Fabric
5 fabric entries.
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Link aggregation (LACP / 802.3ad)
Run two (or more) cables between the same pair of devices and bond them into one virtual link. You get the combined speed AND a link that survives a single cable dying — the…
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Oversubscription (downlink:uplink)
You can wire up more server bandwidth than the switch can actually carry upstream, betting that not everyone talks at once. A 5:1 oversubscribed switch means if every server…
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Two layers of switches. Servers plug into a "leaf"; every leaf connects to every "spine." Any server can reach any other server by going up to a spine and back down — there is no…
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Inside every switch is a single chip that shuffles packets between ports. Its total throughput is the hardest ceiling on what the switch can do — add up all the port speeds and…
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Servers plug into "access" switches, access switches feed a smaller "aggregation" layer, and aggregation feeds the "core." It is cheaper to start building this way because the…