With a spine-and-leaf architecture, no matter which leaf switch to which a server is connected, its traffic always has to cross the same number of devices to get to another server (unless the other server is located on the same leaf). This approach keeps latency at a predictable level because a payload only has to hop to a spine switch and another leaf switch to reach its destination. Reference: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/switches/nexus-7000-series-switches/white- paper-c11-737022.html