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

[i386]

My guess it's not the software, but the hardware(asic which processes all the the ethernet frames) being the culprit.

Edit: Actually @fohdeesha posted a link to more detailed post in this thread

 

[sth]

my understanding was that older hardware was 1/10gbps capable, the 2.5/5gbps on existing cable infrastructure was introduced to help businesses scale without upgrading wiring so its a newer technology. The typical 1/10gbps products on the markets that SOHO users are fans of are typically the older units and available cheaply as business upgrade. Newer 10gbps products are often capable of 2.5 & 5 gbps too, but they are still at enterprise price points, for example the 7650 range.
Even though its slower, its actually newer. Give it a few years and I'm sure we'll see 1/2.5/5/10 hardware available < $500.

 

[CorvetteGS]

not possible, details here - https://forums.servethehome.com/ind...an-unifi-alternative.26384/page-3#post-249543

Thank you for confirming!

 

[Alitech]

Pardon me guys and please forgive me for being uninitiated. I was pointed toward this thread from a simple request I put up here:

https://forums.servethehome.com/ind...r-poe-cameras-and-wifi-acs.27497/#post-253723

Now after looking at the options on the first post, i immediately got super excited and bought a Brocade ICX 6450-48P on ebay in the UK. Got it for £140 all in which from the looks of it, is a great deal. I bought it in haste as I needed to get 48 POE switch to take all my lan cables I am putting around my house as I am renovating the place.

However now that I am paying close attention to everything on this massive thread, it doesnt seem like this type of switch is a simple plug and play thing that I had assumed.

It seems there is quite a learning curve here for me and I will definitely need to find some times to tinker with things and look under the hood, learn all the commands etc etc. I dont even know how to get to the boot screen as an example, despite looking at some youtube vids.

Anyways, long story short.. As I have bought used enterprise equipment, I am hoping that a configuration already exists on it. I should just be able to plug my WAN into any of the ports and start connecting all my other gear to it. I am not sure (yet) how to check if all the licenses are on the switch (this is something I didnt know I had to consider). I do want to connect a couple of my servers on to the 10GB ports if they are active at some point.

Is there any tips or advice from any of you guys on how I should start this journey? I saw some links to FAQs and videos, but they start from an already advanced point of view.

For now, what I need is to plug everything in to this switch and get rid of my 5 unmanaged 5 port switches and start using it. I will invest some time into learning everything as soon as my house is renovated and I have some time to sink my teeth into this.

 

[Vesalius]

Pardon me guys and please forgive me for being uninitiated. I was pointed toward this thread from a simple request I put up here:

https://forums.servethehome.com/ind...r-poe-cameras-and-wifi-acs.27497/#post-253723

Now after looking at the options on the first post, i immediately got super excited and bought a Brocade ICX 6450-48P on ebay in the UK. Got it for £140 all in which from the looks of it, is a great deal. I bought it in haste as I needed to get 48 POE switch to take all my lan cables I am putting around my house as I am renovating the place.

However now that I am paying close attention to everything on this massive thread, it doesnt seem like this type of switch is a simple plug and play thing that I had assumed.

It seems there is quite a learning curve here for me and I will definitely need to find some times to tinker with things and look under the hood, learn all the commands etc etc. I dont even know how to get to the boot screen as an example, despite looking at some youtube vids.

Anyways, long story short.. As I have bought used enterprise equipment, I am hoping that a configuration already exists on it. I should just be able to plug my WAN into any of the ports and start connecting all my other gear to it. I am not sure (yet) how to check if all the licenses are on the switch (this is something I didnt know I had to consider). I do want to connect a couple of my servers on to the 10GB ports if they are active at some point.

Is there any tips or advice from any of you guys on how I should start this journey? I saw some links to FAQs and videos, but they start from an already advanced point of view.

For now, what I need is to plug everything in to this switch and get rid of my 5 unmanaged 5 port switches and start using it. I will invest some time into learning everything as soon as my house is renovated and I have some time to sink my teeth into this.

read the first post and message the thread OP to get a license.

follow his step by step guide linked below and your switch will end up exactly as you want it as a simple plug and play switch. It can do much more but you don’t have to make it do so unless you want to.

ICX6430 / ICX6450 - Fohdeesha Docs

 

[fohdeesha]

Pardon me guys and please forgive me for being uninitiated. I was pointed toward this thread from a simple request I put up here:

https://forums.servethehome.com/ind...r-poe-cameras-and-wifi-acs.27497/#post-253723

Now after looking at the options on the first post, i immediately got super excited and bought a Brocade ICX 6450-48P on ebay in the UK. Got it for £140 all in which from the looks of it, is a great deal. I bought it in haste as I needed to get 48 POE switch to take all my lan cables I am putting around my house as I am renovating the place.

However now that I am paying close attention to everything on this massive thread, it doesnt seem like this type of switch is a simple plug and play thing that I had assumed.

It seems there is quite a learning curve here for me and I will definitely need to find some times to tinker with things and look under the hood, learn all the commands etc etc. I dont even know how to get to the boot screen as an example, despite looking at some youtube vids.

Anyways, long story short.. As I have bought used enterprise equipment, I am hoping that a configuration already exists on it. I should just be able to plug my WAN into any of the ports and start connecting all my other gear to it. I am not sure (yet) how to check if all the licenses are on the switch (this is something I didnt know I had to consider). I do want to connect a couple of my servers on to the 10GB ports if they are active at some point.

Is there any tips or advice from any of you guys on how I should start this journey? I saw some links to FAQs and videos, but they start from an already advanced point of view.

For now, what I need is to plug everything in to this switch and get rid of my 5 unmanaged 5 port switches and start using it. I will invest some time into learning everything as soon as my house is renovated and I have some time to sink my teeth into this.

yeah, read the first post, it has exactly what you're asking

 

[infoMatt]

Pardon me guys and please forgive me for being uninitiated. [...]
However now that I am paying close attention to everything on this massive thread, it doesnt seem like this type of switch is a simple plug and play thing that I had assumed.

It seems there is quite a learning curve here for me and I will definitely need to find some times to tinker with things and look under the hood, learn all the commands etc etc. I dont even know how to get to the boot screen as an example, despite looking at some youtube vids.

Anyways, long story short.. As I have bought used enterprise equipment, I am hoping that a configuration already exists on it. I should just be able to plug my WAN into any of the ports and start connecting all my other gear to it. I am not sure (yet) how to check if all the licenses are on the switch (this is something I didnt know I had to consider). I do want to connect a couple of my servers on to the 10GB ports if they are active at some point.
[...]

By default the sellers should do an erase config, so it will act as a "dumb" unmanaged 48p switch, forwarding all traffic between all ports. Now, from that point, you can configure it to do some more things, or not, it's your choice. To configure it, you'll need a Cisco-style serial cable and a PC with a serial port (or a USB to RS232 adapter), to connect to the "console" port on the front side.

Keep in mind that this is a switch, not a router... it won't do NAT and PPPoE for example, you should have upstream of it a modem/router for your internet connection (xDSL/FTTH/Coax...). Think of it as an Ethernet "port multiplier"

 

[kapone]

By default the sellers should do an erase config, so it will act as a "dumb" unmanaged 48p switch, forwarding all traffic between all ports. Now, from that point, you can configure it to do some more things, or not, it's your choice. To configure it, you'll need a Cisco-style serial cable and a PC with a serial port (or a USB to RS232 adapter), to connect to the "console" port on the front side.

Keep in mind that this is a switch, not a router... it won't do NAT and PPPoE for example, you should have upstream of it a modem/router for your internet connection (xDSL/FTTH/Coax...). Think of it as an Ethernet "port multiplier"

- It IS a router. A Layer 3 router.
- That's one of many many many (did I say many?) different ways.

 

[infoMatt]

- It IS a router. A Layer 3 router.
- That's one of many many many (did I say many?) different ways.

Yes, you're right, I wanted to say "a home router+firewall+NAT"... I've over-simplified, due to lack of morning coffee..
And my message was written to help @Alitech to start using the switch, as he will gain knowledge and experience it might use it in different ways... or not, who knows

 

[Alitech]

Thanks folks. I have ordered the USB to RS232 cable from Amazon on same-day delivery so I can tinker with things a bit. I do already have a router + rudimentary firewall with the Netgear Orbi which I plan to change to a pfsense at some point (already bought the kit and installed it and gave up as the ports assignment was causing an error, but I want to reinstall and start again in the next week or so).

I have a cable internet connection which goes into its own modem and the Wan goes into my orbi. I will plug my WAN into one of the 48 ports and try if it everything works as expected.

I will of course dive into the OS once I get hold of the cable today.

Just a couple of quick questions, there are 2 ports on the extreme left, I know the top one is the console one, but the 2nd one is supposed to be an Out of band management port according to the manual here: Ruckus ICX 6430 and 6450 Campus Switches | Products | Ruckus Wireless Support

What is this for?

Should I expect all the SFP+ ports to be 10GB by default?

Another question, the manuals say that the switch provides POE on all ports and will provide POE+ on all ports if I have an external power supply.

Is there a limit on how many ports get POE+ without an external PSU? I am not sure of this and the manual doesn't clarify this.

I have a bunch of POE and POE+ stuff in the house. I am hoping it will auto-sense which device wants how much power and deal with it. I will of course not meet the full advertised power draw for all my POE stuff, I think I am looking at a maximum of 140w on POE on top of the 50w idle the switch will draw.

Can I expect POE+ at all without an external PSU?

 

[Vesalius]

Just a couple of quick questions, there are 2 ports on the extreme left, I know the top one is the console one, but the 2nd one is supposed to be an Out of band management port according to the manual here: Ruckus ICX 6430 and 6450 Campus Switches | Products | Ruckus Wireless Support

What is this for?
Don't use it, but expect is an isolated network management port

Should I expect all the SFP+ ports to be 10GB by default?
Yes, once you set up a license from the OP. otherwise, only 2 of the 4 will work at 10G.

Another question, the manuals say that the switch provides POE on all ports and will provide POE+ on all ports if I have an external power supply.

Is there a limit on how many ports get POE+ without an external PSU? I am not sure of this and the manual doesn't clarify this.
Don't think there is

I have a bunch of POE and POE+ stuff in the house. I am hoping it will auto-sense which device wants how much power and deal with it. I will of course not meet the full advertised power draw for all my POE stuff, I think I am looking at a maximum of 140w on POE on top of the 50w idle the switch will draw.
Will need to set inline power and potentially lldp on the switch ports you will be using for POE for the switch to deliver and advertise available power. See page 9 of the document linked below.

LLDP/POE on Ruckus/Brocade Fast Iron

Can I expect POE+ at all without an external PSU?
yes, both 802.3af (PoE) and 802.3at (PoE+) will work without external PSU. I am using 802.3at (PoE+) without external power.

 

[nthu9280]

The data sheet you linked has a table showing the max POE+ Ports with internal power supply for various models.

 

[infoMatt]

Is there a limit on how many ports get POE+ without an external PSU? I am not sure of this and the manual doesn't clarify this.

I have a bunch of POE and POE+ stuff in the house. I am hoping it will auto-sense which device wants how much power and deal with it. I will of course not meet the full advertised power draw for all my POE stuff, I think I am looking at a maximum of 140w on POE on top of the 50w idle the switch will draw.

Can I expect POE+ at all without an external PSU?

The only limit is the available power budget for PoE/PoE+ devices. Be aware that if you enable inline-power on all ports it will complain (after issuing the command and at every boot) that it might deactivate some ports because by default it assigns 30W to each (worst case scenario), exceeding the available budget.
But don't worry, il will recompute the effective power negotiated (and drawn) as soon as you plug in a PD, and you can assign a proritiy to each port, telling what devices to shut down will the power budget be exceeded.

The internal supply allows for 780W of PoE power budget, and if I remember correctly it will be decreased by the negotiated max power draw for each port, not by the effective usage at every moment, but I don't want to bet on this.

 

[Alitech]

Switched the thing on and woah... its a bit louder than I expected. Your mileage or tolerance may vary. Its louder than I would like even though I know Fohdeesha thinks its ok. Any advice on what fan upgrades I should look like? I will use about 10 POE ports so would like to ensure I have enough cooling and super quite as well.

Please do recommend some fans and your experience.

Also, will I be ok if I disconnect a couple of the fans if I use 10 POE devices as fohdeesha has suggested?

 

[Vesalius]

Switched the thing on and woah... its a bit louder than I expected. Your mileage or tolerance may vary. Its louder than I would like even though I know Fohdeesha thinks its ok. Any advice on what fan upgrades I should look like? I will use about 10 POE ports so would like to ensure I have enough cooling and super quite as well.

Please do recommend some fans and your experience.

Also, will I be ok if I disconnect a couple of the fans if I use 10 POE devices as fohdeesha has suggested?

I used the fans suggested in this video.

 

[Alitech]

Yes I saw that, and then I saw some comments from a guy asking if the Noctua fans could be even better for noise. I didnt see a reply to that so I posted a question on there again today.

Has anyone used Noctua fans? and if you have, which model number

 

[nthu9280]

@Alitech - these forum/just the thread can be searched and your question has already been discussed.

 

[Alitech]

@fohdeesha Can you please clarify this on your instructions please? This is for the 6450-48p

Connect to the switches serial/console port on the front using a program like Putty (9600 8N1), and connect any of the normal switch ports to your network (do NOT use the dedicated management port).

I connected the switch to the console port and connected via putty fine, i could run a few of the CLI commands and saw some stuff on there, however is there a reason why I need to connect the switch to the existing network to update the firmware? As soon as I do that the switch seems to take the whole network down. All internet etc around the whole house goes down. I have tried this twice. This is so weird. Do you think I am doing something wrong or is there something in the switch that may be causing this?

Also, in the zip file, there seems to be 2 firmwares for POE, your instructions refer to a single file. Which file of these two should I use?

icx64xxc12_poeplus_02.03.09.fw
icx64xx_poeplus_02.1.0.b004.fw

Thank you.

 

[infoMatt]

@Alitech you'll need to connect the switch at least to your PC/tftpserver used to download the firmware.
If connecting the switch to the network takes this down, please check the IP address assigned to the VE1 interface of the switch itself, it might be the same as your gateway.

 

[Alitech]

@Alitech you'll need to connect the switch at least to your PC/tftpserver used to download the firmware.
If connecting the switch to the network takes this down, please check the IP address assigned to the VE1 interface of the switch itself, it might be the same as your gateway.

Thanks, I will have to look up how to lookup the IP address on VE1. Do you know what command to use to reset to factory defaults? That should clear all assigned IP addresses. I would then be able to do the firmware upgrade.