Wireless data center networking

Data centers play a key role in the expansion of cloud computing. However, the efficiency of data center networks is limited by oversubscription. The typical unbalanced traffic distributions of a DCN further aggravate the problem. Wireless networking, as a complementary technology to Ethernet, has the flexibility and capability to provide feasible approaches to handle the problem. In this article, we analyze the challenges of DCNs and articulate the motivations of employing wireless in DCNs. We also propose a hybrid Ethernet/wireless DCN architecture and a mechanism to dynamically schedule wireless transmissions based on traffic demands. Our simulation study demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed wireless DCN.