1. An engineer proposes building a modified version of a leaf-spine network for a data center. In the modified version, if a data center has N racks, the spine will have N switches.

(a) Describe the network connections used for the modified version (i.e., explain how switches connect to one another).

(b) A network engineer laughs at the proposal and declares that it is completely impractical for use in a large data center because the necessary equipment is not available. Explain why the engineer would make such a statement.

(c) Suppose the proposed modification could indeed be built. What advantages and disadvantages would it have over a conventional leaf-spine design?