Towards an efficient fat-tree like topology

Abstract

Topology and routing algorithm are two key design parameters for interconnection networks. They highly define the performance achieved by the network, but also its complexity and cost. Many of the commodity interconnects for clusters are based on the fat-tree topology, which allows both a rich interconnection among the nodes of the network and the use of adaptive routing. In this paper, we analyze how the routing algorithm affects the complexity of the switch, and considering this, we also propose and analyze some extensions of the fat-tree topology to take advantage of the available hardware resources. We analyze not only the impact on performance of these extensions but also their influence over switch complexity, analyzing its cost. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.