Next Generation Data Center Fabrics: Do New Technologies meet Operator Needs?

New technologies are emerging to improve the performance and scale of large cloud-centric data center networks as they evolve to address new and popular applicatio …

New technologies are emerging to improve the performance and scale of large cloud-centric data center networks as they evolve to address new and popular application scenarios such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Online Data Intensive services (OLDI). Some of these technologies are advancing through the standardization process and could soon be broadly available to industry. Other new technologies are in the research phase and would benefit from a review with operators. This track will overview the recent developments, particularly from the perspective of the IEEE 802 and IETF standards committees. It will also encourage the participants to discuss problems and inefficiencies in their current data center operations, trying to identify which problems are currently being addressed and which are in need of new solutions or further developments. The track is a followup to a talk at NANOG 75 (“Lossless Data Center Networks: Opportunities for NANOG Engagement with IEEE 802 Nendica”) and will seek to lay the groundwork for future activity at NANOG 77, if deemed appropriate. The track will feature presentations by 3 speakers and Q&A with the attendees.