Dynamic network capacity augmentation for server rack connectivity
AssigneeAmazon Technologies, Inc.
InventorsTyson James Lamoreaux, Justin Oliver Pietsch, Brian Myungjin Choi, Daril Alexandre Vilhena, Edward Crabbe
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Abstract
Techniques for dynamic augmentation of server rack network capacity are provided herein. Network nodes are described that are connected between server rack switches and a rack aggregation layer device. A port allocation controller is also described that can automatically reconfigure the network nodes to create connections, via the network nodes, between the rack aggregation layer device and the server rack switches. These network node connections can be used to alter the network capacities of the server rack switches in response to changing network demands.
Claims20
A system for dynamically modifying network connectivity in a data center, the system comprising:
- top-of-rack switches associated with server racks, wherein the top-of-rack switches include uplink ports;
- aggregation routers having downlink ports;
- network node switches coupled between the top-of-rack switches and the aggregation routers, wherein:
- a first group of the uplink ports in the top-of-rack switches bypass the network node switches and are coupled to one of the aggregation routers, and
- a second group of the uplink ports in the top-of-rack switches are coupled to one of the network node switches;
- and
- a port allocation controller coupled to the network node switches and configured to dynamically couple an uplink port, of the second group of the uplink ports, in one of the top-of-rack switches to one of the aggregation routers via the one of the network node switches, based on an amount of network traffic passing through the one of the top-of-rack switches.
A method, comprising:
- determining an amount of network traffic traveling through a server rack switch to a rack aggregation layer device via an uplink port of the server rack switch coupled to a downlink port of the rack aggregation layer device;
- and
- based on the determined amount of the network traffic:
- reconfiguring ports of a network node switch coupled between the server rack switch and the rack aggregation layer device, wherein the reconfiguring comprises mapping one or more uplink ports of the network node switch that connected to the rack aggregation layer device to one or more downlink ports of the network node switch that are connected to the server rack switch, and
- enabling the server rack switch to send additional network traffic to the rack aggregation layer device via the mapped ports of the network node switch, so as to modify network capacity of the server rack switch.
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed, perform a method, the method comprising:
- detecting that a server rack switch with an uplink connection to a rack aggregation layer device, through which the server rack switch transmits data to the rack aggregation layer device, has an uplink utilization that meets or exceeds a specified threshold;
- allocating a portion of a network node switch's burst uplink capacity to the server rack switch, wherein the network node switch is coupled between the server rack switch and the rack aggregation layer device, and the allocating comprises mapping a downlink port of the network node switch that is connected to the server rack switch to an uplink port of the network node switch that is connected to the rack aggregation layer device;
- and
- enabling the server rack switch to transmit additional data to the rack aggregation layer device, via the mapped ports of the network node switch, up to the portion of the burst uplink capacity allocated to the server rack switch.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.