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Difficulty: EasyNetwork Topology Architectures

In a standard two-tier Spine-Leaf data center architecture, to which switches does every leaf switch directly connect?

  1. To every spine switch in the network fabricAnswer
  2. B
    To adjacent leaf switches to break up broadcast domains
  3. C
    To host servers running Type 1 hypervisors to handle inter-spine forwarding
  4. D
    To inter-switch trunks configured with STP PortFast across all leaf nodes

Answer

Every leaf switch connects directly to every spine switch in the network fabric.
In a Spine-Leaf (Clos) architecture, every leaf switch connects to every spine switch in a full mesh layout between tiers. Leaf switches do not connect to each other, nor do spine switches connect to each other. This design provides consistent latency and maximum redundancy.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the structural rule of a two-tier Spine-Leaf (Clos) data center topology.
In a two-tier Spine-Leaf architecture, every leaf switch must connect to every spine switch in the fabric.
This guarantees equal path distance (predictable latency) and maximum bandwidth between any two leaf switches.
2
Verify inter-switch connection rules within the leaf and spine layers.
Leaf switches do not connect directly to other leaf switches, and spine switches do not connect directly to other spine switches.
Maintaining strict bipartite connectivity ensures efficient Equal-Cost Multi-Path (ECMP) routing across all available paths.

Key Concept

Spine-Leaf Architecture Bipartite Connectivity
Estimated Time:45s
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Topics

Network Topology Architectures

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