A simple algorithm of centralized flow management for data centers

In this paper, we consider a data-flow management mechanism for data center networks, in which a centralized controller called arbiter manages data flows. We propose a simple algorithm for the arbiter to distribute flows over different time points and paths, in a preemptive scheduling and traffic load-balancing manner. The proposed algorithm is based on table-driven resource reservation, in which states of all the links in a data-center network are registered in a single table, and its information is updated whenever a new flow-request arrives at the arbiter. We evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm through simulation experiments, investigating bit allocation rate and flow allocation rate, under different flow-size distributions. Numerical results show that the proposed algorithm can achieve high bit allocation rate without collisions. It is also shown that the proposed algorithm can allocate many flows within a small time interval even when the variance of flow-size is large.