Another Cheap 10Gb Switch Option (Netgear 4 x SFP+ and more)!

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khrystoph

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Nov 16, 2016
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If you want brand new, the cheapest 10Gb switch I've found (after much digging) is the ubiquiti ES-16-XG for around $600 on Amazon. This is going to be 12 SFP+ ports and 4 10GbE ports.

Amazon.com: Ubiquiti Networks ES-16-XG EdgeSwitch 16 10G 16-Port Managed Aggregation Switch: Computers & Accessories

I'd rather just pay the $200 for a Quanta LB6M w/24 SFP+ ports. With a small amount of work, it seems you can get these to be decently quiet and their interface isn't too terrible to use, but AFAIK, it's CLI only...no web UI.

Unix Surplus seems to have about 100 of these left listed on ebay:
Quanta LB6M 10GBe 24-Port SFP+ Switch L2 Dual PS w/ Rack Ears 4x Uplink | eBay

I have one and I'm planning on reducing the noise down the road, but I think this has more potential if you want to add automation into your network (such as PXE provisioning w/vlan switching via IPMI). What I mean by the previous is that you could set up 3 vlans. Vlan1: main network (public network). Vlan2: Consoles/IPMI/OOB/DRAC/iLo/etc. Vlan3: provisioning. When you want to PXE boot something, you would log in to your switch and flip the vlan for the appropriate port to the provisioning network. Once the provisioning is complete, you would flip the vlan back to the public network...stuff like that.
 

Blue)(Fusion

Active Member
Mar 1, 2017
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Reviving this thread with a question.

I bought the GSM7324Sv2 thanks to this thread. I've been running 2 servers off of the built-in 10G ports no problem with 2 Cisco-branded DAC cables. Today I received my two AX743 modules. I already set the ports 27/28 as "Ethernet" in the Stacking configuration and rebooted the switch.

I moved the DAC cables to the modules in the rear and there is no link. I tried the Netgear AXM761 SFP+ modules that came with the AX743 modules to connect 10G fiber to my desktop to no avail. Using the same SFP+ modules, or some other off-brand ones work fine in the front ports.

What am I doing wrong? Why can't I get the 2 rear 10G modules to work?
 

Blue)(Fusion

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Mar 1, 2017
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Also FWIW, it's not showing any transeiver info even though there's a working DAC and a Netgear AXM761 working in the front two 10G ports, and two more non-working DACs in the rear modules.

(GSM7328Sv2) #show fiber-ports optical-transceiver all

No SFP(s) / Fiberport(s) available

(GSM7328Sv2) #show fiber-ports optical-transceiver-info all

No SFP(s) / Fiberport(s) available
 

Emulsifide

Active Member
Dec 1, 2014
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Reviving this thread with a question.

I bought the GSM7324Sv2 thanks to this thread. I've been running 2 servers off of the built-in 10G ports no problem with 2 Cisco-branded DAC cables. Today I received my two AX743 modules. I already set the ports 27/28 as "Ethernet" in the Stacking configuration and rebooted the switch.

I moved the DAC cables to the modules in the rear and there is no link. I tried the Netgear AXM761 SFP+ modules that came with the AX743 modules to connect 10G fiber to my desktop to no avail. Using the same SFP+ modules, or some other off-brand ones work fine in the front ports.

What am I doing wrong? Why can't I get the 2 rear 10G modules to work?
Check your switch logs and see if there's an error that trips when you plug in the DACs.
 

Emulsifide

Active Member
Dec 1, 2014
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Also FWIW, it's not showing any transeiver info even though there's a working DAC and a Netgear AXM761 working in the front two 10G ports, and two more non-working DACs in the rear modules.
That right there might be your red flag. Where did you get the modules from? If known working transceivers and/or DACs are showing up just fine in the built-in ports and then don't show up at all when connected to the modules, I would begin to suspect that the modules are defective.

All of my transceivers work just fine in my AX743 modules. I haven't tried DACs in them though (but I doubt that would change things).
 

Blue)(Fusion

Active Member
Mar 1, 2017
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Also interesting, it appears the switch thinks my AX743s are AX745s (10GBase-T modules).

Code:
(GSM7328Sv2) #show stack-port

                                                Configured Running
                                                Stack      Stack      Link       Link
Unit    Interface     Type    Product Name      Mode       Mode       Status     Speed (Gb/s)
---- ---------------- ------- ----------------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ------------
1    0/25             DAC    Ethernet   Ethernet   Link Down    10
1    0/26                                       Ethernet   Ethernet   Link Down    10
1    0/27             AX745   (ax745)           Ethernet   Ethernet   Link Down    10
1    0/28             AX745   (ax745)           Ethernet   Ethernet   Link Down    10
 

Emulsifide

Active Member
Dec 1, 2014
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Here's my output using the commands you've tried:

Code:
(GSM7328Sv2) #show fiber-ports optical-transceiver all

                                    Output    Input
Port      Temp  Voltage  Current     Power    Power   TX     LOS
           [C]   [Volt]     [mA]     [dBm]    [dBm]   Fault
--------  ----  -------  -------   -------  -------   -----  ---
1/0/27    40.4    3.371      7.0    -2.205  -40.000   No     Yes
2/0/25    19.2    3.227      5.7    -3.211   -2.783   No     No

 Temp - Internally measured transceiver temperatures.
 Voltage - Internally measured supply voltage.
 Current - Measured TX bias current.
 Output Power - Measured optical output power relative to 1mW.
 Input Power - Measured optical power received relative to 1mW.
 TX Fault - Transmitter fault.
 LOS - Loss of signal.
(GSM7328Sv2) #
(GSM7328Sv2) #show fiber-ports optical-transceiver-info all

                         Link Link                                 Nominal
                       Length Length                                   Bit
                         50um 62.5um                                  Rate
Port     Vendor Name      [m] [m]  Serial Number    Part Number     [Mbps] Rev         Compliance
-------- ---------------- --- ---- ---------------- ---------------- ----- ----        ----------------
1/0/27   OEM                8    3 FXP96S125        10GB-SFP-SR-F    10300 1.0               10GBase-SR
2/0/25   FiberStore        30   30 FS50113E0065     SFP-10G85-3M-NE  10300 1.0               10GBase-SR
1/0/27 on mine is a transceiver that isn't connected to anything.
 

Emulsifide

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Dec 1, 2014
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What about if you don't configure the modules as stacking ports? Will they produce the same results for connectivity to the transceivers?
 

Blue)(Fusion

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Mar 1, 2017
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They were not configured as stacking ports, they were configured as Ethernet (originally they were Stacking, but I changed that).

Well, to make matters worse, I may have bricked the switch!

I have been running the 10.0.0.53 (or something like that) firmware and decided just to give the old firmware (8.0.x) firmware a shot as that's what it shipped with when I received the switch a few months back. Upon reboot, the switch just reset-loops with no way to access it. I don't have a serial console cable. I used the reset switch on the front to try to factory-reset the switch to no avail. 1 step forward, 5 steps back. I had to set up my GS724TR switch quickly to get my network back online (1Gbit only).

EDIT:

@Emulsifide ,

Any chance you can report what firmware you're using and what is returned from the show stack-port command? If it shows up correctly and you're running the same firmware, I'll contact the eBay seller and possibly be returning for a refund. Allegedly they were pulled as working. They did have some dust on them but otherwise looked just as all the pictures show they should look. I bought 2 of 4, and the other 2 were already sold.

EDIT 2:

I just ordered a null modem DB9 cable from Amazon. Should be here Tuesday so I can attempt to save the switch.
 
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Blue)(Fusion

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Mar 1, 2017
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Got my cable in today. Easy solution to get the backup image booted. I factory reset the configuration and was able to boot into the 8.0.3.15 firmware that the switch shipped with.

The modules are also misidentified with this older firmware, however, they are misidentified as AX741 modules (XFP). Despite this, I can actually get these modules to link with my devices with DAC and fiber.

I's a big shame that I must run firmware that's 5 years older, buggy, and lacks some features just to get $400 worth of add-on cards to work somewhat-properly.

By the way, I tried both firmwares with factory-reset configs and then just changed ports 27 and 28 to Ethernet (instead of Stacking), saved, and rebooted the switch.
 

AERuffy

Member
Dec 12, 2013
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In for one switch at $60 shipped. All others on ebay are in the 100+ range.

Modules will be an issue. But I only need 3x total SFP+ so I'll either pick up another switch at some point or get a module if they drop in price again.

Edit. Got a pair of Stacking 742's for $40. Missing the cable but from the looks of it the cable is just cx4 which I have a spair. We'll see what happens when it arrives.

Anyone know if I can stack the POE version with the non poe?
 
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AERuffy

Member
Dec 12, 2013
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So I managed to snag a 48port GSM7352Sv2 for $70 shipped

After a firmware update everything started working. Stacking GSM7328Sv2 and GSM7352Sv2 is working great passing 10GBe to my esxi hosts and freenas box.

Due note that the stack member does not boot fully. In stacking mode the console port is practically worthless as it does not allow configuration. I do believe that you can stack POE with non poe, but the POE switch must be the management switch in stack mode. Best to just move to Ethernet mode.

Not as cheap as it has been, but I managed to get a 4x10GBe SFP+ setup for $170.


AX742's are just straight through connections from the backplane to a CX4 connector.



Code:
(GSM7328Sv2) #show stack-port

                                                Configured Running
                                                Stack      Stack      Link       Link
Unit    Interface     Type    Product Name      Mode       Mode       Status     Speed (Gb/s)
---- ---------------- ------- ----------------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ------------
1    0/25                                       Ethernet   Ethernet   Link Down    10
1    0/26                                       Ethernet   Ethernet   Link Down    10
1    0/27             AX742   (stack)           Stack      Stack      Link Up      12
1    0/28                                       Stack      Stack      Link Down    12
2    0/49                                       Ethernet   Ethernet   Link Down    10
2    0/50                                       Ethernet   Ethernet   Link Down    10
2    0/51             AX742   (stack)           Stack      Stack      Link Up      12
2    0/52                                       Stack      Stack      Link Down    12
 
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Blue)(Fusion

Active Member
Mar 1, 2017
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Chicago
I just ordered a second GSM7328Sv2, 2x AX742 modules, and a CX4 cable. Should arrive next week.

This will get me up to 6x 10G ports like the OP setup. However..... even after some communication with Netgear tech (off warranty), I am unable to get the 10.x firmware to work with the 10G modules resorting to the older, less featureful and bug-prone 8.x firmware. I'm also going to experiment and see if the 10G modules work on the new switch - if it doesn't than maybe they're faulty modules, somehow.....