Efficient techniques for energy saving in data center networks

Abstract

Data centers are constructed with a huge number of network devices to support the expanding cloud based services. These devices are used to achieve the highest performance in case of full utilization of the network. However, the peak capacity of the network is rarely reached. Consequently, many devices are set into idle state and cause a huge energy waste leading to a non-proportionality between the network load and the energy consumed. In this paper, we propose a new approach to improve the efficiency of data centers in terms of energy consumption. Our approach exploits the correlation in time of the inter-node communication traffic and some topological features to maximize energy saving with only a minor increase in the average path length. Our approach dynamically controls the number of active communication links by turning off and on ports in the network (switches ports and nodes ports). Simulations results confirmed the energy saving gain procured by the proposed approach with a low impact on the average path length.