Thank you for teaching me what Mezzanine cards are. (and for stopping me from buying the wrong card)
Brocade ICX Series (cheap & powerful 10gbE/40gbE switching)
- Thread starter fohdeesha
- Start date
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Thank you for I just googled and learned a tiny bit about blade servers. Also thanks for the URL - shall read tomorrow.
I know in Windows with SMB multilink, you can max out dual 10Gbe connections without LACP. Depends what you're putting on the ESXi, you could LACP them, or assign 2 virtual adapters to each VM. I have a dual port 10G card in a thunderbolt enclosure I max out commonly on my laptop. Moving to 40Gb now and we'll see how well the thunderbolt link keeps up. I know for a fact that it won't be able to utilize 80G 
Definitely look into SR-IOV.
I really want to play with some remote RAM caching my server since half of the 512G sits unused most of the time.
Definitely look into SR-IOV.
I really want to play with some remote RAM caching my server since half of the 512G sits unused most of the time.
40GB PCI question : to go into Dell Tower Server to connect to 10gig port on Brocade 6450
How is this $35
HP 649281-B21 Infiniband FDR/EN 10/40GB 2P 544QSFP ADAPTER 656089-001 661685-001 | eBay
differ from this $110 card
MCX314A-BCBT Mellanox ConnectX-3 CX314A 40GB Dual Port QSFP+ PCI-E Network Card | eBay
How is this $35
HP 649281-B21 Infiniband FDR/EN 10/40GB 2P 544QSFP ADAPTER 656089-001 661685-001 | eBay
differ from this $110 card
MCX314A-BCBT Mellanox ConnectX-3 CX314A 40GB Dual Port QSFP+ PCI-E Network Card | eBay
I remain confused in how Mellanox CX-2 differs from CX-3
(My use: Dell Tower Server needs a 10GB SFP+ PCEi card to connect to Brocade 6450's 10GB port)
The HP 649281-B21 IB FDR/EN 10/40Gb 2P 544QSFP Adapter 656089-001 | eBay you reference above, if using it for 10gb SFP+ with the adapter you show ---confirm that HP card requires flashing ? (to use with the QSFP+ to SFP+ adapters) / thanks
Get the $35 HP card, flash mcx354a-fcbt firmware on it, and it's the same as the $110 version. The original firmware doesn't support 40GbE.
I bought three myself. Seller accepted $28 @ qty = 3.
These three plus the qsfp adapters plus a 6450 updated via fohdeesha guide will make a nice 10g network between my file server, esxi machine, workstation and the rest of my network at home.
These three plus the qsfp adapters plus a 6450 updated via fohdeesha guide will make a nice 10g network between my file server, esxi machine, workstation and the rest of my network at home.
Yes, you can configure zero, one or any number of VLAN you want on any switch port (up to some hardware limit of course).
Alright, finally get home 6 weeks after ordering some network gear and I don't have a console cable for my 6610. The other switches and routers use usb type console cables but the Brocade needs a usb/DB9 to rj45 type. I can't believe I didn't order one. What console (and data cables for that matter) cables or you guys using?
I'm using one of these.
https://smile.amazon.com/Console-Es...534826645&sr=8-3&keywords=cisco+console+cable
The console port is on the back, and that's the same cable I use for every other switch I've ever seen.
yeah it's just the standard cisco rj45 serial pinout, any rj45 serial cable out there will work. for the 6610 the serial port is on the front for the 24 port models, on the rear for the 48 port models. on the 6450 it's on the front regardless
I used this one and it worked just fine:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01N0LMWGQ?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_pd_title
Don't have any licenses for the icx 7 series (if I did they'd still be under active contract), EoL 6 series only
I paid about 175 for my mint condition 6450-24p including shipping (to USA). I forget what seller was asking, maybe 300 but we went back and forth a bit on best-offer. I think I started with 150
This was about 2? months ago
Maybe I could have gotten for less, but I was/am very happy (after fohdeesha's outstanding level of help).
I paid $135 for an excellent condition 6450-24 and $120 for a 6450-24p with one gakked up bent and scraped rack ear and some scraping on the front face sticker. This was about a month ago before STH really jumped on these, it took a couple weeks of waiting and low-ball offering/bidding. I tried a whole bunch of $70+shipping offers but no one took the bait, I think I was about two weeks too late for that to work.
There were loads of 6450s for <$100 back in June/early July, it looks like the sellers upped their ask floor to $125 around the middle of July and the majority of switches are selling for $150-$200 now. STH in full effect yo, just scroll backward through the sold listings and you'll see it:
icx6450 | eBay
There were loads of 6450s for <$100 back in June/early July, it looks like the sellers upped their ask floor to $125 around the middle of July and the majority of switches are selling for $150-$200 now. STH in full effect yo, just scroll backward through the sold listings and you'll see it:
icx6450 | eBay