Slashdot Mirror
How To Build a 100,000-Port Ethernet Switch
BobB-nw writes "University of California at San Diego researchers Tuesday are presenting a paper (PDF) describing software that they say could make data center networks massively scalable. The researchers say their PortLand software will enable Layer 2 data center network fabrics scalable to 100,000 ports and beyond; they have a prototype running at the school's Department of Computer Science and Engineering's Jacobs School of Engineering. 'With PortLand, we came up with a set of algorithms and protocols that combine the best of layer 2 and layer 3 network fabrics,' said Amin Vahdat, a computer science professor at UC San Diego. 'Today, the largest data centers contain over 100,000 servers. Ideally, we would like to have the flexibility to run any application on any server while minimizing the amount of required network configuration and state... We are working toward a network that administrators can think of as one massive 100,000-port switch seamlessly serving over one million virtual endpoints.'"
No, it's wireless silly billy!
No, it's wireless silly billy!
Good god, that means it's as reliable as my sex life. Like with REAL people, rather than me just ummm... actually... no, that's fine. Nothing to see here, move along, move along.
Moved to http://soylentnews.org/. You are invited to join us too!
I have nightmarish pictures popping into my head of a waterfall of ethernet cables spewing from this with user's ports un-numbered with no network diagrams. People bashing on the server room door in a zombie like state muttering "MRRRHH FACEBOOK!" "TWWIIIITEEEuggggghh" with me inside screeching "NO! NO! I DONT KNOW WHAT PORT YOUR DESK IS! NO! I CAN'T MAKE THINGS GO FASTER!" before curling up in a ball listening to the hum of servers and the lamentations of the users outside the door desperately scratching to get in.
Be you Admins? nay, we are but lusers!
I would seriously hate to be the guy that tripped over that power cable.
On the plus side it would be interesting to time how long it took for the DC's phone lines to melt.
-Matt
(redundant, redundant power. I know, I know)
--- Need web hosting?
Have fun replacing it when it fails. In my head I imagine something like this.
Lets see... That's 100,000 ports with 2 LEDs each (link, action/fdx/speed/poe) for a total of 200,000 LEDs. Lets say they use some of the cheapest SMD LEDs on the market. Well use digikey part number 160-1183-1-ND which is a cheap 0603 foot print green LED. At quantity 200,000 that comes out to $12,000 in cut-tape packaging or $9,450 if you buy 210,000 of them in 3,000-qty reels.
Lets say that all of the link LEDs are on 100% of the time and the the activity LED is on 50% of the time. That gives us 150,000 LEDs on at any given point in time. Our example LEDs use 20ma at 2.1V. So 150,000 LEDs at 20ma uses 3Ka. In total, 6.1Kw is burned by the green LEDs.
All that blinking... Damn. I want one NOW!!! More than a girl friend!
Easy: don't use a switch, use a hub! Everything will be a broadcast storm!
I wonder if D-Link has any?
(swoooosh)
And then... let's say 10% of all computers starts up a SMB-share... welcome to broadcast heaven (or hell) :)
well, then they could start the search for the Higgs bit ...
You should try taking an MIS position at an engineering company. Every engineer secretly (or not so secretly) thinks that they can do a better job than the lowly MIS people. They bring in their own WAPs because they want a perfect WiFi signal in their cubicles. They stream music from the Internet, then complain when their file downloads are slow. They insist on having local Administrator rights to "their" computer, and then complain when it becomes infested with malware. One thought that bridging his WiFi and Ethernet adapters would give him faster Internet access. Another decided that he needed his own server, so he set one up and proceeded to offer DHCP on the network.
And the programmers are the worst - every one of them thinks that being able to write software makes them qualified to administrate a nation-wide network, especially because they have a network at home, you see, and also do computer work for their friends and family.
Their next project is a 33,334-outlet power strip capable of holding that many wall warts without either crashing through the floor or shearing off the faculty wall.
AT&ROFLMAO
"Welcome to LEDs Magazine, the leading global information source for the LED community."
Wow, just wow !
Squirrel!
Quote fail. Sorry.
Finally! A year of moderation! Ready for 2019?
And you could label the hubs with cheeky names like Wilma, Andrew, Ivan, and Camille.
Hey, based on my sex life that means it's super reliable!
Reliably broken is still reliable, right?
Good god, that means it's as reliable as my sex life. Like with REAL people, rather than me just ummm... actually... no, that's fine. Nothing to see here, move along, move along.
What kind of uptime are you getting?
Would that be 0% uptime?
Game! - Where the stick is mightier than the sword!