Data center network with multiplexed communication of data packets across servers

A method comprising:

• interconnecting a plurality of servers by an intermediate network comprising:
• a plurality of access nodes, each of the access nodes coupled to a subset of the servers to communicate data packets between the servers,
• an electrical permutation device coupled to a subset of the access nodes and configured to communicate the data packets to other access nodes within the plurality of access nodes,
• wherein the electrical permutation device comprises a set of input ports and a set of output ports to communicate the data packets between the subset of the access nodes,
• wherein each of the input ports receives data packets of a plurality of packet flows that each have a unique source address for the packet flows received on the same input port, and
• wherein the electrical permutation device is configured to permute, based on the input ports, the plurality of packet flows received on each of the input ports across the output ports of the electrical permutation device to provide connectivity between the input ports and each of the output ports such that each output port receives a different unique permutation of the input ports and the respective source addresses of the packet flows;
• and
• communicating a packet flow between the servers across the intermediate network.

A system comprising:

• a switch fabric comprising a plurality of core switches;
• a plurality of servers;
• a plurality of access nodes, each of the access nodes coupled to a subset of the servers to communicate data packets between the servers;
• an electrical permutation device coupled to a subset of the access nodes and configured to communicate the data packets to other access nodes within the plurality of access nodes,
• wherein the electrical permutation device comprises a set of input ports and a set of output ports to communicate the data packets between the subset of the access nodes,
• wherein each of the input ports receives data packets of a plurality of packet flows that each have a unique source address for the packet flows received on the same input port, and
• wherein the electrical permutation device is configured to permute, based on the input ports, the plurality of packet flows received on each of the input ports across the output ports of the electrical permutation device to provide connectivity between the input ports and each of the output ports such that each output port receives a different unique permutation of the input ports and the respective source addresses of the packet flows;
• and
• an optical permutation device optically coupling the subset of access nodes to the core switches by optical links to communicate the data packets between the access nodes and the core switches as optical signals, wherein each of the optical permutation devices comprises a set of input optical ports and a set of output optical ports to direct optical signals between the access nodes and the core switches to communicate the data packets.