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the two proposed techniques.

Pages: 69 to 80

Copyright: Copyright (c) to authors, 2019. Used with permission.

Publication date: December 30, 2019

Published in: journal

ISSN: 1942-2644