Brocade ICX Series (cheap & powerful 10gbE/40gbE switching)
- Thread starter fohdeesha
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There are no stupid questions, only stupid answers 
The answer is no: stacking can only be done using devices in the same family (64xx, 65xx, 66xx, 71xx, 72xx, etc.)
The answer is no: stacking can only be done using devices in the same family (64xx, 65xx, 66xx, 71xx, 72xx, etc.)
Thank you for your answer!There are no stupid questions, only stupid answers
The answer is no: stacking can only be done using devices in the same family (64xx, 65xx, 66xx, 71xx, 72xx, etc.)
How does one aquire a license to upgrade the ports ??forgot to mention: licenses for these models are free for existing STH members - now that they are EOL & discontinued I don't really have an alternative to giving them away
Hello all,
Plugged in a "new to me" 6450-24p, and the thing is hella loud. Ordered some Comair Rotron "Gryphon" GDA4028-12BB fans and it's... still hella loud. Pulled the fans out and running them outside the case, it looks like the most annoying part of the noise is the vibrations and the PWM buzz. Vibration isolation should be pretty easy, but the PWM buzz is the biggest issue at the moment.
I ran across this post (https://forums.servethehome.com/ind...be-40gbe-switching.21107/page-187#post-269342) from earlier in this thred, where a guy used a 330µF to quiet it down. I ran the same test he did briefly, and it does indeed eliminate the PWM buzz.
I've spent the entirety of this evening trying to understand out how low-pass filters work, but I must be incredibly dense, because I'm still just as puzzled as when I started. Based on what I've read, it sounds like you need a resistor and a capacitor to make it work - yet it seems to work just fine with a capacitor by itself.
My question: Does a capacitor, when used in the manner described in that post, have a chance of damaging anything? And if so, and a resistor really should be used, how would one determine what resistor value to use? (and anyone know the PWM frequency on the 6450? I've got a pretty nice (Brymen) multimeter, but the DC frequency function is reading 0hz or 60hz depending when I measure it, and that guy's video show 3khz).
Thank you
Plugged in a "new to me" 6450-24p, and the thing is hella loud. Ordered some Comair Rotron "Gryphon" GDA4028-12BB fans and it's... still hella loud. Pulled the fans out and running them outside the case, it looks like the most annoying part of the noise is the vibrations and the PWM buzz. Vibration isolation should be pretty easy, but the PWM buzz is the biggest issue at the moment.
I ran across this post (https://forums.servethehome.com/ind...be-40gbe-switching.21107/page-187#post-269342) from earlier in this thred, where a guy used a 330µF to quiet it down. I ran the same test he did briefly, and it does indeed eliminate the PWM buzz.
I've spent the entirety of this evening trying to understand out how low-pass filters work, but I must be incredibly dense, because I'm still just as puzzled as when I started. Based on what I've read, it sounds like you need a resistor and a capacitor to make it work - yet it seems to work just fine with a capacitor by itself.
My question: Does a capacitor, when used in the manner described in that post, have a chance of damaging anything? And if so, and a resistor really should be used, how would one determine what resistor value to use? (and anyone know the PWM frequency on the 6450? I've got a pretty nice (Brymen) multimeter, but the DC frequency function is reading 0hz or 60hz depending when I measure it, and that guy's video show 3khz).
Thank you
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When you cold boot it, does it start out really loud, then the fans spin way down about 2 or 3 minutes into boot? It sounds like it may be stuck in full fan speed, after it finishes booting the fans should spin down to like ~20% of their full boot speed
No, it definitely spins down. Just the PWM buzz is really annoying, and there's a bit of vibration I'll need to dampen (when I remove the fans from the case and add the 330µF capacitor like that guy did in his first video, it gets very tolerably quiet). PWM buzz is the most annoying part, really. The 330µF quieted it down nicely, but am currently looking for electronic guidance on whether just hooking up the capacitor like that is safe or not - I have a very basic understanding about how different components (capacitors, resistors, diodes, etc.) work, but anything beyond that I have very little understanding of.
@RobstarUSA - Did you ever get around to trying to setup mDNS/Bonjour ? I am interested in the outcome of this as well. It's quite surprising there isn't a good guide here on how to set this up properly on brocade switches. (working reliably, I mean ). Just like @nickf1227 , I can't seem to get it to work. I am however, much less knowledgeable in the space than he his. I have an ICX7250 which is working fine except this issue of mDNS/Bonjour traffic on my network. I won't mind switching to another brand just to get it to work .
From the Cisco DNA service for Bonjour documentation :
Is there an equivalent for Brocade/Rukus switches?
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AFAIK there isn't a built-in service to the switch for this. Avahi (common OSS mDNS implementation) has a reflector mode that will repeat mDNS broadcasts across different networks. I have this configured on a host with access to all tagged VLANs I want broadcasts repeated across.
As a side note, I'd recommend running Avahi like this on a dedicated host (or at least one that you don't want to actually use mDNS on) so that you can disable caching to work around a bug with continually changing hostnames on Apple devices
Oh, interesting the 6610 does support a mixed stack. The 7k series docs are explicit about no mixed stacking.
Any confirmed cheap SFP+ optics that work fine mellanox cards?
I have these Brocade 57-0000075-01 SFP+ modules and although they work well with the brocade switch, my mellanox connectx-4 card seems to not like them.
edit: nm, I just grabbed a handful of these Mellanox MFM1T02A-SR for $8 a pop
I have these Brocade 57-0000075-01 SFP+ modules and although they work well with the brocade switch, my mellanox connectx-4 card seems to not like them.
edit: nm, I just grabbed a handful of these Mellanox MFM1T02A-SR for $8 a pop
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to be fair the 6610 + 6450 mixed stacking is a bit of a misnomer, they stack in the sense of becoming one "unit" that you manage together, but under the hood the icx6450 is just acting as an L2 port extender - anything l3 and above it has to hairpin over to the 6610 master and back for the 6610 to handle, and also of course that means it's not redundant (if you lose the 6610, the remaining 6450 is just going to be able to handle local l2 traffic only and nothing else)
@fohdeesha Do you have any idea regarding my stacking issue? Is it possible to stack ICX6610s with the 4x10G QSFP breakout ports only and use the 40G non-breakout QSFP ports for uplink?
Is yes, how? I just can't get it to work.
Is yes, how? I just can't get it to work.
Long time lurker, first I want to say a massive thanks to @fohdeesha for taking the time to post that huge thread. It is a great resource, and was the exact reason I chose a brocade for my next switch.
I bought a 7250 yesterday, and I already have some FS and other 10g optics, which from what I have read should work. From my experience with other switches though, work doesn't always mean full features, and I am hoping to monitor RX/TX optical power and log it/have alerts using SNMP for a fiber experiment. Do you know if I need brocade optics for that part of the SFPSHOW command (DOM/DDM monitoring) to work? If so, do brocade coded 3rd party work?
Also, if anyone has a part number for a bidi 10g optic they know works, please post it
I bought a 7250 yesterday, and I already have some FS and other 10g optics, which from what I have read should work. From my experience with other switches though, work doesn't always mean full features, and I am hoping to monitor RX/TX optical power and log it/have alerts using SNMP for a fiber experiment. Do you know if I need brocade optics for that part of the SFPSHOW command (DOM/DDM monitoring) to work? If so, do brocade coded 3rd party work?
Also, if anyone has a part number for a bidi 10g optic they know works, please post it
FS optics coded as Brocade work. I think there’s also a command to enable third party optic monitoring for no -Brocade coded optics.