Brocade ICX Series (cheap & powerful 10gbE/40gbE switching)
- Thread starter fohdeesha
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this is all quite standard for layer 3 switches (aside from maybe the mikrotik stuff)
Quick question. I want to grab this ICX6450-24P : Brocade ICX6450-24P 24-Port Gig PoE Switch + 4 X SFP Ports (2 are SFP+ Ports) | eBay
The auction says "4 X SFP Ports (2 are SFP+ Ports)". Checking the awesome FAQ by fohdeesha https://fohdeesha.com/data/other/brocade/ICX6450 FAQ.pdf it says,
"A license (ICX6450-2X10G-LIC-POD) to upgrade the 1 GbE ports to 10 GbE speed is available and provides four 10 GbE ports per Brocade ICX 6450 Switch"
I just wanted to confirm that this will enable SFP+ and 10GbE speed on all fours ports for this specific switch i was looking at?
Thanks!
The auction says "4 X SFP Ports (2 are SFP+ Ports)". Checking the awesome FAQ by fohdeesha https://fohdeesha.com/data/other/brocade/ICX6450 FAQ.pdf it says,
"A license (ICX6450-2X10G-LIC-POD) to upgrade the 1 GbE ports to 10 GbE speed is available and provides four 10 GbE ports per Brocade ICX 6450 Switch"
I just wanted to confirm that this will enable SFP+ and 10GbE speed on all fours ports for this specific switch i was looking at?
Thanks!
Yup, will work as expected.
Im repeating, garo603 is a good seller for the 6450, got 6 units from him. Maybe we should start making a white/blacklist of sellers in this thread @fohdeesha
To bad he's in the UK, if that was in or Near Canada id scoop up one for a spare unit.
What is everyone using for automation on your switches? One of my rules on my new rebuild is to have everything managed by automation, so things can quickly be replaced and reprogrammed exactly the same way.
I've found some Ansible examples by Brocade:
brocade/ansible
It doesn't seem to use ironware but some API/Python and ssh where the API is not supported.
I'd prefer a more ironware-centric interface. I've found ironware Ansible module but lots of people having issues with it.
I also prefer Ansible, but also have extensive experience with Chef and SaltStack as well. Puppet is another option, though I haven't used that much.
Thanks!
I've found some Ansible examples by Brocade:
brocade/ansible
It doesn't seem to use ironware but some API/Python and ssh where the API is not supported.
I'd prefer a more ironware-centric interface. I've found ironware Ansible module but lots of people having issues with it.
I also prefer Ansible, but also have extensive experience with Chef and SaltStack as well. Puppet is another option, though I haven't used that much.
Thanks!
On rukus's websit you can find ansible module for ICX (Ansible Modules for ICX | Software Downloads | Ruckus Wireless Support). I have not tested it yet but I'm going to check it.
I'm having lacp problems with FS.com SQFP+ breakout DAC cables. I have two 6610 in a stack configuration. When I use SFP+ cables my lacp come up fine but using a QSFP breakout dac the status is LACP-Blocked. Anyone have any ideas on why this might be happening?
I have a "sound sensitive" area I'm trying to get 3x 10Gbps ports to. It doesn't have to be silent but I have a 6610 and its just too loud for that area.
From the OP the Brocade ICX 6450 would fit the bill. From the sounds of it I could pull the fans and make it fanless? Has anyone done this and ran into any problem?
From the OP the Brocade ICX 6450 would fit the bill. From the sounds of it I could pull the fans and make it fanless? Has anyone done this and ran into any problem?
You can replace the fans on the 6450. many people have done it and made them silent. I've replaced fans on 7150s and made them silent.
6610 fans cannot be modified or replaced and still work
I personally measured the 6450-24 (non-POE) from a meter away at just under 40db with stock fans. Some people have reported louder stock fans and have had to replace them to get acceptable noise levels, but if you’re comparing this to your 6610 (have one of these as well) it is not even close. I’ve yet to find a person who noticed any sound from my 6450 unless I point it out. I wouldn’t completely remove the fans, but do know that people have disabled all but one or replaced with even quieter ones. I have not.
how often are you reconfiguring your home switch to need automation? If your goal is just to quickly replace or reprogram a new unit, ansible is a really roundabout way to do that for a switch. Just run "copy tftp startup-config backup.cfg" on a fresh unit to import the config of your last one and you're off to the races, that will be way quicker than getting a fresh unit into a state where ansible can talk to it and get it "deployed". I personally don't think I'd ever bother automating switch configs via ansible/puppet/etc outside of a really dynamic environment (like hosting) where the coming and going of customers/boxes/etc means you need to tear down and build complex ACLs on the fly, teardown and set up new VEs, that kind of thing (which is what the ICX ansible module was designed with in mind). can't imagine ever needing to do that at home. seems like headache for the sake of headache. However I understand this is STH and that's nearly the tagline of this place, so if that's the case go for it
Also the modules you linked are for brocades old fabric OS that runs on their infiniband gear, and the ironware stuff is for ironware which is the routing platform OS that runs on (now Extreme's) CER/MLX/SLX models. the only ansible stuff that will be of use on fastiron ICX models are the ones just released by ruckus linked earlier, and they're only for the icx7xxx series (well, only for 08.0.91, which only the 7 series runs)
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Nice find!
I'm tempted by one of these also, bit won't have the ability to test it right connected up right now. Is there some in-built self-test routine, or a way to test using DACs between the switch ports etc.?
Also, has anyone tested these with nBase-T SFPs (eg. MicroTik)? I have a pair of 2.5GBase-T adapters I'd like to link up to.
if you have a serial adapter to watch switch output, it will generally tell you if something is wrong during boot. The only failure you really need to look out for is PoE boards getting fried, and if that's the case it'll complain a lot during bootup. If you want, you can stick SFP+ ports in different VLANs and connect them together if you want to confirm the ports link up. no Nbase-T support, only 10gbps (10gbase-T modules work fine, but no other speeds)