Apparatus and method for protection in a data center

• US 9,066,160 B2
• Filed: 01/13/2012
• Issued: 06/23/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/07/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Hao, Fang, Kodialam, Muralidharam S., Lakshman, Tirunell V., Song, Haoyu, Zimgibl, Martin
• Primary Examiner(s): Bello, Agustin
• Application Number:
  US13/350,457
• Publication Number:
  US 20130011136A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,257 Days
• Field of Search: 398 66- 72
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/032 using working and protection systems H04J14/0287 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/038 using bypasses
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/27 Arrangements for networking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/22 using redundant apparatus to increase reliability
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 11/00 Selecting arrangements for multiplex systems multiplex systems H04J
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 11/0067 Provisions for optical access or distribution networks, e.g. Gigabit Ethernet Passive Optical Network (GE-PON), ATM-based Passive Optical Network (A-PON), PON-Ring
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2011/0081 Fault tolerance; Redundancy; Recovery; Reconfigurability

Abstract

A manner of providing redundancy protection for a data center network that is both reliable and low-cost. In a data center network where the data traffic between numerous access nodes and a network core layer via primary aggregation nodes, an optical network device such as and OLT (optical line terminal) is provided as a backup aggregation node for one or more of the primary aggregation nodes. When a communication path through a primary aggregation node fails, traffic is routed through the optical network device. In a preferred embodiment, a communication link is formed from a plurality of access nodes to a single port of the OLT or other optical network device via an optical splitter that combines upstream transmissions and distributes downstream transmissions. The upstream transmissions from the plurality of access nodes may occur according to an allocation schedule generated when the backup aggregation node is needed.

Claims

1. A data center comprising:

a plurality of primary aggregator nodes, each aggregator node in communication with a separate grouping of a plurality of top-of-rack, access nodes in a data center;

one or more backup aggregator nodes, each of the backup aggregator nodes comprising an OLT (optical line terminal, wherein each backup aggregator node is coupled to at least two primary aggregator nodes;

a plurality of top-of-rack, access nodes in the data center, each access node associated with one of the primary aggregator nodes and also associated with one of the backup OLT aggregator nodes; and

at least one data center core router in the data center, wherein the OLT is configured to perform layer 2 switching for aggregating data traffic between the plurality of top-of-rack, access nodes and the core router in the data center upon a communication failure with one of the primary aggregator nodes.

2. The data center of claim 1, wherein the at least one backup node OLT is operable to function as a backup for at least two primary aggregator nodes.

3. The data center of claim 1, further comprising at least one optical splitter in communication with a port of the at least one OLT backup aggregator node and at least one of the top-of-rack, access nodes.

4. The data center of claim 3, further comprising two or more of the plurality of top-of-rack, access nodes in communication with the same optical splitter.

5. The data center of claim 4, wherein at least two of the plurality of top-of-rack, access nodes in communication with the same optical splitter are also in communication, respectively, with different primary aggregation nodes.