An Energy-Efficient and Obstruction-Free Design Scheme for FSO-based Data Center Network.

With the rapid growth of Internet applications, massive demand for cloud services has brought challenges to data center networks (DCNs). Traditional wired DCNs adopt multilayer structure, leading to the congestion in high-layer switches. Furthermore, complex cabling in wired DCNs affects the flow of cold air, reduces the cooling efficiency, and increases energy consumption. To solve these problems, in this paper, we introduce an architecture for intra-DCN based on free space optic (FSO) wireless communication. The proposed scheme exploits spatial position of FSO transceivers at different heights to realize obstruction-free transmission for inter-rack requests. We formulate the transceiver arrangement problem into a mathematical model while satisfying the requirement for direct line-of-sight communication between any pair of transceiver nodes. Moreover, we evaluate the network performance of the proposed scheme via simulation in terms of flow completion time, server throughput, and power consumption. Compared with traditional ones, our scheme can considerably decrease power consumption while obtaining better network performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]