Apparatus And Method For Protection In A Data Center

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.

1 . A data center network access node comprising:
 at least one port comprising an optical module; and   at least one non-optical port.   
     
     
         2 . The data center network access node of  claim 1 , wherein the optical module is resident on an ONU (optical network unit) line card. 
     
     
         3 . The data center network access node of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions executable by a processor and stored in a non-transitory memory device, the instructions when executed generating a request for an optical transmission allocation. 
     
     
         4 . The data center network access node of  claim 3 , wherein the request for an optical transmission allocation is generated for transmission from the at least one port comprising an optical module. 
     
     
         5 . The data center network access node of  claim 1 , further comprising a table for storing an optical allocation schedule. 
     
     
         6 . The data center network access node of  claim 1 , wherein the access node communicates with a primary aggregation node via the at least one non-optical port.