Technologies for switching network traffic in a data center

One or more machine-readable storage media comprising a plurality of instructions stored thereon that, in response to being executed, cause a network switch to:

• receive, with communication circuitry through an optical connection, network traffic to be forwarded;
• determine a link layer protocol of the received network traffic, wherein the received network traffic is formatted according to one of multiple link layer protocols;
• and
• forward the network traffic as a function of the determined link layer protocol to a destination network device.

A network switch comprising:

• circuitry for receiving, through an optical connection, network traffic to be forwarded;
• means for determining a link layer protocol of the received network traffic, wherein the received network traffic is formatted as a function of one of multiple link layer protocols supported by the network switch;
• and
• means for forwarding the network traffic as a function of the determined link layer protocol.

A method for switching network traffic comprising:

• receiving, by a network switch through an optical connection, network traffic to be forwarded;
• determining, by the network switch, a link layer protocol of the received network traffic, wherein the determined link layer protocol is one of multiple link layer protocols supported by the switch;
• and
• forwarding, by the network switch, the network traffic as a function of the determined link layer protocol to a destination network device.