DCnet: A new data center network architecture

Abstract

The migration of computation and storage to cloud data centers has imposed new communication requirements and a need for fundamental changes in infrastructure. The cloud paradigm means that significant network communication will occur between servers in data centers. Furthermore, the migration of virtual machines and containers across physical servers means that in addition to traditional requirements of efficiency, scalability, and easy manageability, future data center networks must also support efficient mobility. To solve the problem, the paper proposes a radical redesign for data center networks, using a new architectural approach that we call DCnet. The DCnet approach changes the addressing and routing schemes at layers 2 and 3 completely. The new addressing mechanism allows an organization to assign addresses that span multiple data centers and permits VM mobility across data centers. Despite radical changes in addressing and routing, the DCnet architecture retains basics from Ethernet and IP, allowing existing hardware building blocks to be reused. The paper uses IPv6 in examples, but the new addressing model and address mobility approach can be applied to IPv4. By assigning each addressable entity a unique ID, and using the ID as the host suffix in an IP address, DCnet allows legacy operating systems and applications to be used without changes. The paper reports a simulation study that uses mininet and SDN to demonstrate the feasibility of the DCnet approach.