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

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Wolfstar

Active Member
Nov 28, 2015
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Lastly, some mainstream routers with WiFi6 now come with 2.5 or 5 Gbps RJ45s to support that new standard and bandwidth (why they don't go straight to 10Gbps, I don't know...).
The reason for that - in fact, the reason 2.5G/5G exist at all - is to get a full 100 meter run out of Cat5E or Cat6 for Wave 2 AC access points at higher than gigabit speeds. Replacing APs is pretty simple, replacing the inside cable plant for an office environment is not. Since 10GBaseT requires Cat6A or better for runs to max length, that was the only option to go above gigabit.

For more historical information on it, google NBaseT.
 

sash

Member
Nov 22, 2019
44
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Can someone answer this question.

So, I have 2 Ruckus R720 APs connected to my ICX6610 switch via the 2.5gbps ethernet port on the APs. Since the ICX6610 does not have a 2.5gbps port, would I get the full capababilities of the APs? When I do a "show inline power" command on the switch, I am getting 802.3at PoE+.
However, according to the Ruckus R720 datasheet (https://a030f85c1e25003d7609-b98377...cf2.rackcdn.com/datasheets/ds-ruckus-r720.pdf), I need PoH/UPoE to get the full capability of the switch. I assume that means I need a 2.5gbps port on my switch.

Do you recommend getting a second switch that has 2.5gbps ports to handle the APs?
This switch model will give you what you need ICX7150-C10ZP. Search on youtube for unboxing and quick look.
 

Wolfstar

Active Member
Nov 28, 2015
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Can anyone provide links to SFP+ transceivers at a low price? The best I've found so far is: Cooper 30 m SFP+ Transceiver: Brocade 10G-SFPP-T

Also, what do I miss without the optical monitoring and would all these 'brocade compatible' transceivers miss that?
For most lab purposes, you miss not much of anything. For an actual infrastructure run, getting either original optics or third-party optics coded for original is worth its weight in gold. It allows you to see the transmit and receive signal strengths on a fiber connection, and optionally set alarms that can be picked up in SNMP or syslog when low light levels (or high optics temperatures) occur.

When you're running a switch a half-mile from the upstream router over single mode and you can't figure out why it looks like one side has link but the other doesn't, being able to see that the router sees no issues, but the switch is getting -20dB receive fixes all the things except your now crap fiber. (10GBaseLR signal strength cutoff is around -15dB.)
 

Wolfstar

Active Member
Nov 28, 2015
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To answer my own questions:

After a deeper discussion with Ruckus:

I won't be denied support just because I am using 3rd party DAC(s).
I won't have my support invalidated by using 3rd party DAC(s).

These questions also came up in the same infrastructure build on the server side because the system vendor wants to use their DAC's on their servers.

Ruckus advised having a few of their DAC's on hand to rule out a DAC issue and then move forward with the support case/issue.

Part of our design criteria was to avoid using any vendor locked network components. It just makes getting spares quickly and or configuring work-arounds that much harder. (Comparison, Aruba switches and 3rd party DAC support).

As always with something like this YMMV.

General T&C support agreement is available online if you have a (FREE) Ruckus login.
Just for the record, and with PAINFUL personal experience, get the Ruckus-provided cables and test with them. We're going through hell at several locations for work because the customer chose to use crappy coded QSFP+ DACs for stacking cables, and the stacks are unstable as hell.
 
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eduncan911

The New James Dean
Jul 27, 2015
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This switch model will give you what you need ICX7150-C10ZP. Search on youtube for unboxing and quick look.
I've been looking for this switch for a while personally for my desktop. Insanely rare (no used ones at any decent price).

For everyone else, this is the only 7000 series that supports 1/2.5/5/10 Gbps over RJ45 copper 10GBaseT - built in. And, fanless.
 
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eduncan911

The New James Dean
Jul 27, 2015
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Just for the record, and with PAINFUL personal experience, get the Ruckus-provided cables and test with them. We're going through hell at several locations for work because the customer chose to use crappy coded QSFP+ DACs for stacking cables, and the stacks are unstable as hell.
I'll second this... I had to hop on a red-eye from NYC to Moscow because they hit the limits of the 1 Gbps link when they went live out of the 40 Gbps links. I seemed to have been the only one with spare Dell DAC cables (Dell switches) and yep, it worked.

Always have a couple of originals on hand that have been tested to debug problems with 3rd party cables. In the automotive industry, we call these "known good parts."
 

CED6688

New Member
Dec 4, 2019
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Now have a 7250 arriving tomorrow...and of course, the totally custom console cable won't arrive until Monday when I'll running off to airports for the holidays. I've read all 138 pages of this and my understanding is that I can't plug a mini-USB to male DB9 serial cable into a female DB9 to USB cable and make this work while I wait as the mini-USB is just a custom serial port and not a USB port that would work with a USB to serial cable. Is this the correct understanding? Assuming that is the correct understanding, any ideas on where I might find a cable quicker on the west coast (bay area)?
 

rocketpanda40

Member
Dec 12, 2019
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Now have a 7250 arriving tomorrow...and of course, the totally custom console cable won't arrive until Monday when I'll running off to airports for the holidays. I've read all 138 pages of this and my understanding is that I can't plug a mini-USB to male DB9 serial cable into a female DB9 to USB cable and make this work while I wait as the mini-USB is just a custom serial port and not a USB port that would work with a USB to serial cable. Is this the correct understanding? Assuming that is the correct understanding, any ideas on where I might find a cable quicker on the west coast (bay area)?
Are these not compatible with the newer Cisco ones? I thought they were.
https://www.amazon.com/Compatible-Console-mini-B-Connectors-CAB-CONSOLE-USB/dp/B06XFKJVJ2
 

dashpuppy

Member
Dec 16, 2018
48
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Now have a 7250 arriving tomorrow...and of course, the totally custom console cable won't arrive until Monday when I'll running off to airports for the holidays. I've read all 138 pages of this and my understanding is that I can't plug a mini-USB to male DB9 serial cable into a female DB9 to USB cable and make this work while I wait as the mini-USB is just a custom serial port and not a USB port that would work with a USB to serial cable. Is this the correct understanding? Assuming that is the correct understanding, any ideas on where I might find a cable quicker on the west coast (bay area)?

Doesn't the 7250 have a JR45 console port on the front ? If so just use a standard blue cisco cable and a USB-DB9 adapter. ( make sure you get a decent one though )
 

CED6688

New Member
Dec 4, 2019
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Not an RJ45 on the 7250. The 6610/6450 use rj45. Also, everything I’ve read online data that it is not compatible with the Cisco cable referenced. However there is one post on Reddit where someone Frankensteins a Cisco cable into what is needed and thinking to do that...
 

dashpuppy

Member
Dec 16, 2018
48
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Not an RJ45 on the 7250. The 6610/6450 use rj45. Also, everything I’ve read online data that it is not compatible with the Cisco cable referenced. However there is one post on Reddit where someone Frankensteins a Cisco cable into what is needed and thinking to do that...

My Bad, i see it now. USB mini port above the rj45 port. :(
 

fohdeesha

Kaini Industries
Nov 20, 2016
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the 7250 mini USB console port is:

NOT A USB PORT
NOT A USB PORT
NOT A USB PORT
NOT A USB PORT

any cable like the cisco that just changes it from a mini usb to a full size USB will not work, you'll be plugging ~13v RS232 serial into the data lines of a USB port, which after covering the subject 90 times I'm thinking I should just start encouraging people to do. you need the brocade cable, as I've linked 30000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 times

I'm going to have to put this stickied in the main post somewhere, it's around once a week someone asks "we don't REALLY need the brocade cable right? This *links some 10 dollar serial cable on amazon* will work right?" Do you guys not trust me on these switches by now? If there was some magical 5 dollar cable that worked I would have recommended it from the get go


edit: Apologies, I think I need a break from STH. The last ~50 pages and ~50 PMs have been people asking the same ~5 questions over and over and it is wearing me thin. this thread was not intended to be basic helpdesk support for brocade products, but I realize that's what all these "product x" threads turn into. For anyone reading this thread from the beginning: the unique useful information ends around page 40
 
Last edited:

dashpuppy

Member
Dec 16, 2018
48
21
8
the 7250 mini USB console port is:

NOT A USB PORT
NOT A USB PORT
NOT A USB PORT
NOT A USB PORT

any cable like the cisco that just changes it from a mini usb to a full size USB will not work, you'll be plugging ~13v RS232 serial into the data lines of a USB port, which after covering the subject 90 times I'm thinking I should just start encouraging people to do. you need the brocade cable, as I've linked 30000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 times

I'm going to have to put this stickied in the main post somewhere, it's around once a week someone asks "we don't REALLY need the brocade cable right? This *links some 10 dollar serial cable on amazon* will work right?" Do you guys not trust me on these switches by now? If there was some magical 5 dollar cable that worked I would have recommended it from the get go


edit: Apologies, I think I need a break from STH. The last ~50 pages and ~50 PMs have been people asking the same ~5 questions over and over and it is wearing me thin. this thread was not intended to be basic helpdesk support for brocade products, but I realize that's what all these "product x" threads turn into. For anyone reading this thread from the beginning: the unique useful information ends around page 40

So its not a usb port ? :p kidding !!

Edit first post maybe ? Put THE USB PORT ON THE FRONT OF THE switches that "looks-like" a usb port is not one !!

Then put link or picture of what is needed etc etc ?
 
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tommybackeast

Active Member
Jun 10, 2018
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Using the Brocade GUI to turn off 4 LAN Ports : is this correct?

I appreciate many/most here only use the Brocade CLI, but over the weekend I have the goal to turn off Ports 10,11,12,13 on my Brocade 6450.

I log into the WebGui, on the left pane, select "Ethernet Port Config" and click on MODIFY for port 10, then change STATUS from Enable to Disable, click Apply

Will this achieve my goal of turning OFF Port 10? thus killing the connection?

I like to ask before trying things I do not know, given how easy it can be to screw things up :)
 

juey

Member
Oct 1, 2018
56
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Germany
going through some hidden commands, after 30 seconds of testing these seem to set the case fan speed on the 6450, but don't do anything on the 6610. haven't tested on the icx7xxx but I have a feeling they'll behave like the 6450

dd set_pwrfan_high
dd set_pwrfan_low
Been quite a while since you posted this, but, could you add these commands to your beautiful docs ?
 

itronin

Well-Known Member
Nov 24, 2018
1,234
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Denver, Colorado
Noise, ICX 6610 and what an ENORMOUS difference two rev b PSU's make compared to 1 rev b and 1 rev a...

I was able to pick up 2 Rev B POE PSU's < 50 each off the bay (seller had 2 total). I installed them last night and I cannot believe how much of a difference it makes!

I need to find one more reasonably priced rev b for my other 6610.
 

T_Minus

Build. Break. Fix. Repeat
Feb 15, 2015
7,625
2,043
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Noise, ICX 6610 and what an ENORMOUS difference two rev b PSU's make compared to 1 rev b and 1 rev a...

I was able to pick up 2 Rev B POE PSU's < 50 each off the bay (seller had 2 total). I installed them last night and I cannot believe how much of a difference it makes!

I need to find one more reasonably priced rev b for my other 6610.
What are the temps though?

I had heat issues and went to 2 fans, 2 psu, and heat issues went away. They're REv A.
In one I have a REv B but can't tell the difference... debating if I should swap that B to A for more air flow.
I have a 8-11*C difference between the 6610 on top vs on bottom too, unsure if it's location, A vs B, or due to the rack-ear not having the middle\vent hole.