10gbe IPoIB (Infiniband) bridge

[fsck]

If anybody got any better idea than buying 3 Mikrotik units which would total at 1140 CHF (3 switches) + 228CHF (3 S+RJ10 adapters) which is still about 450 CHF less than the US-16-XG. Or do you believe the US-16-XG is overall a better unit?

I have about 10 devices from ubiquiti and they all perform well. What worries me with the US-16-XG is the poor SFP+ compatibility .

can you buy the custom/tested ones from fs.com? or 10Gtek?

 

[luckylinux]

can you buy the custom/tested ones from fs.com? or 10Gtek?

@fsck: What do you mean? Do you mean for the US-16-XG ? I think those units also had issues with the RJ45 connectors failing to auto negotiate or something ...

In any case I'm going to order on FS.com for the SFP+ cables .

 

[fsck]

@fsck: What do you mean? Do you mean for the US-16-XG ? I think those units also had issues with the RJ45 connectors failing to auto negotiate or something ...

In any case I'm going to order on FS.com for the SFP+ cables .

Yes, for the US-16-XG. From what I can tell, a lot of the issues are earlier in the year. I assume there must've been something done about them in 8+ months? I am also in the process of properly designing my lab and I actually went with fohdeesha's brocade suggestion so I'm just a newbie.

For 10G/40G/100G, you should compare the prices between FS.com and 10Gtek, they're both reliable sources from what I've read online but some things are cheaper from one or the other.

 

[luckylinux]

Yes, for the US-16-XG. From what I can tell, a lot of the issues are earlier in the year. I assume there must've been something done about them in 8+ months? I am also in the process of properly designing my lab and I actually went with fohdeesha's brocade suggestion so I'm just a newbie.

Although the Brocade seem interesting in the US, I think that once you add the import duties, customs and shipping you get down to ~ 400$ for the ICX6610. For the same price I could get the mikrotik which is a newer unit, is silent and has 2 years warranty. You could tell me that for the same price the ICX6610 has 24/48 gbit ports but about that I don't care so much. I already have like 8-9 Zyxek GS1910-24 switches and they do their job very well. Plus ... it's smaller .

Again I'm not sure maybe the US-16-XG would be a good choice as well. Even if they solved the compatibility issues, they require some "custom" DAC cables (so I have to ask for a specific "Ubiquiti" to "Mellanox" DAC cable) and anyway limited to 3 meters max. With the Mikrotik you can apparently throw any DAC at it and it will work. I plan to use the generic DACs from FS.com or the Cisco ones (I guess they are the same). IIRC the Cisco SFP+ cables aren't supported on the US-16-XG .

For 10G/40G/100G, you should compare the prices between FS.com and 10Gtek, they're both reliable sources from what I've read online but some things are cheaper from one or the other.

Good to know. I always heard good things about FS but never heard about 10Gtek other than seeing them sometimes on Amazon when I was looking for something.

 

[fsck]

Hah, what a coincidence, I use the GS1910 too.
Power and heat are issues for me, so I'm trying to go for smallest footprint in those areas, obviously they aren't a consideration for your situation.

 

[luckylinux]

Hah, what a coincidence, I use the GS1910 too.
Power and heat are issues for me, so I'm trying to go for smallest footprint in those areas, obviously they aren't a consideration for your situation.

They are a consideration in my situation. This is why I find the Brocade not optimals ... Although very likely 2 separate units will end up using more power than a single combined one

 

[fsck]

My setup has 2 rooms. One of them, I have more liberty with power/heat, so I can squeeze a 6610 in there.
For my work area, which also needs a switch, I'm waiting for my 6610 to arrive to see if it's tolerable or if it can be modded to be quiet. Else, I'll prolly try to stick a 6450 there. As a newbie networker, single vendor integration seems to be a thing.

Passive DACs go to 7M, optics go even further and are probably more convenient to use compared to long DACs.

 

[luckylinux]

My setup has 2 rooms. One of them, I have more liberty with power/heat, so I can squeeze a 6610 in there.
For my work area, which also needs a switch, I'm waiting for my 6610 to arrive to see if it's tolerable or if it can be modded to be quiet. Else, I'll prolly try to stick a 6450 there. As a newbie networker, single vendor integration seems to be a thing.

Depends how much you use the smart/managed features of your switch I guess. If you use VLAN, set up QOS, ... then yes you don't want to learn 3 different brands and 10 different models ... At the moment I'm not looking too much into VLAN (yet?) so this is less of an issue to me. Anyway I guess most switches can be easily managed using SNMP or some kind of other automated tool/scripting which even allows to backup configuration and such (but I may be wrong on this last thing).

Passive DACs go to 7M, optics go even further and are probably more convenient to use compared to long DACs.

I know passive DACs go up to 7m, but I read that the Ubiquiti US-16-XG started to have issues for DACs >= 3 meters.

 

[luckylinux]

@Rand_: any other ideas or the Mikrotik can't really be beaten for the price?

 

[Rand__]

Sorry for the late reply, didnt get a new post notification.

Basically the Microtik seems to be today's pinnacle of the price/noise/heat/lots of ports combinations. Its not perfect by far (management, actual reported speeds) but if you don't want to compromise and don't need/care for the less optimal features I think they are a good option.

Cheaper options usually increase in noise/heat (ex enterprise components usually) since 10G has (even after 10 years) not permeated consumer spaces.

 

[luckylinux]

Sorry for the late reply, didnt get a new post notification.

Basically the Microtik seems to be today's pinnacle of the pricenoise/heat/lots of ports combinations. Its not perfect by far (management, actual reported speeds) but if you don't want to compromise and don't need/care for the less optimal features I think they are a good option.

No worries .

In the end I decided to bite the bullet and buy it along with some S+RJ10 adapters in order to interconnect the rooms. For now I only bought one switch though. I will likely need at least 2 (I guess a 3rd one won't be needed but let's see about that ).

 

[Rand__]

let's hear how it went