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

[jasonwc]

I have an ICX6610-48p. I'm currently using all SFP+ ports, both 40G QSFP+ ports (40G-LR4 Lite optics work great) and one of the two QSFP+ breakout ports with a QSFP+ to 4 x SFP+ cable. However, I would like to use the other breakout port to add more fiber ports.

Is there any particular reason to go with the Brocade XBR-000232. This Finisar 40Gb FTL410QE2C-G1 QSFP-40G-SR4 is actually cheaper with free shipping ($8). In addition, there appears to be no digital optical monitoring on the QSFP+ ports, the main reason to go with a Brocade transceiver. Anything I'm missing?

Finisar 40Gb FTL410QE2C-G1 QSFP-40G-SR4 40GBASE-SR4 Gen2 QSFP Transceiver 200p | eBay

Finisar 40Gb FTL410QE2C-G1 40GBASE-SR4 150m Gen2 QSFP+ Optical Transceiver >200p. MPO connector.

www.ebay.com

Also, will this work for an MPO to 4 x Duplex OM3 LC cable?

MOLEX QSFP MPO/MTP 8F to 4x LC Fiber Optic Breakout Cable, Multimode OM3 Aqua | eBay

Contains 8 Corning ClearCurve OM3 Multimode 50 /125μm Fibers for 850/1300nm. Each of the 8 LC fibers has a 1.6mm OD jacket and is about 0.5m (1.6ft) long from the breakout section of the cable. Each of the 8 LC fibers is individually numbered/labeled.

www.ebay.com

I plan to use some OM3 LC-LC adapters to connect to my existing OM3 cables.

8 Pcs LC to LC Duplex Multimode Fiber Optic Cable Adapter Connector LC-LC OM3 | eBay

These are OM3 LC-LC Duplex Multimode Fiber Optic Adapter. All Products. USEFUL LINKS. (Not Selected).

www.ebay.com

 

[klui]

I don't have experience with these parts but I prefer transceivers having pull tabs instead of bail-clasps because you can remove them without disconnecting the patch cords. The form factor for your breakout patch cord should work but I would be weary if the LC ends can't be swapped in case they are A-A vs. A-B. The datasheet doesn't state if they are changable in the field.

But probably can.

 

[fohdeesha]

I don’t see anything in the release notes that’s particularly compelling (disable ssh… woo). Do you have any insight into the resolved issues?

just all the bugfixes listed in the release notes, seems like mostly stacking related reboots fixed, nothing major

 

[fohdeesha]

When I followed the guide, I would get the following error:

ICX77xx-Boot> update_uboot
Updating BOOT image over TFTP
Using FM1@DTSEC1 device
TFTP from server 192.168.1.2; our IP address is 192.168.2.2; sending through gateway 192.168.2.1
Filename 'ICX7xxx/spz10118.bin'.
Load address: 0x1000000
Loading: #
!!!Error: Not a BROCADE UBOOT file:Header Type 0x215
ICX77xx-Boot>

I found that the latest standalone bootloader for the 7750 is provided with the 8090mc firmware from the ruckus website here. I was able to successfully install that bootloader and the 8090mc firmware on the switch. The filenames are:
8090mc/ICX7750/Boot/swz10118.bin
8090mc/ICX7750/Images/SWR08090mc.bin



Unfortunately, this particular switch seems to be having issues and I cant get fastiron to start.

From the bootloader, I was able to install the 8095g firmware.
8095g/ICX7750/Images/SWR08095gufi.bin
This installs a new bootloader (10.1.19T205).

I am able to boot to the linux prompt but am not sure where to go from here.

Any ideas welcomed. I have attached the console output and can provide the coredump if needed.

Indeed, you can't flash the icx7150/7250 bootloader to the 7750 but looks like you got the files figured out. Sadly from your logs it looks pretty clear it's a hardware failure, it looks like the ASIC is no longer coming up:

SOC unit 0 attached to PCI device BCM56852_A2
0:soc_trident2_chip_reset: LCPLL 0 not locked on unit 0 status = 0x00000000
ERROR: SOC unit 0 system_init failed
**********  BCM SDK init FAILED  *************

 

[fohdeesha]

I have an ICX6610-48p. I'm currently using all SFP+ ports, both 40G QSFP+ ports (40G-LR4 Lite optics work great) and one of the two QSFP+ breakout ports with a QSFP+ to 4 x SFP+ cable. However, I would like to use the other breakout port to add more fiber ports.

Is there any particular reason to go with the Brocade XBR-000232. This Finisar 40Gb FTL410QE2C-G1 QSFP-40G-SR4 is actually cheaper with free shipping ($8). In addition, there appears to be no digital optical monitoring on the QSFP+ ports, the main reason to go with a Brocade transceiver. Anything I'm missing?

Finisar 40Gb FTL410QE2C-G1 QSFP-40G-SR4 40GBASE-SR4 Gen2 QSFP Transceiver 200p | eBay

Finisar 40Gb FTL410QE2C-G1 40GBASE-SR4 150m Gen2 QSFP+ Optical Transceiver >200p. MPO connector.

www.ebay.com

Also, will this work for an MPO to 4 x Duplex OM3 LC cable?

MOLEX QSFP MPO/MTP 8F to 4x LC Fiber Optic Breakout Cable, Multimode OM3 Aqua | eBay

Contains 8 Corning ClearCurve OM3 Multimode 50 /125μm Fibers for 850/1300nm. Each of the 8 LC fibers has a 1.6mm OD jacket and is about 0.5m (1.6ft) long from the breakout section of the cable. Each of the 8 LC fibers is individually numbered/labeled.

www.ebay.com

I plan to use some OM3 LC-LC adapters to connect to my existing OM3 cables.

8 Pcs LC to LC Duplex Multimode Fiber Optic Cable Adapter Connector LC-LC OM3 | eBay

These are OM3 LC-LC Duplex Multimode Fiber Optic Adapter. All Products. USEFUL LINKS. (Not Selected).

www.ebay.com

yeah that will all work

 

[Deleted member 34436]

Does the Cisco Serial Cable work with brocades?

 

[fohdeesha]

Does the Cisco Serial Cable work with brocades?

sure

 

[Damo]

Anyone got suggestions for cheap QSFP+ breakout port (ICX6610) found Brocade 40G-QSFP-4SFP-C-0301 Compatible 40G QSFP to 4x10G SFP+ DAC Cable

What do I need to look for the second PSU on ebay?
And is there anything I can do to reduce power? This is my first switch, disabling ports maybe?

 

[godlike]

Hi!
ICX 6450 here.
Stupid question:
IP address assigned to ve interface becomes unreachable once all Ethernet ports are down in given VLAN (as ve itself becomes down).
Is it possible to alter this behavior and make ve interface always up regardless is something connected to Ethernet ports or not?
Thank you!

 

[jasonwc]

Anyone got suggestions for cheap QSFP+ breakout port (ICX6610) found Brocade 40G-QSFP-4SFP-C-0301 Compatible 40G QSFP to 4x10G SFP+ DAC Cable

What do I need to look for the second PSU on ebay?
And is there anything I can do to reduce power? This is my first switch, disabling ports maybe?

You don’t need to pay extra for a Brocade-coded QSFP+ breakout cable. You’ll find a lot of cheap Cisco-coded ones on EBay which will work fine.

 

[itronin]

Hi!
ICX 6450 here.
Stupid question:
IP address assigned to ve interface becomes unreachable once all Ethernet ports are down in given VLAN (as ve itself becomes down).
Is it possible to alter this behavior and make ve interface always up regardless is something connected to Ethernet ports or not?
Thank you!

what you are describing is the defined "normal" behavior. If all ports in a vlan are down then where would a ve belonging to that vlan send traffic destined for that vlan?

now... If this switch is connected to another port, say using a trunk and that trunk is always up you *could* assign the vlan in question to that trunk and the ve will stay up.

Not knowing your reasoning for the question I can also offer this (of which you may already be aware): If your need/reason for the ve is to source say routing information, tracerts, pings, or just plain serve as a monitored or management interface then consider creating loopback interface on the switch and either advertising via routing protocol the switche's ip address or statically defining the switches ip address in your core or an upstream switch. From a management/sourcing standpoint loopback is my preferred method.

 

[godlike]

what you are describing is the defined "normal" behavior. If all ports in a vlan are down then where would a ve belonging to that vlan send traffic destined for that vlan?

now... If this switch is connected to another port, say using a trunk and that trunk is always up you *could* assign the vlan in question to that trunk and the ve will stay up.

Not knowing your reasoning for the question I can also offer this (of which you may already be aware): If your need/reason for the ve is to source say routing information, tracerts, pings, or just plain serve as a monitored or management interface then consider creating loopback interface on the switch and either advertising via routing protocol the switche's ip address or statically defining the switches ip address in your core or an upstream switch. From a management/sourcing standpoint loopback is my preferred method.

Thank you for the reply.
My reasoning is exactly as you've described - routing information, tracerts, pings, etc.
Yeah, I know about loopback addresses, however my switch is gateway for mentioned vlans so I need to set ip addresses there (to not enable such things as proxy arp if it is supported at all).

I completely understand that this is normal behavior but I used other hardware which treated virtual interfaces as belonging to device itselfso they we not going down and I found this behavior convenient for me.

Very simple example - let's imagine I have switch without CPE connecting _so far_. I've set up ACL and want ping from one vlan another. Considering I assume the only alive IP in that new Vlan is ip address attached to VE. Now, no ping will not give me understanding - is it mistake in ACL or interface is just down. Slightly inconvenient.

But again, I can live with this .

 

[itronin]

But again, I can live with this .

a quick google shows

caveat emptor: I have just skimmed through this 'cause I figured you might be able to throw a port into loopback. Whether that will bring up the VE for a port defined in that vlan or not IDK. I don't have a 6450 so I can't test and only offer the outcome of my curiosity which may help you or may do something completely different that is of no help at all!

 

[godlike]

Whoa, your google-fu is superior! I'll give that a try!

 

[kpfleming]

Anyone got suggestions for cheap QSFP+ breakout port (ICX6610) found Brocade 40G-QSFP-4SFP-C-0301 Compatible 40G QSFP to 4x10G SFP+ DAC Cable

What do I need to look for the second PSU on ebay?
And is there anything I can do to reduce power? This is my first switch, disabling ports maybe?

Disabling ports will not reduce idle power consumption. You've got an enterprise-grade 10G/40G switch that is a few generations behind the state-of-the-art, it's going to consume a noticeable amount of power.

 

[LodeRunner]

Anyone got suggestions for cheap QSFP+ breakout port (ICX6610) found Brocade 40G-QSFP-4SFP-C-0301 Compatible 40G QSFP to 4x10G SFP+ DAC Cable

What do I need to look for the second PSU on ebay?
And is there anything I can do to reduce power? This is my first switch, disabling ports maybe?

Power consumption in high-end switches comes from 3 main areas: cooling, the actual switching ASIC and management CPU, and connected ports. Switch ports that are not connected don't consume enough power to be worth trying to save.

Being blunt, if you're looking for power efficiency, 10G/40G switching is the wrong place to be looking. My Arista 7050QX-32S that's quite a bit newer than than the 6610, with 3 optics and 8 DACs connected draws a fairly constant 82W approximately; it has 500W PSUs. My ICX7450-48P, with 16 ethernet and 2 QSFP attached and up (but no PoE devices at the moment) draws an estimated 100-120W based on the UPS load when I've taken it down; it doesn't have internal power monitoring to report PSU output. My 7450 has 1000W PSUs.

The PSU part number depends on if it's for a PoE or non-PoE model. In either case, I believe you'll want to look for Rev C power supplies, they are allegedly quieter. I don't have a 6610 and that particular discussion is way back up-thread. The 1000W PoE model is the RPS16-E/I (exhaust or intake, depending on the airflow direction of your switch.

 

[mutatedmonkey]

Is there a general consensus on what model fan is a good replacement for the ICX-6450-48P? I won't be running more than 4-8 POE devices and would like it to be quieter. I was going to use Noctua's, but read in this thread that they don't push enough air to keep things cool. Sorry if this has been asked/answered before, but the thread is 384 pages long at this point!

 

[LiamWJBlom]

not possible to disable the serial port, they could have changed/disabled it in the uboot bootloader but then fastiron would still have output when it finishes booting. It's possible to change the baudrate in uboot, I doubt that's the case but worth a try, try fresh booting it with your terminal set to the following (reboot it each time you change): 38400, 57600, 115200

Turns out my 2 USB-to-Serial adapters were faulty. Got another one and is working with a mikrotik but still not on these brocade? Tried the reboot on other baud rates as well. Any other way to get into these switches?

 

[Dave Corder]

Anyone got suggestions for cheap QSFP+ breakout port (ICX6610) found Brocade 40G-QSFP-4SFP-C-0301 Compatible 40G QSFP to 4x10G SFP+ DAC Cable

I have a breakout cable I don't need - PM me if you want to make a deal.

 

[frogtech]

I've got two 7250-24P switches but even with fan mods they're still noisier than I like, and it's hard to find good fans for them that don't cause temperatures to increase by 15 to 20 degrees.

Felt like this would be a good place to ask: any 7250 vets who have sense moved on to other 10 gig switches that are as feature rich? Basically fully layer 3? Don't really need any additional fancy features like DCB, PFC, etc. Ideally 4 or more SFP+ ports.