Shoal - A Network Architecture for Disaggregated Racks

Explore a novel network architecture for disaggregated racks in data centers through this conference talk from NSDI '19. Dive into the challenges posed by the high density of disaggregated racks and discover Shoal, a power-efficient and high-performance intra-rack network fabric built using fast circuit switches. Learn how Shoal addresses the need to connect significantly more nodes than traditional racks while maintaining a fixed power budget and optimal performance. Understand the unique aspects of Shoal's design, including its use of static transmission schedules, lack of centralized controllers, and innovative congestion control mechanisms. Examine the practical implementation of Shoal through FPGA-based prototypes, testbed experiments, and simulations. Compare Shoal's performance and power consumption to existing network designs, and gain insights into its potential to revolutionize data center infrastructure.

Intro
Traditional racks in datacenters
Disaggregated racks in datacenters
Challenges for disaggregated rack network
Potential disaggregated rack network designs
Goal 1: Low power consumption
Goal 2: High network performance
Shoal for a single circuit switch network
Extending Shoal to a network of circuit switches
Congestion in Shoal
Congestion control in Shoal
Key properties of Shoal No central controller for reconfiguration
Implementation
Evaluation
Conclusion