Energy efficiency benefits of introducing optical switching in Data Center Networks

In this paper we analyze the impact of WDM-enhanced optical circuit switching on the power consumption of multiple Data Center Network (DCN) architectures. Traditional three-tier Tree, Fat-Tree and a ring-based structure are evaluated and optical switching is selectively introduced on different layers of the network topology. The analysis is based on network-level simulations using a transport network planning tool applied to small-scale setups...