Drag to reposition cover

Brocade ICX Series (cheap & powerful 10gbE/40gbE switching)

Notice: Page may contain affiliate links for which we may earn a small commission through services like Amazon Affiliates or Skimlinks.

seatrope

New Member
Oct 5, 2018
27
11
3
Maine
www.ychng.com
Question to all: my icx6610 came with rack ears. Mounted them (front posts only as that’s the only option on my wall mount 2 poster. Now there’s significant rear sag, prob 10-15 degrees.

I’ll say the 6610 is the heaviest piece of gear I’ve rack mounted on that rack. Is this ok? Will this cause chassis warp issues going forward?
 

ljvb

Member
Nov 8, 2015
97
32
18
47
Question to all: my icx6610 came with rack ears. Mounted them (front posts only as that’s the only option on my wall mount 2 poster. Now there’s significant rear sag, prob 10-15 degrees.

I’ll say the 6610 is the heaviest piece of gear I’ve rack mounted on that rack. Is this ok? Will this cause chassis warp issues going forward?
Get a center mount shelf, you don't want them hanging like that. I'm guessing yours like mine, only has 1 screw holding the ears in. I also noted that you can flip the ears so they fit std server rack (when I received mine, they were an inch too short to mount to the posts.

Right now, I have mine sitting on top of my DL380 server.
 

kapone

Well-Known Member
May 23, 2015
1,095
642
113
If these are original Brocade "ears", they should be about half the depth of the chassis, and held to the chassis by 6 screws on each side.

There is even a "rail kit" in the sense that it comes with ears that extend past the depth of the chassis, and there's a rear part of the rails that bolts on the back/front of the rack, to which the ears slide into.
 

seatrope

New Member
Oct 5, 2018
27
11
3
Maine
www.ychng.com
Thanks guys. These are original Brocade ears exactly as in the manual with numerous screws on each side, all of which I have installed. I settled on cam strapping the rear end to the top part of my open rack.. just ordered the straps.

The rear attachment rail kit won’t work as my particular wall mount rack has only front attachments.
 

ljvb

Member
Nov 8, 2015
97
32
18
47
If these are original Brocade "ears", they should be about half the depth of the chassis, and held to the chassis by 6 screws on each side.

There is even a "rail kit" in the sense that it comes with ears that extend past the depth of the chassis, and there's a rear part of the rails that bolts on the back/front of the rack, to which the ears slide into.

Can you post a picture or link to the rack kit... Mine came with 1 screw holding each ear in.
 

fohdeesha

Kaini Industries
Nov 20, 2016
2,727
3,075
113
33
fohdeesha.com
you're not going to warp the ICX chassis, it's a solid as a brick - it's not what's sagging (look at the thickness of the rack ears), it's 100% ridgid. what causes the sag is it bending the front rails of your rack slightly. it gets real bad on cheaper racks with thin pressed sheet metal for posts
 
  • Like
Reactions: seatrope

kapone

Well-Known Member
May 23, 2015
1,095
642
113
Where did you get the rail kit?
This is the ICX 6610 "four post rack install kit", which is fairly rare. I believe the part number is ICX6610-RMK-4P. I didn't buy one specifically, two of my switches that I got years ago (for over $2000 each!!) came with them.

The 6610 hardware install guide has the illustrations to use it.

Screen Shot 2018-10-20 at 8.52.10 AM.png
 

explosivelobster

New Member
Jul 28, 2018
24
2
3
My 6610 & 6450 didn't come with ears or rails, I found a random set of Brocade ears from some old mid mount kit for another model that actually fit the 6610 holes perfectly, though as seatrope said there is a scary amount of droop at the back and it actually started to warp the ears, but I think that was because of the janky M5 cage nuts it came with and I had no alternative because all my regular nuts are M6 but the ears only fit M5 screws...

Long story short I ended up grabbing an "S26361-F2735-L600 Fujitsu - Rack shelf - for ICX 6430, 6450, 6610, Catalyst 3750" from eBay for the grand total of £8.71 delivered - it was a bit of a gamble as I couldn't find any information on it or even a picture. It turned out to be a generic 4 post mounting shelf that has no apparent way of securing the switches in (other than 2 comically large 1.2m cable ties), however they sit in it just fine and it's nice and sturdy being 4 point. While it was a bargain it does add height to the switches so it fouls the U above, but I'll live with that for the price!
 
Last edited:

i386

Well-Known Member
Mar 18, 2016
4,218
1,540
113
34
Germany
The more posts I read here the more I want to get braocade switches even when I have arista & mellanox 40+ gbe switches at home :confused:
 
  • Like
Reactions: fohdeesha

Stephan

Well-Known Member
Apr 21, 2017
920
697
93
Germany
I sympathize with that sentiment, @i386 but here in Europe it is even more difficult to get two 6610-48P with Rev B/C PSUs for a reasonable price. For that reason I rather blew 800 EUR this summer on two Roborock cleaning robots that I rooted and which are of good use in the household. Is there an alternative switch similar to the 6610 with similar pricing? Possibly with some more 40 Gbps ports even. I think slower tax writeoff of such gear in Europe sadly makes it less available compared to USA.
 

e97

Active Member
Jun 3, 2015
323
193
43
either transceiver will work, but to go from optic to optic you need key-up to key-up fiber, which is hard to find. you can also buy key up to key down (like you linked) and carefully swap one of the ends: https://forums.servethehome.com/ind...icx6450-icx6610-etc.21107/page-23#post-201367
Thanks, was hoping the ICX guru would respond :)

I saw that video while researching, I like a good deal (cheap) and like hacking so that's what I'll do!

Does it matter when connecting:
1) ICX6610 <-> HP 10G / 40GB card
-vs-
2) stacking two ICX6610
-vs-
3) two HP cards?

I read up a bit on this: Introduction to Polarity Methods for MTP/MPO Systems and
Type A MTP Cassette and Type B MTP Cassette: When and Where to Use?

but still a bit confused on Type A, Type B, Type C and Key-Up vs Key-Down, are they related or independent?
 
Last edited:

nthu9280

Well-Known Member
Feb 3, 2016
1,628
498
83
San Antonio, TX
Regarding the discussion on the rack mount kit's and rails, if you have spare 2U capacity, just use one of the less expensive APC or some other UPS rails. I was concerned about the sag also. I had a spare set on hand and used that and mounted both 6610 and 1U cable management there. So not a waste of space for folks with space constraints.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/HrJB6z6D4fVCS81v8
 

nthu9280

Well-Known Member
Feb 3, 2016
1,628
498
83
San Antonio, TX
Anyone recommend an economical 24U server rack?
Depending on where you live, set up alerts on local craigslist. If you live near large metro areas, the availability is much better.
Couple of things to keep in mind:
Get the one with square holes
Try to get the full depth - 1070 mm (~40in) ones.
 

AllenB

New Member
Oct 16, 2018
10
3
3
Evanston, IL
Hi all, I’ve been enjoying this thread for a while now. Had decided to take the 10Gb+ plunge at home and started browsing eBay for likely candidates. Spotting an ICX6610 and getting curious quickly led here.

Licensing looks like the only hurdle. @fohdeesha, you’ve done dozens of folks a solid on this. Can you spare one more or, alternately, can someone let me know what licensing to look for prior to buying? It seems there’s some danger of effectively buying a brick if licensing can’t be solved.

Thanks!