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

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Wolfcastle

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Jan 3, 2022
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yeah, there's a reason it's not in my main post, it has so many little hidden limitations, and fully loaded it can't even match the bandwidth on the 6610's rear ports alone, while running the same fans and PSUs. not to mention the 10gbe modules are at insane prices these days (like, $400 each or more), so the only way to really get a usable config is to buy one that already has a module like the one you linked. I've specd them for a couple clients who had very specific needs that the 8030 codetrain on the 6610 couldn't fill in colo like mss clamping in hardware to accommodate gre tunnels, etc, but for home use meh
7450 has lower bandwidth than 6610 but the newer software, lower power, and higher power PoE ports are pretty nice in certain applications. I agree with you that you need to find one that has the modules already otherwise it isn't worth it.
 

fohdeesha

Kaini Industries
Nov 20, 2016
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7450 has lower bandwidth than 6610 but the newer software, lower power, and higher power PoE ports are pretty nice in certain applications. I agree with you that you need to find one that has the modules already otherwise it isn't worth it.
the power draw is almost identical, +/- 5-10% in my experience. the newer PoE is nice indeed
 

fohdeesha

Kaini Industries
Nov 20, 2016
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How long could the password be for the ICX 7250? 40 Digit´s are no Problem for SSH, but not for Webserver? The Webserver rejected than?!

EDIT: it seem´s 30 Digits are ok for the webserver. 40 not!
if you have the web UI enabled, 30+ digit passwords are the least of your worries
 
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Wolfcastle

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Jan 3, 2022
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the power draw is almost identical, +/- 5-10% in my experience. the newer PoE is nice indeed
To be fair, I haven’t actually measured either of them but with no PoE load the 7450-24 is listed at 75W while the 6610-24 is listed at 120W. Fans are probably non negligible in both cases if you don’t swap them out since they’re > 10w each at full speed and you need a minimum 3/switch.
 

fohdeesha

Kaini Industries
Nov 20, 2016
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To be fair, I haven’t actually measured either of them but with no PoE load the 7450-24 is listed at 75W while the 6610-24 is listed at 120W. Fans are probably non negligible in both cases if you don’t swap them out since they’re > 10w each at full speed and you need a minimum 3/switch.
6610-24Ps measure around 80 watts, actual measurements for these should all be in my OP
 

Freebsd1976

Active Member
Feb 23, 2018
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@fohdeesha my icx6450 suddenly lost web and ssh connect. pc connect to RJ45 port still work , but server connect to SFP+ are not (can't ping form pc , but the server's nic light still remain normal ).
after reboot the 6450 , everything seems ok, no error or warning message in logs.
do i need worry about this?
 

blinkenlights

Active Member
May 24, 2019
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7450 has lower bandwidth than 6610 but the newer software, lower power, and higher power PoE ports are pretty nice in certain applications. I agree with you that you need to find one that has the modules already otherwise it isn't worth it.
@fohdeesha and I discussed this privately a while ago. Either platform (Broadcom or Marvell) will meet the needs of most everyone with 1/10 GbE devices. If you are really bumping into performance limitations on either one, there are better options available like Arista.

When I rebuilt my home network, my main considerations were: number/type of ports and ongoing software support (bug and security fixes). Ongoing support made ICX7xxx an easy choice; don't forget that the ICX6xxx switches were designated EOL/EOS in mid-2018 and the last update of the 8030 codetrain was in 2020. For ports, either 7250 or 7450 fit the bill. I started out with an abused ICX7250 that apparently lived in a hot IDF closet in Florida, but quickly replaced it with two 7450s.. the modularity (spare parts) made more sense for when the 7450 eventually goes EOL.
 

jbrukardt

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Feb 4, 2016
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it seems the "beef king" 6610s are dirt cheap now, like 50 bucks on average on ebay. Other than being EOLed and a bit power hungry is there a catch im missing?
 

jbrukardt

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Feb 4, 2016
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How do you tell what models have POE+. The model #s are the same, are all models capable and it just depends on the power supply?
 
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blinkenlights

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May 24, 2019
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How do you tell what models have POE+. The model #s are the same, are all models capable and it just depends on the power supply?
You're not missing anything. If you are comfortable with the age of the switch and don't need/want any new features of the 809x or 9xxx codetrains, get yourself a nice switch. In fact, get two.. when I priced out buying individual spare parts (PSU, fan, port modules) it was just as expensive to buy a fully kitted out switch.

On the POE+ question, those models have a "P" at the end - see page 6 of the datasheet: https://www.dataswitchworks.com/datasheets/switches/brocade-icx-6610-ds.pdf
 
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jbrukardt

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Feb 4, 2016
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awesome, thanks! The 6610 is definitely a bit old codewise, but way newer than what ive got (avaya 4548gt-pwr) and the multitude of 10gbit availability will be nice
 

clcorbin

Member
Feb 15, 2014
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it seems the "beef king" 6610s are dirt cheap now, like 50 bucks on average on ebay. Other than being EOLed and a bit power hungry is there a catch im missing?
I use two of them stacked, one in the garage and one in my "hobby room" closet. The only extra downside to these switches has to be the noise. They are a bit noisy on low fan speed, but the instant they hit 75C (and that is pretty easy...), the fans will spool up to 18,000rpm+ and they sound like a jet getting ready to take off (ok, slight exaggeration). Then, 10 to 15 seconds later, they drop back down for a bit.

How bad this is all depends on where you are placing them and how sensitive to noise you are. These sort of things don't bother me TOO much, but I will say, I have purchased a nice piece of 1/8" plexiglass to make a new cover and allow me to place the 120mm fans on top of the hot spots. I'll also build a pulse generator/fan monitor out of attiny45 8 pin MCU to give me a nice fan header and to keep the switch happy. I'll probably leave the fans in the power supplies alone (I want to keep them cool and on low speed, they are not too bad) but pull the 4 fans out of the two fan trays and feed in the signal from the pulse generator to them.

Overall, I am very happy with the upgrade from my Aruba S3500 stack. The Brocade is definitely a LOT more capable and flexible hardware. Not to mention the 16 10Gb ports on each of them...
 

clcorbin

Member
Feb 15, 2014
79
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Break out port issue. I've configured the switch to use the two 40G ports for stacking and the other two QSFP ports as breakout ports. Stacking works great. I've setup 2/2/2 to 2/2/3 as tagged ports and each one connects to one of two servers. Same with ports 2/2/7 to 2/2/8. They connect perfectly at 10Gb and the two activity lights for the ports are all on and working perfectly.

The other four (ok, 2 times 2) break out ports are setup as untagged on a specific VLAN for management (overkill, but I have the ports, so...). And they do NOT work at all. To verify the ESXI side of things (and to have management access), I have configured one of the front 10Gb ports on the same VLAN and connected it to the primary server in place of the breakout cable. It connects and runs perfectly fine.

Here is the port configuration for the non working breakout port (2/2/4) and working front port (2/3/5):
Code:
blah(config)#sh int eth 2/2/4
  10GigabitEthernet 2/2/4 is down, line protocol is down
  Port down for 7 day(s) 17 hour(s) 50 minute(s) 29 second(s)
  Hardware is   10GigabitEthernet , address is blah (bia blah)
  Configured speed 10Gbit, actual unknown, configured duplex fdx, actual unknown
  Configured mdi mode AUTO, actual unknown
  Member of L2 VLAN ID blah, port is untagged, port state is BLOCKING
  BPDU guard is Disabled, ROOT protect is Disabled, Designated protect is Disabled
  Link Error Dampening is Disabled
  STP configured to ON, priority is level0, mac-learning is enabled
  Openflow is Disabled, Openflow Hybrid mode is Disabled,  Flow Control is config enabled, oper enabled, negotiation disabled
  Mirror disabled, Monitor disabled
  Mac-notification is disabled
  Not member of any active trunks
  Not member of any configured trunks
  Port name is blah
  MTU 1500 bytes, encapsulation ethernet
  300 second input rate: 0 bits/sec, 0 packets/sec, 0.00% utilization
  300 second output rate: 0 bits/sec, 0 packets/sec, 0.00% utilization
  0 packets input, 0 bytes, 0 no buffer
  Received 0 broadcasts, 0 multicasts, 0 unicasts
  0 input errors, 0 CRC, 0 frame, 0 ignored
  0 runts, 0 giants
  100183 packets output, 16651186 bytes, 0 underruns
  Transmitted 69827 broadcasts, 28642 multicasts, 1714 unicasts
  0 output errors, 0 collisions
  Relay Agent Information option: Disabled

Egress queues:
Queue counters    Queued packets    Dropped Packets
    0               97212                   0
    1                   0                   0
    2                   0                   0
    3                   0                   0
    4                   0                   0
    5                2971                   0
    6                   0                   0
    7                   0                   0
blah(config)#sh int eth 2/3/5
10GigabitEthernet2/3/5 is up, line protocol is up
  Port up for 18 minute(s) 25 second(s)
  Hardware is 10GigabitEthernet, address is blah (bia blah)
  Interface type is 10Gig SFP+
  Configured speed 10Gbit, actual 10Gbit, configured duplex fdx, actual fdx
  Member of L2 VLAN ID blah, port is untagged, port state is FORWARDING
  BPDU guard is Disabled, ROOT protect is Disabled, Designated protect is Disabled
  Link Error Dampening is Disabled
  STP configured to ON, priority is level0, mac-learning is enabled
  Openflow is Disabled, Openflow Hybrid mode is Disabled,  Flow Control is enabled
  Mirror disabled, Monitor disabled
  Mac-notification is disabled
  Not member of any active trunks
  Not member of any configured trunks
  Port name is blah
  MTU 1500 bytes, encapsulation ethernet
  300 second input rate: 58576 bits/sec, 8 packets/sec, 0.00% utilization
  300 second output rate: 24432 bits/sec, 10 packets/sec, 0.00% utilization
  5230063 packets input, 4533116887 bytes, 0 no buffer
  Received 228 broadcasts, 22742 multicasts, 5207093 unicasts
  0 input errors, 0 CRC, 0 frame, 0 ignored
  0 runts, 0 giants
  6132363 packets output, 1738716258 bytes, 0 underruns
  Transmitted 1425193 broadcasts, 1397917 multicasts, 3309253 unicasts
  0 output errors, 0 collisions
  Relay Agent Information option: Disabled

Egress queues:
Queue counters    Queued packets    Dropped Packets
    0             5234343                   0
    1                   0                   0
    2                   0                   0
    3              859073                   0
    4                  40                   0
    5               17163                   0
    6               21744                   0
    7                   0                   0
The stack configuration from show run:
Code:
stack unit 1
  module 1 icx6610-48p-poe-port-management-module
  module 2 icx6610-qsfp-10-port-160g-module
  module 3 icx6610-8-port-10g-dual-mode-module
  no legacy-inline-power
  stack-port 1/2/1 1/2/6
stack unit 2
  module 1 icx6610-48p-poe-port-management-module
  module 2 icx6610-qsfp-10-port-160g-module
  module 3 icx6610-8-port-10g-dual-mode-module
  no legacy-inline-power
  priority 200
  stack-port 2/2/1 2/2/6
stack enable
stack mac blah
!
Finally, show interface brief unit 2:
Code:
2/2/1      Up      Forward Full 40G   None  No  N/A  0   
2/2/2      Up      Forward Full 10G   None  Yes N/A  0 
2/2/3      Up      Forward Full 10G   None  Yes N/A  0 
2/2/4      Down    None    None None  None  No  blah   0 
2/2/5      Down    None    None None  None  No  blah   0 
2/2/6      Up      Forward Full 40G   None  No  N/A  0 
2/2/7      Up      Forward Full 10G   None  Yes N/A  0 
2/2/8      Up      Forward Full 10G   None  Yes N/A  0 
2/2/9      Down    None    None None  None  No  blah   0 
2/2/10     Down    None    None None  None  No  blah   0 
<snip>
2/3/5      Up      Forward Full 10G   None  No  blah   0
Once more, I suspect it is something simple and obvious that I am missing. My gut says it has to be in the breakout port configuration, but they APPEAR to be the same as the working front 10Gb port, so I'm doubting my gut right now. Is there an issue with trying to run some of the breakout ports tagged and others untagged?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, even if you have to start the reply with "Hey knucklehead, did you notice ...!"

Regards,

clcorbin
 

fohdeesha

Kaini Industries
Nov 20, 2016
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fohdeesha.com
Break out port issue. I've configured the switch to use the two 40G ports for stacking and the other two QSFP ports as breakout ports. Stacking works great. I've setup 2/2/2 to 2/2/3 as tagged ports and each one connects to one of two servers. Same with ports 2/2/7 to 2/2/8. They connect perfectly at 10Gb and the two activity lights for the ports are all on and working perfectly.

The other four (ok, 2 times 2) break out ports are setup as untagged on a specific VLAN for management (overkill, but I have the ports, so...). And they do NOT work at all. To verify the ESXI side of things (and to have management access), I have configured one of the front 10Gb ports on the same VLAN and connected it to the primary server in place of the breakout cable. It connects and runs perfectly fine.

Here is the port configuration for the non working breakout port (2/2/4) and working front port (2/3/5):
Code:
blah(config)#sh int eth 2/2/4
  10GigabitEthernet 2/2/4 is down, line protocol is down
  Port down for 7 day(s) 17 hour(s) 50 minute(s) 29 second(s)
  Hardware is   10GigabitEthernet , address is blah (bia blah)
  Configured speed 10Gbit, actual unknown, configured duplex fdx, actual unknown
  Configured mdi mode AUTO, actual unknown
  Member of L2 VLAN ID blah, port is untagged, port state is BLOCKING
  BPDU guard is Disabled, ROOT protect is Disabled, Designated protect is Disabled
  Link Error Dampening is Disabled
  STP configured to ON, priority is level0, mac-learning is enabled
  Openflow is Disabled, Openflow Hybrid mode is Disabled,  Flow Control is config enabled, oper enabled, negotiation disabled
  Mirror disabled, Monitor disabled
  Mac-notification is disabled
  Not member of any active trunks
  Not member of any configured trunks
  Port name is blah
  MTU 1500 bytes, encapsulation ethernet
  300 second input rate: 0 bits/sec, 0 packets/sec, 0.00% utilization
  300 second output rate: 0 bits/sec, 0 packets/sec, 0.00% utilization
  0 packets input, 0 bytes, 0 no buffer
  Received 0 broadcasts, 0 multicasts, 0 unicasts
  0 input errors, 0 CRC, 0 frame, 0 ignored
  0 runts, 0 giants
  100183 packets output, 16651186 bytes, 0 underruns
  Transmitted 69827 broadcasts, 28642 multicasts, 1714 unicasts
  0 output errors, 0 collisions
  Relay Agent Information option: Disabled

Egress queues:
Queue counters    Queued packets    Dropped Packets
    0               97212                   0
    1                   0                   0
    2                   0                   0
    3                   0                   0
    4                   0                   0
    5                2971                   0
    6                   0                   0
    7                   0                   0
blah(config)#sh int eth 2/3/5
10GigabitEthernet2/3/5 is up, line protocol is up
  Port up for 18 minute(s) 25 second(s)
  Hardware is 10GigabitEthernet, address is blah (bia blah)
  Interface type is 10Gig SFP+
  Configured speed 10Gbit, actual 10Gbit, configured duplex fdx, actual fdx
  Member of L2 VLAN ID blah, port is untagged, port state is FORWARDING
  BPDU guard is Disabled, ROOT protect is Disabled, Designated protect is Disabled
  Link Error Dampening is Disabled
  STP configured to ON, priority is level0, mac-learning is enabled
  Openflow is Disabled, Openflow Hybrid mode is Disabled,  Flow Control is enabled
  Mirror disabled, Monitor disabled
  Mac-notification is disabled
  Not member of any active trunks
  Not member of any configured trunks
  Port name is blah
  MTU 1500 bytes, encapsulation ethernet
  300 second input rate: 58576 bits/sec, 8 packets/sec, 0.00% utilization
  300 second output rate: 24432 bits/sec, 10 packets/sec, 0.00% utilization
  5230063 packets input, 4533116887 bytes, 0 no buffer
  Received 228 broadcasts, 22742 multicasts, 5207093 unicasts
  0 input errors, 0 CRC, 0 frame, 0 ignored
  0 runts, 0 giants
  6132363 packets output, 1738716258 bytes, 0 underruns
  Transmitted 1425193 broadcasts, 1397917 multicasts, 3309253 unicasts
  0 output errors, 0 collisions
  Relay Agent Information option: Disabled

Egress queues:
Queue counters    Queued packets    Dropped Packets
    0             5234343                   0
    1                   0                   0
    2                   0                   0
    3              859073                   0
    4                  40                   0
    5               17163                   0
    6               21744                   0
    7                   0                   0
The stack configuration from show run:
Code:
stack unit 1
  module 1 icx6610-48p-poe-port-management-module
  module 2 icx6610-qsfp-10-port-160g-module
  module 3 icx6610-8-port-10g-dual-mode-module
  no legacy-inline-power
  stack-port 1/2/1 1/2/6
stack unit 2
  module 1 icx6610-48p-poe-port-management-module
  module 2 icx6610-qsfp-10-port-160g-module
  module 3 icx6610-8-port-10g-dual-mode-module
  no legacy-inline-power
  priority 200
  stack-port 2/2/1 2/2/6
stack enable
stack mac blah
!
Finally, show interface brief unit 2:
Code:
2/2/1      Up      Forward Full 40G   None  No  N/A  0  
2/2/2      Up      Forward Full 10G   None  Yes N/A  0
2/2/3      Up      Forward Full 10G   None  Yes N/A  0
2/2/4      Down    None    None None  None  No  blah   0
2/2/5      Down    None    None None  None  No  blah   0
2/2/6      Up      Forward Full 40G   None  No  N/A  0
2/2/7      Up      Forward Full 10G   None  Yes N/A  0
2/2/8      Up      Forward Full 10G   None  Yes N/A  0
2/2/9      Down    None    None None  None  No  blah   0
2/2/10     Down    None    None None  None  No  blah   0
<snip>
2/3/5      Up      Forward Full 10G   None  No  blah   0
Once more, I suspect it is something simple and obvious that I am missing. My gut says it has to be in the breakout port configuration, but they APPEAR to be the same as the working front 10Gb port, so I'm doubting my gut right now. Is there an issue with trying to run some of the breakout ports tagged and others untagged?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, even if you have to start the reply with "Hey knucklehead, did you notice ...!"

Regards,

clcorbin
reboot the stack (both switches) once the breakout cable is connected on both ends (to the icx's and to your hypervisor hardware). hopefully it will come up after the switch reboot
 

clcorbin

Member
Feb 15, 2014
79
11
8
reboot the stack (both switches) once the breakout cable is connected on both ends (to the icx's and to your hypervisor hardware). hopefully it will come up after the switch reboot
I will give that a try this evening before bed. Thanks!
 

Wolfcastle

Member
Jan 3, 2022
57
30
18
I use two of them stacked, one in the garage and one in my "hobby room" closet. The only extra downside to these switches has to be the noise. They are a bit noisy on low fan speed, but the instant they hit 75C (and that is pretty easy...), the fans will spool up to 18,000rpm+ and they sound like a jet getting ready to take off (ok, slight exaggeration). Then, 10 to 15 seconds later, they drop back down for a bit.

How bad this is all depends on where you are placing them and how sensitive to noise you are. These sort of things don't bother me TOO much, but I will say, I have purchased a nice piece of 1/8" plexiglass to make a new cover and allow me to place the 120mm fans on top of the hot spots. I'll also build a pulse generator/fan monitor out of attiny45 8 pin MCU to give me a nice fan header and to keep the switch happy. I'll probably leave the fans in the power supplies alone (I want to keep them cool and on low speed, they are not too bad) but pull the 4 fans out of the two fan trays and feed in the signal from the pulse generator to them.

Overall, I am very happy with the upgrade from my Aruba S3500 stack. The Brocade is definitely a LOT more capable and flexible hardware. Not to mention the 16 10Gb ports on each of them...
If you want some pointers on the fan mod, take a look at my earlier post in this thread, the whole mod is painless to do. My 6610 and my 7450 (see other thread) are both happily running for months now. My PC is louder than my switches now.
 
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frogtech

Well-Known Member
Jan 4, 2016
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Because...?
My guess would be because it's another vector for potential attack not because there's anything inherently insecure about it (or less insecure than usual for HTTPS)

Of course, I'm saying that without being aware of any prior information that would suggest ruckus web interface has a vulnerability in it
 
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