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

[fohdeesha]

The 6450-24p is not "NOT" quiet ! Maybe the non poe version. but the "P" version isn't. That's why i just changed my switch fans

my stock 6450-24p is dead silent nearly. The main issue with these switches (and why everyone has vastly different noise reports), is due to the age, some fans have started to wear their bearings and dry up and they get much louder

 

[fohdeesha]

EDIT: found the link to the published sources, though I haven't extracted it yet (on vacation/mobile). Reading the README for 6450 though indicates that there indeed binary blobs from Brocade/Arris to include. Humm... Makes sense not to include source to this libs as these most likely aren't under GPL. Will have to disassemble them and inspect further.

---

Has anyone successfully pulled down the source code and built the firmware? It was mentioned on the first page that under GPL licensing they are publishing, slowly.

For which device though? And would the process work for both the 6450 48p and 7250 48p ARM CPUs?

I'm on the fence for a 6450 or 7250 for their low noise and source code availability. I have four 10 Gbps 10GbaseT devices right now and technically could have a 5th, which would me swing towards the 7250 series.

However, building the firmware (with little to no proprietary binary blobs) is one thing that really interests me.

Maybe someone could point us to the source code links? I'll go back through the thread again and see if it was brought up...

The only source code you are going to get for any of these switches is the u-boot bootloader (which is what you linked, I requested u-boot sources for all of their models some time ago and they are *slowly* complying). The actual FastIron software, which is what talks to the ASIC, manages chassis fans, gives you the actual switch management interface etc, is completely proprietary and one giant monolithic binary blob

 

[ronclark]

The 6450-24p is not "NOT" quiet ! Maybe the non poe version. but the "P" version isn't. That's why i just changed my switch fans

I have a 6650-48P Rev A power supplies. I can't hear it over my R710s and my MD1200.
my 6450 came with two power supplies and two fan chartrages. there rear exhaust. I am just running one power supply and one fan chartrage.

 

[vangoose]

I have a 6650-48P Rev A power supplies. I can't hear it over my R710s and my MD1200.
my 6450 came with two power supplies and two fan chartrages. there rear exhaust. I am just running one power supply and one fan chartrage.

6450-48P?

6650 is very very loud even with rev B psus.

 

[ronclark]

I upgraded from a dell switch 24 port power connect.
while plugging things in and moving things around.
i seem to notiest the devices sure grab there dhcp address fast.
Am imagining things?

 

[ronclark]

6450-48P?

6650 is very very loud even with rev B psus.

sorry my bad 6650

 

[vangoose]

I have 6450-24 (not POE), it's relatively quiet.

I also have 7250-24 and 7250-24P. They are both relatively quiet, the P version comes with 2 fan units, so temp is actually about 20C lower than non-P model so the fans might not work as hard as non-P version.

 

[Maciej]

Today I have received 6450-24p switch.
I've bought it in ebay Brocade ICX6450-24P 24-Port Gig PoE Switch + 4 X SFP Ports (2 are SFP+ Ports) | eBay Visually, it is almost perfect - slight signs of use.
Unfortunately, I cannot connect with the use of serial usb-ri45 cable (I'm using ch341 serial cable USB Bridge Controller CH341 - Jiangsu Qinheng Co., Ltd.). After Christmas break I'm planning to purchase other cable to check if it is going to work (maybe a serial port is broken in the switch).
Luckily, the access via the telnet and mgmt port is working. I've managed to update the firmware via tftp (bootloader/image/poe) from Ruckus ICX FastIron 08.0.30t Software Release (.zip) | Software Downloads | Ruckus Wireless Support
The switch is too loud for me so I would have to replace fans in it (I'll do it later)
I have a question regarding a license and perhaps somebody could help me. I have the standard license installed ICX6450_BASE_ROUTER_SOFT_PACKAGE. Is it enough for simple l3 inter-vlan routing or do I need premium license?

 

[juey]

Today I have received 6450-24p switch.
I've bought it in ebay Brocade ICX6450-24P 24-Port Gig PoE Switch + 4 X SFP Ports (2 are SFP+ Ports) | eBay Visually, it is almost perfect - slight signs of use.
Unfortunately, I cannot connect with the use of serial usb-ri45 cable (I'm using ch341 serial cable USB Bridge Controller CH341 - Jiangsu Qinheng Co., Ltd.). After Christmas break I'm planning to purchase other cable to check if it is going to work (maybe a serial port is broken in the switch).
Luckily, the access via the telnet and mgmt port is working. I've managed to update the firmware via tftp (bootloader/image/poe) from Ruckus ICX FastIron 08.0.30t Software Release (.zip) | Software Downloads | Ruckus Wireless Support
The switch is too loud for me so I would have to replace fans in it (I'll do it later)
I have a question regarding a license and perhaps somebody could help me. I have the standard license installed ICX6450_BASE_ROUTER_SOFT_PACKAGE. Is it enough for simple l3 inter-vlan routing or do I need premium license?

Basic license will do the job. Highly doubt the serial is broken, i have bought 6 6450 from garo603, all were working.

 

[Maciej]

Juey, probably you are right that serial cable is broken. Thanks for info about license!

 

[dashpuppy]

Alright, i'm done beating my head on this cement wall. I simply can't get any of my 10 gig ports to come on line event at 1 gig. 1-2 both worked pefectly before i factory reset it. I have no installed the license to enable thesecond set of port but still not able to get link light. Before you go and say try new cable or try this and that. This all worked before i cleared startup config. The cables had link and i was passing traffic. What am i missing ?

I went into the e 1/2/1 and enabled it did wr mem but still no luck. Reloaded still no link.. WTF am i missing !

 

[kapone]

Did you set the "speed" for those ports to 10g? At the relevant port config:

speed-duplex 10g-full

 

[dashpuppy]

Did you set the "speed" for those ports to 10g? At the relevant port config:

speed-duplex 10g-full

Actually i just figured it out. It needed to be set to 1gig to link up. once i did that in the web management it started working. Guess there is no such thing as "Auto"

 

[kapone]

Actually i just figured it out. It needed to be set to 1gig to link up. once i did that in the web management it started working. Guess there is no such thing as "Auto"

 

[fohdeesha]

1/2/1 and 1/2/3 can be set to 10g without a license, 1/2/2 and 1/2/4 require a license to be put into 10gb or else they will go into error-disable state

 

[dashpuppy]

1/2/1 and 1/2/3 can be set to 10g without a license, 1/2/2 and 1/2/4 require a license to be put into 10gb or else they will go into error-disable state

They are now licensed. however my issue was because I left them looking for a 10 gig link instead of a 1gig link.

Assuming, there is no way to set it to see "auto"

 

[fohdeesha]

no, there is typically no auto negotiation between 10gbE and 1gbE, your optics will only support one or the other

 

[dashpuppy]

no, there is typically no auto negotiation between 10gbE and 1gbE, your optics will only support one or the other

SHIT! never thought of it that way !

 

[infoMatt]

no, there is typically no auto negotiation between 10gbE and 1gbE, your optics will only support one or the other

Well, there are some optics that can work either as a 1G or 10G... but yea, the speed is imposed by the host controller, and there isn't any autonegotiation/autosensing... but with the right optics, you can switch from a 1G client to a 10G in a matter of seconds with a single command, without swapping the modules.

 

[fohdeesha]

Well, there are some optics that can work either as a 1G or 10G... but yea, the speed is imposed by the host controller, and there isn't any autonegotiation/autosensing... but with the right optics, you can switch from a 1G client to a 10G in a matter of seconds with a single command, without swapping the modules.

yep, hence the "typically"