Brocade ICX Series (cheap & powerful 10gbE/40gbE switching)
- Thread starter fohdeesha
- Start date
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I have no direct experience with the 6000 series. On my 7450 stack I made sure the units all had the same firmware, did my basic config on the unit I designated as the master, then issued "stack enable". It did the rest automatically.
The web interface is shinier and newer, but a lot more limited in what you can do than the old web interface. I have it loaded on a 7150
Per a ruckus employee last month: they do not recommend anyone use 9.0.0.0 unless it has a feature you absolutely need or you use a new icx7850. There are no planned updates/fixes to 9.0.0.0 (a,b,c) and they are going straight to 9.0.1.0. Also configs setup on 9.* will not work 8.0.95* if you downgrade.
This was critical to know, thank you. Backwards compatibility is one of the gotcha's that has bit me in the past.
I haven't gotten deep into switch configuration or performance, but it seems to be working okay. I know that @fohdeesha mentioned that the 9.0.x train was quite buggy in his experience, but I can't say that I've encountered anything with my very basic config.
Here are some photos of the web UI. You'll notice that there are significantly less configuration options - a lot of the "mess" of 8.9x (and previous) firmwares was a big config tree that allowed you to change almost any config item. I don't know if Ruckus is planning on reintroducing some of these config options later in the 9.0.x train. However, from a "I'd like to look at a status dashboard" perspective, it does seem much nicer and cleaner. However, in an enterprise scenario I would expect you'd use an NMS so individual switch status pages may not be super useful.
Anyways, here are some screencaps of the UI:
Hey, I know this is from years ago: Did you end up getting the EPS 1500 as well? I'm looking at direct DC power backup and need the pinout, the connector itself on the switch side is physically ATX 20 pin which is nice.Hello there,
I've had a chance to acquire a Brocade 6450-48 and the EPS 1500 for a bargain (40€ shipping included... Yeah, a french file-sharing company is dumping some stuff). I'm really happy, it's my first entreprise grade switch, and there are two SFP included (1G, no idea what model). Maybe I'll use it as L3 later, but for now my Ubiquiti ERLite 3 is okay for that (and my ISP, Orange, needs unusual setup...).
I updated it to 08.0.30tT311 without difficulties (it was 07 something). The stock fan was a scream, so I replaced it by a Noctua A4X20 FLX, at its lowest speed (3700 rpm). The switch is litteraly silent, it's impressive. I have the "fan failed" error, but I don't mind.
Temperature is okay, sensor B 48°, sensor A is 60°.
Talking about sensors, I have a question : what corresponds sensor A and sensor B ?
Do I have to worry about the sensor A, as it displays warning and shutdown levels, but not sensor B ?
Thank you !
PS : crazy forum here, my IP is banned since I failed my registration a few days ago, no answer from contact form, I have to use a VPN...
The thread there states one needs to flash to a non-UFI image then upgrade. Is this true or is that a typo and one needs to flash to UFI?
Must be a typo, you can upgrade from the UFI firmwares to 9, same as going to 8.0.95. I went directly from 8.0.95 to 9.
I think the issue for this poster was that you have to jump in with both feet on 9.0*, both primary and secondary boot need to be 9.0* can't keep 8.0.9* on the secondary.
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Looking at the show flash output they were trying to keep an 8.0.30 image which is not UFI and had boot loader 10.1.14. Not doing going to work at all. I suspect if they had updated to 8.0.92/95 and UFI on the primary, then loading 9.0 into secondary might work? Or copy pri to sec then put 9.0 on pri.
I think I'll test that on a spare 7150 this weekend; worst case I have to flash it from uBoot to an older loader and non UFI image to recover.
From the linked post:
Code:
SW_ICX7450#sh flash
Stack unit 1:
Compressed Pri Code size = 28713156, Version:08.0.30hT211 (SPS08030h.bin)
Compressed Sec Code size = 33554432, Version:09.0.00T213 (SPR09000.bin)
Compressed Boot-Monitor Image size = 786944, Version:10.1.14T215
Code Flash Free Space = 1650638848You are likely right, I obviously did not parse the original question all that well. Although if the configs are not backward compatible between 8.0.9* and 9.*, do both the primary and and secondary keep separate startup configs to account for this? Could be an issue there, but i'm not sure.
Yeah if you wanted to roll back to v8 you might have to halt it in uBoot and do a factory reset, or just delete the start file from v9 before rebooting back to 8.
Sorry to ask a possible obvious question but... I upgraded my 6450 to a 7250. I have two esxi servers 720 & 730 -
730 has two SFP+ ports, plugged into the 7250 & the 7250 says both units are 10gb but ESXI 7.0 shows both links down. One is a DAC & one is the Brocade 57-0000075-01.
The 720 has the same setup but ESXI 6.7 - 1 dac, 1 Brocade 57-0000075-01 - Esxi 6.7 shows 1 10gb up & 1 10gb down.
The switch shows everything is up? Am I missing something or is this a ESXI "Feature"?
Sorry if I am late to the party.
730 has two SFP+ ports, plugged into the 7250 & the 7250 says both units are 10gb but ESXI 7.0 shows both links down. One is a DAC & one is the Brocade 57-0000075-01.
The 720 has the same setup but ESXI 6.7 - 1 dac, 1 Brocade 57-0000075-01 - Esxi 6.7 shows 1 10gb up & 1 10gb down.
Code:
1/2/5 Up Forward Full 10G None Yes 1
1/2/6 Up Forward Full 10G None Yes 1
1/2/7 Up Forward Full 10G None Yes 1
1/2/8 Up Forward Full 10G None Yes 1The switch shows everything is up? Am I missing something or is this a ESXI "Feature"?
Sorry if I am late to the party.
I'm having a weird issue where the licenses of one of my icx-6450 became invalid. I decided to redo your licensing guide but the same issue persists. The switch is in the stack and is not the master. I wonder if refollowing the guide only applies to the master and doesn't affect the other member. Even though I apply the license to unit 2.
Just out of curiosity, do the ICX6450 show up in the Ruckus Unleashed interface or does it need to be a 7150/7250?
Also, interested to hear people's experience with the reliability of the ICX6450-48P? A ICX7150-C12P fits my requirements fine but really struggling to justify paying >500USD (400GBP) for one when used ICX6450-48P are 150GBP and used ICX7250-48P are around £300.
There is also the option of going for the vanilla ICX6540-48 with no PoE option and just get use injectors for my two APs... Cheap as chips option at 70GBP
Thoughts?
Also, interested to hear people's experience with the reliability of the ICX6450-48P? A ICX7150-C12P fits my requirements fine but really struggling to justify paying >500USD (400GBP) for one when used ICX6450-48P are 150GBP and used ICX7250-48P are around £300.
There is also the option of going for the vanilla ICX6540-48 with no PoE option and just get use injectors for my two APs... Cheap as chips option at 70GBP
Thoughts?
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Needs to be a icx7*** series and a recent FastIron firmware for unleashed integration, but the unleashed ICX integration really isn’t anything to pay extra for.Just out of curiosity, do the ICX6450 show up in the Ruckus Unleashed interface or does it need to be a 7150/7250?
Also, interested to hear people's experience with the reliability of the ICX6450-48P? A ICX7150-C12P fits my requirements fine but really struggling to justify paying >500USD (400GBP) for one when used ICX6450-48P are 150GBP and used ICX7250-48P are around £300.
There is also the option of going for the vanilla ICX6540-48 with no PoE option and just get use injectors for my two APs... Cheap as chips option at 70GBP
Thoughts?
the icx6450 is great and reliable as most enterprise grade hardware especially for the price. If you have the space and don’t need fanless dead silent no reason to get the 7150 c12’s when 7250-48p and 6450-48p’s can be had so cheaply.
When I used an Intel X520-DA2 NIC in one of my ESXi 6.7 servers I found that reloading my 6610 switch would take the NIC down -- no idea why. But I could get both ports back up with these commands:
Code:
esxcli network nic up -n vmnic4
esxcli network nic up -n vmnic5Nowadays I use a SolarFlare SFN6122F, which isn't affected by reloading the switch.
the "hw pid-prom" commands that set the correct license ID, if ran on a stack, will only apply to the master switch, there's no way to make them run on the secondary. it sounds like you ran it on the master, then imported the matching licenses on both switches? that would certainly make the second one go invalid as it no longer has a matching LID
I think you'd have to now unstack the second 6450 and wipe it, then follow the license guide on it to get the LID changed and licenses imported. then once its all valid, and your master is too, re-add it to the stack. this is why it's highly recommended to license all your stuff before stacking it
(theoretically, in a stack, you can jump to the console of secondary units by using the "rconsole 2" command, but I've tested this and it won't let you run the "hw pid" commands from that remote console)
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Also I suppose instead of unstacking it, you could also just use the other hidden method of changing the serial and LID, from the bootloader. console cable to your secondary 6450, reboot it and stop it in the u-boot bootloader, then run:
eeprom clear
eeprom sn 2ax5o2jk68e
reset
it'll reboot and let it boot fully and rejoin the stack like usual. I think you might have to reboot it twice with this method as the first boot after clearing the LID from u-boot has it re-generate one, but not take effect. second reboot has it come up fully changed. then ssh to the stack and import licenses to it, by specifying unit 2:
copy tftp license 192.168.1.8 ICX64xx/1-6450-prem.xml unit 2
copy tftp license 192.168.1.8 ICX64xx/2-6450-ports.xml unit 2
After unstacking it, setting the serial, and adding the licenses again. It's still displayed as invalid. Not sure why.the "hw pid-prom" commands that set the correct license ID, if ran on a stack, will only apply to the master switch, there's no way to make them run on the secondary. it sounds like you ran it on the master, then imported the matching licenses on both switches? that would certainly make the second one go invalid as it no longer has a matching LID
I think you'd have to now unstack the second 6450 and wipe it, then follow the license guide on it to get the LID changed and licenses imported. then once its all valid, and your master is too, re-add it to the stack. this is why it's highly recommended to license all your stuff before stacking it
(theoretically, in a stack, you can jump to the console of secondary units by using the "rconsole 2" command, but I've tested this and it won't let you run the "hw pid" commands from that remote console)
---------------------
Also I suppose instead of unstacking it, you could also just use the other hidden method of changing the serial and LID, from the bootloader. console cable to your secondary 6450, reboot it and stop it in the u-boot bootloader, then run:
eeprom clear
eeprom sn 2ax5o2jk68e
reset
it'll reboot and let it boot fully and rejoin the stack like usual. I think you might have to reboot it twice with this method as the first boot after clearing the LID from u-boot has it re-generate one, but not take effect. second reboot has it come up fully changed. then ssh to the stack and import licenses to it, by specifying unit 2:
copy tftp license 192.168.1.8 ICX64xx/1-6450-prem.xml unit 2
copy tftp license 192.168.1.8 ICX64xx/2-6450-ports.xml unit 2
post the unedited output of both "show version" and "show license", i'm sure it's something simple