The Edge of Smartness

This paper argues the need for "smart edge" devices to enhance the performance, functionality, and security of data center networks. Three examples, drawn primarily from the prior networking literature, are used to illustrate this point. The first example is the TCP in-cast problem, wherein highly concurrent TCP flows traverse a limited-buffer LAN switch, degrading system throughput. The second example is redundant traffic elimination (RTE), to economize on data movement, particularly over bandwidth-constrained Internet paths. The third example is CPU speed scaling, in which metrics such as energy consumption or economic cost trump throughput or response time metrics. The paper concludes with speculative ideas about other functionality that could also reside at the "smart edge".