Cutting the Cord: a Robust Wireless Facilities Network for Data Centers
Abstract
Today’s network control and management traffic are limited by
their reliance on existing data networks. Fate sharing in this context
is highly undesirable, since control traffic has very different availability
and traffic delivery requirements. In this paper, we explore
the feasibility of building a dedicated wireless facilities network for
data centers. We propose Angora, a low-latency facilities network
using low-cost, 60GHz beamforming radios that provides robust
paths decoupled from the wired network, and flexibility to adapt to
workloads and network dynamics. We describe our solutions to address
challenges in link coordination, link interference and network
failures. Our testbed measurements and simulation results show
that Angora enables large number of low-latency control paths to
run concurrently, while providing low latency end-to-end message
delivery with high tolerance for radio and rack failures.
their reliance on existing data networks. Fate sharing in this context
is highly undesirable, since control traffic has very different availability
and traffic delivery requirements. In this paper, we explore
the feasibility of building a dedicated wireless facilities network for
data centers. We propose Angora, a low-latency facilities network
using low-cost, 60GHz beamforming radios that provides robust
paths decoupled from the wired network, and flexibility to adapt to
workloads and network dynamics. We describe our solutions to address
challenges in link coordination, link interference and network
failures. Our testbed measurements and simulation results show
that Angora enables large number of low-latency control paths to
run concurrently, while providing low latency end-to-end message
delivery with high tolerance for radio and rack failures.
Research Areas
