When the Clos network was first devised, the number of crosspoints was a good approximation of the total cost of the switching system. While this was important for electromechanical crossbars, it became less relevant with the advent of VLSI, wherein the interconnects could be implemented either directly in silicon, or within a relatively small cluster of boards. Upon the advent of complex data centers, with huge interconnect structures, each based on optical fiber links, Clos networks regained importance. A subtype of Clos network, the Beneš network, has also found recent application in machine learning.