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.

Churchill

Admiral
Jan 6, 2016
838
213
43
Anyone have a guide on how to quieten these fans down? I searched through the thread search tool but nothing concrete. Trying to quiet down a 6650 with I think the latest firmware.
 

Churchill

Admiral
Jan 6, 2016
838
213
43
Has anyone thought about 3D printing 6610 rack ears?
These switches are not light by any stretch of the means. the ears need to be metal or they will break with any weight put on them at all. Trust me, it's cheaper/safer to buy a set off ebay than to risk having your switch fall from heat/weight in the middle of the night.
 

Wolfstar

Active Member
Nov 28, 2015
159
83
28
48
These switches are not light by any stretch of the means. the ears need to be metal or they will break with any weight put on them at all. Trust me, it's cheaper/safer to buy a set off ebay than to risk having your switch fall from heat/weight in the middle of the night.
Absolutely this. Even the 6430s and 6450s are nowhere near light enough for that.

Though, if you've got one, a 1U or 2U shelf should work okay if you're careful not to shove it off the back of the shelf plugging in cables.
 

dwright1542

Active Member
Dec 26, 2015
377
73
28
50
These switches are not light by any stretch of the means. the ears need to be metal or they will break with any weight put on them at all. Trust me, it's cheaper/safer to buy a set off ebay than to risk having your switch fall from heat/weight in the middle of the night.
Got any links? I can't find any, which is why I was asking. Also, if they are strong nylon or CF impregnated, and mid-mounted, I suspect they would be fine.

-D
 

dwright1542

Active Member
Dec 26, 2015
377
73
28
50
I think you could get away with plastic for sure as long as you have a shelf under it. I used the following under mine since the official rails are super expensive:

https://www.amazon.com/NavePoint-Adjustable-Mount-Server-Shelves/dp/B0060RUVBA/ref=sr_1_21_sspa?crid=1QNOBMSH4W7VO&keywords=1u+rack+shelf&qid=1566590229&s=gateway&sprefix=1u+,aps,223&sr=8-21-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyODRTUklETjVOV1dEJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwODQxMzI5MUNURDRBUE9TUzJNJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA0NTExNzFORFMxN0pZTVA0RyZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX210ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

I flipped them upside down to not block the vents on the side of the switch. I plan on putting a 1U brushed opening on the same U as the rails to run cables through.
Yup I use them all the time. This is a 2 post rack.
 

Wolfstar

Active Member
Nov 28, 2015
159
83
28
48
Yup I use them all the time. This is a 2 post rack.
You can get center-mount shelves for 2-post racks, but yeah - ears are pricey and I didn't find any for the 6610s. Honestly if it were me, I'd find a center-mount shelf and use C-clamps to hold the switch on as long as I had the room for them. Maybe even spring clamps. Plastic just seems like a bad idea, but I guess if it's strong enough it could work.
 

dwright1542

Active Member
Dec 26, 2015
377
73
28
50
Yup, familiar with all of them. We're just using enough of them internally that I'd like to get some ears. I've used these as well:

2 Post Rack Rails

At that point I might as well just buy switches with the ears included.

But I'm going to price out having someone replicate the ears from some I have already. Would anyone else be interested in a group buy?
 

raab

New Member
Aug 24, 2019
12
3
3
What started off as me googling for good fanless switches, with short depth, lead me down the Brocade rabbit hole and I'll probably come away with 2 x 6450-24P's. The only problem is that it's not exactly cheap getting them to New Zealand.. oh well

Thanks @fohdeesha for the thread and guide
 

infoMatt

Active Member
Apr 16, 2019
222
100
43
What started off as me googling for good fanless switches, with short depth, lead me down the Brocade rabbit hole and I'll probably come away with 2 x 6450-24P's. The only problem is that it's not exactly cheap getting them to New Zealand.. oh well

Thanks @fohdeesha for the thread and guide
Yep but those aren't fanless! The only model stated in this thread that is passively cooled is the "compact" 7150-C12P... ;)
 

raab

New Member
Aug 24, 2019
12
3
3
Yep but those aren't fanless! The only model stated in this thread that is passively cooled is the "compact" 7150-C12P... ;)
Oops, yeah I should've prefaced that with I realise they aren't fanless

When I stumbled upon this thread my thought process turned into why would I buy a more expensive fanless switch when the Brocade offers so much more
 

tommybackeast

Active Member
Jun 10, 2018
286
105
43
a basic VLAN question : I have a ICX 6450-24p and have just been using it for a 10GB Switch, while using none of other features. I had planned to learn VLANS, more networking this summer; but Life occurred.

I currently use a simple Asus-Merlin consumer router/AP.

I am now looking to get a 1U appliance to run pfSense on.

Please note I am a network noob - I had thought that since the 6450 is a Layer 3 Switch; that I should make the VLANs on the Switch; but am now reading it is "cleaner" and easier for a network rookie to make VLANs on the pfSense appliance.

Thus, question: in simple words, can someone explain the Pros/Cons of setting up VLANs on the pfSense appliance vs setting them up on the 6450 Brocade switch?
 

BobTB

Member
Jul 19, 2019
81
19
8
In the guide for flashing the firmware ther is ICX6430 / ICX6450 section, since I have two ICX6430, can I actually flash the ICX64R08030t.bin to it? Is there also ICX64S08030t.bin ?
 

infoMatt

Active Member
Apr 16, 2019
222
100
43
a basic VLAN question : I have a ICX 6450-24p and have just been using it for a 10GB Switch, while using none of other features. I had planned to learn VLANS, more networking this summer; but Life occurred.

I currently use a simple Asus-Merlin consumer router/AP.

I am now looking to get a 1U appliance to run pfSense on.

Please note I am a network noob - I had thought that since the 6450 is a Layer 3 Switch; that I should make the VLANs on the Switch; but am now reading it is "cleaner" and easier for a network rookie to make VLANs on the pfSense appliance.

Thus, question: in simple words, can someone explain the Pros/Cons of setting up VLANs on the pfSense appliance vs setting them up on the 6450 Brocade switch?
No advantage or disadvantage: if you want L2 isolation, you have to define VLANs on both pfSense and the switches, otherwise the clients will all be on the same broadcast domain.

VLAN are layer 2 topology... i.e. even a plain managed layer2 switch can understand and manage VLAN; the advantage of a L3 switch is that it can route (at line speed) between vlan, instead of having to loop the traffic to the router/firewall and back to the switch again ("router on a stick") tagged with another VLAN.
Instructions of how to define VLAN on pfSense is out of this topic, you can start by watching some video tutorials, it not difficult.

If you want to use the switch in L3 mode, you have to define a virtual interface on each VLAN, each one with it's own IP address, and use it as the default gateway for the client in that network; to avoid having full routing visibility you'll have to dig through ACLs; there are some examples in this thread.

In the guide for flashing the firmware ther is ICX6430 / ICX6450 section, since I have two ICX6430, can I actually flash the ICX64R08030t.bin to it? Is there also ICX64S08030t.bin ?
"R" firmware does support the L3/routing features, the "S" one is just for layer 2 (ie. VLAN)... there's no advantage of using the S version on the 6450, apart for a slight reduction on image size and maybe a couple of seconds at boot...
On the 6430, as it doesn't have routing capabilities, I'd flash the S version (the same as the software it should have now...); a nicer question would be: flashing a router-capable firmware would brick it? Onestly, I don't know, sorry :(
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: tommybackeast

tommybackeast

Active Member
Jun 10, 2018
286
105
43
[QUOTE="; the advantage of a L3 switch is that it can route (at line speed) between vlan, instead of having to loop the traffic to the router/firewall and back to the switch again ("router on a stick") tagged with another VLAN. :([/QUOTE]


That makes sense, thanks