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

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jei

Active Member
Aug 8, 2021
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You might be right! But the one on the wooden floor has been there for over a year, been stepped on every day, no problems yet. New cable costs ~10€ so it's by far the cheapeast option for me. If there's ever any work done with the walls, got to drop some fiber there at the same time.
 
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EngChiSTH

Active Member
Jun 27, 2018
108
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Chicago
Anyone knows on the power consumption difference between 7250-24 vs 7250-48 ? I am now needing >4 SFP+ plugins and overgrown my 6450, not sure if I need 48 gig ports and wondering about power consumption. thank you
 

pir2

New Member
Aug 3, 2011
7
4
3
I have an ICX7150-24, with a 10g brocade optic 1/3/1 connected to an ICX7150-c12p via another 10g brocade optic and some glass. Stacking immediately worked a treat.

I'd now like to extend the stack to another C12P in another part of the house by way of a couple copper SFPs and a 2.5gbps MOCA point-to-point link. (1/3/3 > Brocade 1G copper SFP > 2.5gbps MOCA bridge isolated (point to point, using it like a media converter > Brocade 1G copper SFP > 1/3/1). Can't get stack interactive to pick up the second c12p. Copper SFP will happily move traffic when moved to 1/3/4 on the -24 but won't 'talk stack' on 1/3/3 over the same rest of the path. Ideas? Here's what the Stupid Idea Fairy has brought me so far:

  • Bad 1/3/3 on my -24. Sucks to be me. Wondering if I can flip this from stacking to regular mode to test the SFP slot.
  • Something in fastiron says, can only stack if link speed 10gbps full duplex - sucks to be me.
  • Something in FastIron says, can stack if SFPs identify at 10gbps regardless of whether the link itself will sustain that speed (would never run in prod this way but it could work fine for the house, this is probably best-case for me).
    • What SFP would you recommend for this application?
    • Would a pair of Mikrotik S+RJ10 6-speed RJ-45 module for up to 10 Gbpss.....
      • a) 'link' at 10gbps full duplex even though they would effectively be rate-limited at 2.5gbps, or
      • b) autonegotiate to 2.5gbps?
      • In the latter case will the 7150 agree to stack with this port? I like accumulating toys but don't need $280 of unusable SFPs at the moment.

Ideally I'd bracket every MOCA bridge PTP link with SRJ10s, the 7150-24 on one end and a C12P on the other, stack everything into one logical switch and be informed, fat, and happy. Experienced Brocade Brigade-- how far am I from the Dream? :)

I guess, failing all that, anybody got any good tips for pulling fiber through lots of new construction? Anything rated to cheat through HVAC duct?
how long are your copper cables? there's a distance limitation when using copper.

 

dragonian

Member
Jan 3, 2020
47
30
18
Anyone knows on the power consumption difference between 7250-24 vs 7250-48 ? I am now needing >4 SFP+ plugins and overgrown my 6450, not sure if I need 48 gig ports and wondering about power consumption. thank you
Since I was moving some stuff around in the closet today, I did a little power measurement.
Using killawatt:
7250-48 - 31W idle (only console)
7250-24p - 45W idle (only console)

Before the poe was initialized i saw 35W on the 24p.


Edit: I realize that the -48 was previously a stack member, and not talking to the master.. maybe that 31W is not realistic?
I plugged in 2 SFP+ DACs to rebuild the stack, and the it's currently drawing 45W. Not sure how much of that addtional draw is the 2 DACs vs the full stack participation.
 
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Thorzeen

New Member
Jun 15, 2018
21
7
3
Hey everyone,
Is anyone here running "Oxidized" on the ICX 6610 to backup the config ? I am have issues with getting it run on this switch and so I thought I would ask here on the thread where I have learned so much about this device.

I have "Oxidized" running on Librenms.

Thanks.
 

EngChiSTH

Active Member
Jun 27, 2018
108
45
28
Chicago
Any DAC (direct attach copper) cable recommendations for the Brocade switch or works with anything? I went with AOC earlier however same parts are now more expensive (2 x $20 for each end of the transceiver + cable itself). I was hoping that DAC for short distance (<5 feet) works and looking for any recommendations. thank you

what I already have connected is Brocade 10G-SFPP-SR Compatible 10GBASE-SR SFP+ 850nm 300m DOM LC MMF Transceiver Module and ' LC UPC to LC UPC Duplex OM3 Multimode PVC ' for fiber cable. this works without any issues..
 

itronin

Well-Known Member
Nov 24, 2018
1,233
793
113
Denver, Colorado
Any DAC (direct attach copper) cable recommendations for the Brocade switch or works with anything? I went with AOC earlier however same parts are now more expensive (2 x $20 for each end of the transceiver + cable itself). I was hoping that DAC for short distance (<5 feet) works and looking for any recommendations. thank you

what I already have connected is Brocade 10G-SFPP-SR Compatible 10GBASE-SR SFP+ 850nm 300m DOM LC MMF Transceiver Module and ' LC UPC to LC UPC Duplex OM3 Multimode PVC ' for fiber cable. this works without any issues..
I know long thread - covered repeatedly in there , even at the beginning by many folks but I'll give you my experience/opinion, pricing US based.

10Gb sfp+

I've yet to find an SFP+ DAC that didn't work. I tend to go with the Cisco CUxM's where x=1,2,3 because they are still between $7-$12 per used and often with free ship. I have seen that new ones from FS.COM have been coming down in price, so maybe worth a look(?). I purchased some "shorties" to try out - just haven't gotten to that bit yet.

I have the AOC 40Gb QSFP to 10Gb SFP+ breakout, whatever was cheapest in the appropriate length when I purchased them is what I have. one package said cisco, another was just really generic mfg, I think corning/3m.

40Gb QSFP

I tend to use NETapp QSFP storage cables for copper. they seem to just work. they're cheap. they're short, they're long. Did I mention they just seem to work?

I also use AOC 40Gb QSFP to 40Gb QSFP, again whatever cheapest I could find in the appropriate length.

DAC's are definitely lowest power. Nothing wrong with using the brocade transceivers though esp since the brocade SFP+ 10Gb ones tend to be REALLY cheap on the bay as well as lots of deals on f/o patch and you can look at the signal strength in the CLI too.

Possibly most forgiving DAC/AOC switch platform I've used (esp. compared to HPE)
 
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OKGolombRuler

New Member
Mar 13, 2020
21
6
3
Incidentally I was just figuring 6450 -> 7150 connection today and surface OM3 cable was the easiest. It takes a beating and is dirt cheap. Pics:View attachment 20115View attachment 20116
Hm. I will have to think it over, it might well be a 150' run across a fair number of foot-traffic areas. Not sure if it would work (OK it'd work, but unhappy spouse -> unhappy house). But if I can't find a more graceful way to get it there I may have to try my luck... tucking it along the baseboard or adding this sort of fake transitions. To.. cover the carpet tack strips. That's definitely why we need them... Thanks!
 
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Surfarn_

New Member
Jul 11, 2020
11
1
3
I have a 6610 at the moment. Was thinking about changeing to 6450 to lower the power consumtion.

Is there any way to disconnect 24 of the 48 ports to save even more energy? Most of the cheap switches have 48 ports.
 
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EngChiSTH

Active Member
Jun 27, 2018
108
45
28
Chicago
I have a 6610 at the moment. Was thinking about changeing to 6450 to lower the power consumtion.

Is there any way to disconnect 24 of the 48 ports to save even more energy? Most of the cheap switches have 48 ports.
where are you? I am upgrading from 6450 (which I have two, one primary and one spare) to 7250 for more 10G ports and would have a 6450 i am not going to use - if interested ping me directly.

regarding your question, I do not know of the way to disconnects 24 of 48 ports
 

richtj99

Member
Jul 8, 2017
70
1
8
50
So I am trying the librenms & I added:

Code:
snmp-server community public ro
onto the switch - I know very little about snmp - is that command 'risky' in the event of someone on my network being able to access the switch based on it being a public community (common) and read only?

If you want any sort of metrics over time, yes. The switch command you're using shows what is happening at that instant. You could also possibly fuss about with a NetFlow collector. But SNMP is pretty straightforward and lots of tools using it Just Work.
 

fohdeesha

Kaini Industries
Nov 20, 2016
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I have an ICX7150-24, with a 10g brocade optic 1/3/1 connected to an ICX7150-c12p via another 10g brocade optic and some glass. Stacking immediately worked a treat.

I'd now like to extend the stack to another C12P in another part of the house by way of a couple copper SFPs and a 2.5gbps MOCA point-to-point link. (1/3/3 > Brocade 1G copper SFP > 2.5gbps MOCA bridge isolated (point to point, using it like a media converter > Brocade 1G copper SFP > 1/3/1). Can't get stack interactive to pick up the second c12p. Copper SFP will happily move traffic when moved to 1/3/4 on the -24 but won't 'talk stack' on 1/3/3 over the same rest of the path. Ideas? Here's what the Stupid Idea Fairy has brought me so far:

  • Bad 1/3/3 on my -24. Sucks to be me. Wondering if I can flip this from stacking to regular mode to test the SFP slot.
  • Something in fastiron says, can only stack if link speed 10gbps full duplex - sucks to be me.
  • Something in FastIron says, can stack if SFPs identify at 10gbps regardless of whether the link itself will sustain that speed (would never run in prod this way but it could work fine for the house, this is probably best-case for me).
    • What SFP would you recommend for this application?
    • Would a pair of Mikrotik S+RJ10 6-speed RJ-45 module for up to 10 Gbpss.....
      • a) 'link' at 10gbps full duplex even though they would effectively be rate-limited at 2.5gbps, or
      • b) autonegotiate to 2.5gbps?
      • In the latter case will the 7150 agree to stack with this port? I like accumulating toys but don't need $280 of unusable SFPs at the moment.

Ideally I'd bracket every MOCA bridge PTP link with SRJ10s, the 7150-24 on one end and a C12P on the other, stack everything into one logical switch and be informed, fat, and happy. Experienced Brocade Brigade-- how far am I from the Dream? :)

I guess, failing all that, anybody got any good tips for pulling fiber through lots of EDIT: OLD construction? Anything rated to cheat through HVAC duct?
you have to ensure that 1/3/3 on the 7150-24 and 1/3/1 on the C12P are defined as stacking ports in their respective configs, and *not* part of a stack trunk. can you post the output of show run, the top bit with all the stuff under "stack unit 1"? on top of that make sure the ports are manually set to 1gbps:

enable
conf t
int e 1/3/3
speed-duplex 1000-full

##C12P:
enable
conf t
int e 1/3/1
speed-duplex 1000-full

you should see a valid link up before even running any stacking commands, ensure that's happening by looking at "show int e 1/3/3" for example
 
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fohdeesha

Kaini Industries
Nov 20, 2016
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So I am trying the librenms & I added:

Code:
snmp-server community public ro
onto the switch - I know very little about snmp - is that command 'risky' in the event of someone on my network being able to access the switch based on it being a public community (common) and read only?
if someone breaks into your network and guesses your community strng ("public" is default typically and probably most people's first guess) they'd be able to query your switch for interface stats/usage, chassis temperature, IPs/arp table contents etc. meh. if you want you can pick a more secure community string like:

enable
conf t
no snmp-server community public ro
snmp-server community XxsuperSecretXx ro
write mem

then when adding to librenms you'll obviously have t put whatever pass you came up with in the community box instead of "public"
 

fohdeesha

Kaini Industries
Nov 20, 2016
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Still have one ICX7250-48 left for sale, cheapest one I see for sale on ebay without port damage is around 260+40 shipping, I could do $240 including a couple optics or 10gbase-T modules. pickup only tho in northern indianapolis, NO SHIP
 
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fohdeesha

Kaini Industries
Nov 20, 2016
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updated the guide, changed the ICX7xxx upgrade instructions slightly so a new/known uboot version is flashed first - this avoids the cases where switches coming with ancient 8030 bootloaders would error with "Wrong image format for bootm command" when trying to flash 8090m

also changed the "reset" instruction when coming out of uboot to "boot_primary" instead - even though a factory reset/default has been issued, configs don't get wiped until the OS fully boots. So if a user gets a switch where the previous owner had set/configured the switch to boot from the secondary OS slot, when following the guide and issuing factory set default and all the updates, then issued "reset", it would boot into the old #2 OS slot running god knows what. specifically requesting a "boot_primary" out of u-boot avoids that. thanks foot-gloves on github for the pull request
 

tinfoil3d

QSFP28
May 11, 2020
873
400
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Japan
Hey guys!
Can I go wrong with 7150-24? I don't need POE but need as many SFP+ as possible with passive cooling. From specs this seems like the right choice. I would love 8 10g ports ideally but that likely means lot of noise. This is for use right in my office/home, 2 m away from me, facing front. I hate 1U units but they are so space-efficient. Yeah mikrotik 305 is extremely space-efficient but they are not as reliable as I would love them to be so looking to replace those with some proper switches. 308 failed me. Now I need a quiet replacement.
 

fohdeesha

Kaini Industries
Nov 20, 2016
2,729
3,081
113
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fohdeesha.com
Hey guys!
Can I go wrong with 7150-24? I don't need POE but need as many SFP+ as possible with passive cooling. From specs this seems like the right choice. I would love 8 10g ports ideally but that likely means lot of noise. This is for use right in my office/home, 2 m away from me, facing front. I hate 1U units but they are so space-efficient. Yeah mikrotik 305 is extremely space-efficient but they are not as reliable as I would love them to be so looking to replace those with some proper switches. 308 failed me. Now I need a quiet replacement.
They're good switches for the use case, the downside is finding one for a sane price. I think they still go for like 500 bucks on eBay which to me is crazy for four ports of 10gbe, but I suppose the silence can be priceless for some people