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

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Craig Curtin

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Jun 18, 2017
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I got a partial refund for the switch. Is it worth it buying another one? Is there a known issue with these particular NICs?
I do not believe there are any known issues with those NICs.

I have just setup my Mellanox CX354 (single port) with a 40GB QSFP cable straight into 1/2/1 and 1/2/6 and had no problems.

Craig
 
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ramicio

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Nov 30, 2022
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There is some physical weirdness going on inside of this switch. I opened it up and took out the 40g board. There was a piece of something down in the pins of one of the headers on the motherboard that are used to connect to the 40g board. So someone was definitely in there before tinkering, maybe trying to solve the same problem I am having. I blew it out with canned air, as well as the other header and the opposing connectors on the 40g board, but it made no difference. It just stinks I got the last one from the seller, or I would have just opted for a replacement. Are the "XL" LEDs on the front supposed to light up?
 

itronin

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Nov 24, 2018
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I apologize in advance If I am in the wrong spot, a bit NEW to these forums. I was looking into replacing two of my Ubiquiti Edge devices (EdgeRouter 10x and EdgeSwitch 10x) with a single Mikrotik CSS326-24G-2S+RM and pfSense. I came across a link in a reddit post to this thread. Based on the first post I was looking at a Brocade ICX6450-48P 48-Port PoE and not a 6610 due to noise. The 6450 48-P looks like I could also replace my EdgeSwitch 16 150W which powers some POE cameras and allow some room for me to play around with.

I have 3 EXSI servers for my home lab, multiple POEs, 1 POE AP, a couple of vlans, and general day to day home use (Plex, Media, Phones, Work, etc). Thinking about adding a freenas device or maybe some shared storage on day.

This thread which has some current posts and the 6450 48-P are both multiple years old, is the 6450 still a decent switch to purchase?

Is the licensing Guide V2 in the post still valid licensing instructions?

I am open to recommendations also.



Thank You in advance for answering an amateur’s questions!
o_O

TLDR - Yes.

Longer read - I'd try and get through the first 40 pages of posts in this thread. :eek: This is still a very active thread - start at the end and go backwards - you'll see. Fewer posts because people find the answers in this thread. ;)
 

smitty870

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Dec 14, 2022
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o_O

TLDR - Yes.

Longer read - I'd try and get through the first 40 pages of posts in this thread. :eek: This is still a very active thread - start at the end and go backwards - you'll see. Fewer posts because people find the answers in this thread. ;)
Thanks, I had seen it was still active and was not sure where to start or what to search for. I'll follow your advice!
 

Craig Curtin

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Jun 18, 2017
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Just wanted to ask - can the 4 ports on the back of the 6610 all be used as 40GB for NIC attachment - or do the breakout ports have to be used as breakout ports

I still have not managed to solve my problem with the disabling of ports in ESXi when i make VLAN changes - but by using 40GB NICs i have two servers up and running directly attached to the QSFP stacking ports in the rear - in my home lab - would be nice if i could get my last host connected at 40GB by removing the fanout out cable and direct attaching with a QSFP nic

Craig
 
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LodeRunner

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Apr 27, 2019
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Just wanted to ask - can the 4 ports on the back of the 6610 all be used as 40GB for NIC attachment - or do the breakout ports have to be used as breakout ports

I still have not managed to solve my problem with the disabling of ports in ESXi when i make VLAN changes - but by using 40GB NICs i have two servers up and running directly attached to the QSFP stacking ports in the rear - in my home lab - would be nice if i could get my last host connected at 40GB by removing the fanout out cable and direct attaching with a QSFP nic

Craig
Pretty sure the two breakout ports are hardcoded to be so on the 6610.
 
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Craig Curtin

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6450 - which do i believe ?

Guys - 2 x 6450 - licensed and configured as per OP document - no issues

I have a couple of different SFP+ cables

1) 10GTek - AOC SFP+ 20m fibre - as per here - https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B08TSZ5TH1?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1
2) No name 1m DAC SFP+
3) Dell 5m DAC SFP+ - known to work between 2 x 6610 and a 6610 and an Intel 10GB card

When i link the two 6450 through their SFP+ ports i get this

Code:
SSH@afsydney-6450-Bottom>show int e 1/2/3

10GigabitEthernet1/2/3 is up, line protocol is up
  Port up for 4 minute(s) 5 second(s)
  Hardware is 10GigabitEthernet, address is cc4e.24a8.4540 (bia cc4e.24a8.4573)
  Configured speed 10Gbit, actual 10Gbit, configured duplex fdx, actual fdx
  Member of L2 VLAN ID 1, 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
  Flow Control is enabled
  Mirror disabled, Monitor disabled
  Mac-notification is disabled
  Not member of any active trunks
  Not member of any configured trunks
  No port name
  MTU 1500 bytes, encapsulation ethernet
  300 second input rate: 344 bits/sec, 0 packets/sec, 0.00% utilization
  300 second output rate: 14528 bits/sec, 11 packets/sec, 0.00% utilization
  904 packets input, 97366 bytes, 0 no buffer
  Received 10 broadcasts, 0 multicasts, 894 unicasts
  0 input errors, 0 CRC, 0 frame, 0 ignored
  0 runts, 0 giants
  7803 packets output, 1149522 bytes, 0 underruns
  Transmitted 2831 broadcasts, 4135 multicasts, 837 unicasts
  0 output errors, 0 collisions
  Relay Agent Information option: Disabled

Egress queues:
Queue counters    Queued packets    Dropped Packets
    0                   0                   0
    1                   0                   0
    2                   0                   0
    3                   0                   0
    4                   0                   0
    5                   0                   0
    6                   0                   0
    7                   0                   0
SSH@afsydney-6450-Bottom>

So it thinks the port is running at 10G and i get the same report on the other end - however a show media does this




SSH@afsydney-6450-Bottom>show media e 1/2/3
Port   1/2/3: Type  : 1GE M-SX(SFP)
             Vendor: Intel Corp         Version: A
             Part# : FTLX8571D3BCV-IT   Serial#: INA10M20058


and when i switch to the Copper DAC i get this (yet it is passing traffic between switches so seems to work ?)



SSH@afsydney-6450-Bottom>show media e 1/2/3
Port   1/2/3: Type  : 10GE  Passive Twinax  1m (SFP +) (Not supported)
             Vendor: FCI Electronics    Version: G
             Part# : 10110818-2010LF    Serial#: CN1913SA102L021
SSH@afsydney-6450-Bottom>


And this is with a Dell 10GB DAC 5m cable that i know works between two of my 6610 switches and also from an Intel client to a 6610 at 10GB



SSH@afsydney-6450-Bottom>show media e 1/2/3
Port   1/2/3: Type  : 10GE  Passive Twinax  5m (SFP +) (Not supported)
             Vendor: Molex Inc.         Version:
             Part# : 74752-9507         Serial#: 012730026
So does it look like the Intel coded cable is working at 10GB ? (i will test shortly with a client card to the switch)

And should i be concerned about the not supported statement after both of the DACs ?


Craig
 

Craig Curtin

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Jun 18, 2017
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Just as a follow up to this - i have used the same Intel Coded fibre cable now between a 6610 1/3/x port and an Intel Dual port 82599 card in a linux box and it will not come up at 10GB either

On the 6610 it shows

Type ? for a list
SSH@6610-Basement#show media e 1/3/5
Port 1/3/5: Type : 1GE M-SX(SFP)
Vendor: Intel Corp Version: A
Part# : FTLX8571D3BCV-IT Serial#: INA10M20058
SSH@6610-Basement#

So it looks like there is a problem with this cable and how it is coded

I thought the Brocade were meant to be pretty agnostic in terms of cables in the SFP+ ports ?

Craig
 

Craig Curtin

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Jun 18, 2017
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Just as a follow up to this - i have used the same Intel Coded fibre cable now between a 6610 1/3/x port and an Intel Dual port 82599 card in a linux box and it will not come up at 10GB either

On the 6610 it shows

Type ? for a list
SSH@6610-Basement#show media e 1/3/5
Port 1/3/5: Type : 1GE M-SX(SFP)
Vendor: Intel Corp Version: A
Part# : FTLX8571D3BCV-IT Serial#: INA10M20058
SSH@6610-Basement#

So it looks like there is a problem with this cable and how it is coded

I thought the Brocade were meant to be pretty agnostic in terms of cables in the SFP+ ports ?

Craig
I thought i might try and add to the knowledgepool so tried fodeeshas debug using the serial console - linked here


But i got an error on i2c read - when doing this on a 6450 - is this not a supported command ? Does it only work with 6610 ?

@fohdeesha - if i wanted to check the eeprom in an SFP+ Module in (say 1/3/1 on a 6610) - can you advise the eeprom address for that ?

Reading over the post of yours that i quoted above i can see that this was for a QSFP+ module so there is no way that address would work on a 6450 - but still interesting to know if this debug console works in the same way ? I did manage to enter the console but the commands appear to be different between the two environments.

I have read the Siemon document that you linked to so i think i know what i am looking for - i do intend to send this cable back for a refund but am happy to do some exploring for the greater good (with a bit of direction)

Craig
 
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ramicio

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Nov 30, 2022
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So, the XL710 seems to be incompatible with [at least] the ICX6610-24p. No amount of tinkering with settings of the card itself could get it to work. No matter the OS...nothing. The only way it would work is to change the port config to 4x10 and have four 10 gigabit connections. I figured I'd spent enough on this already (2 spare DACs, another XL710), so what's another $60? So I ordered a Mellanox CX353A-FCBT. No issues, whatsoever.

EDIT: Don't discount it totally. Maybe it doesn't work with DACs, but may work with optics. Who knows. I only needed 1.5m worth, so I found no point of getting an AOC cable, or didn't need the distance to buy 2 optics modules and a fiber patch cable.
 
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etnoy

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Jul 16, 2021
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Does my 6450-48P support 2.5gbps devices on its sfp+ port? I'm guessing no, and that it only does 10gbps or 1gbps. Am I correct?
 

kpfleming

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Dec 28, 2021
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Pelham NY USA
Does my 6450-48P support 2.5gbps devices on its sfp+ port? I'm guessing no, and that it only does 10gbps or 1gbps. Am I correct?
The only ICX devices which support Multi-Gig are the -ZP variants. Some people have had success using Multi-Gig SFP+ modules that handle the speed shift themselves, there are comments in this thread about that (they are Aquantia devices IIRC).
 
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NablaSquaredG

Bringing 100G switches to homelabs
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I've got a broken ICX7450-48 here:
Code:
PLATFORM SP
Config partition mounted.
eUSB flash drive is ready  No External USB Drive(s) Mounted . Please download UFI image to install packages
/etc/process_packages.sh: line 148: can't create /.pkg/error.log: nonexistent directory
Package installation is incomplete, related functionalities may not be available
dhcpd executable file is not present.
Starting up system statistics daemon...
Starting systatsd done
Starting up health monitor daemon...
Log Level 7: Daemonized systatsd
Systatsd Logging Env is not set, initializing loglevel to: 7
Setting connection to systemlogger
Starting hmond done
Hmond Logging Env is not set, initializing loglelvel to: I
Setting connection to systemlogger
Enabling core#1
core#1 enabled
Kernel crashdump is disabled.
Resouces folder created successfully!
dma_mem_base: 0x96000000, dma_mem_len: 0x8000000, warm_mem_base: 0xdf500000, warm_mem_len: 0xb00000
Creating TUN device
Enabling time stamp.
*** Crash dump information is available, please collect it using "supportsave" CLI ***
Starting the FastIron.
USER=root
boot_partition=pri_partition
HOME=/
GCOV_PREFIX=/fast_iron
ethaddr=d4:c1:9e:00:00:7f?
TERM=vt102
PATH=/sbin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/usr/bin
ip=192.168.60.37:192.168.60.1:192.168.0.1:255.255.255.0:SP:eth0:off
SHELL=/bin/sh
PWD=/
[sp-gpio]:sil_gpiochip_register: gpiochip registeration
i2c-0    smbus         iproc-smb-1                         SMBus adapter    3
i2c-1    smbus         iproc-smb-1                         SMBus adapter    3
FIPS Disabled:PORT NOT DISABLED
platform type 72
OS>
Loaded Image SPR08090mc from Pri Built on (UTC): Mon Oct  4 17:51:11 2021
Uboot and FI booted from different partitions, Uboot: Secondary, FI: Primary
Cannot auto correct cross boot combination, other partition of uboot does not have recommended uboot for current booted FI image
Enabling Console Logging
                        sil_sp_spi_write: Write failed for dev 10, err: Connection timed out
                                                                                             Failed to write env parameters
Error: can't write sil_env to flash
sil_sp_spi_write: Write failed for dev 10, err: Connection timed out
                                                                     Failed to write env parameters
Error: can't write sil_env to flash
Applying factory defaults..
INFO: empty config data in the primary area, try to read from backup
INFO: empty config data in the backup area also
INFO: startup config data is not available, try to read from backup
INFO: startup config data in the backup area is not available
Hotplugger Daemon Initialized ..
set_board_level: gi_board_type = 100[  146.768001] linux-kernel-bde: map phys range 0x48000000-0x48040000 to 0xb0b2f000-0xb0b6f000
[  146.870302] linux-kernel-bde: map phys range 0x42000000-0x42040000 to 0xb0aef000-0xb0b2f000
[  146.970704] linux-kernel-bde: map phys range 0x42040000-0x42080000 to 0xb0aaf000-0xb0aef000
[  147.225232] linux-kernel-bde: map phys range 0x88700000-0x90700000 to 0xa8aaf000-0xb0aaf000
DMA pool size: 134217728
                        SOC unit 0 attached to PCI device BCM56548_A0
0:soc_do_init: soc_do_init: total cpu and arm cosq 0030 unexpected
u=0 p=50 Using SDK PHY driver for BCM84756/7/9
u=0 p=51 Using SDK PHY driver for BCM84756/7/9
Setting the CMIC registers for the link scan
SOC unit 1 attached to PCI device BCM56548_A0
1:soc_do_init: soc_do_init: total cpu and arm cosq 0030 unexpected
u=1 p=42 Using SDK PHY driver for BCM84756/7/9
u=1 p=43 Using SDK PHY driver for BCM84756/7/9
Setting the CMIC registers for the link scan
[  223.470012] [BrcdSoftlockup]: BUG: soft lockup - CPU#0 stuck for 31s! [bcmCNTR.0:1559]
[  223.565004] [BrcdSoftlockup]: core collection to be started now @ core(1)...
[  223.649504] [BrcdSoftlockup]: WD_TOUT: Signalling pid: 1226, process: SigHdlrTsk, tgid: 6 to initiate core collection
[  223.776708] [BrcdSoftlockup]: Switch will be reset after core collection
Watchdog fired... Killing FastIron
                                  TS: 186717968, Watchdog counter 31
                                                                    watchdog_skip_count:1, elapsed_ts_since_last_kick:124195115, last_skipped_kick_ts:95217194034, last_watchdog_kick_ts:95092998919

                                                                                                 Application received signal -> SIGNUM#6
[  228.850435] [BrcdSoftlockup]: (5) secs expired for core-collection . Now time to dump FI thread backtraces  to warm memory
[  228.982835] [BrcdSoftlockup]:
[  228.982835]  content dumping finished..
Tuning CFS scheduler parameters...
Compressing Console file
Copying fitrace errorlog file to flash
CORE_PATTERN:PID=1224 !FastIron UID=0 GID=0 sig=6
Sun Dec 26 05:25:17 UTC 2004: Dumping core file to /tmp.gz, this will take couple of minutes ...
[  313.650442] [BrcdSoftlockup]: Time elapsed since core-collection started (292) secs. Max Timeout(1200) secs

[  403.650460] [BrcdSoftlockup]: Time elapsed since core-collection started (375) secs. Max Timeout(1200) secs
Aborted (core dumped)

Sun Dec 26 05:28:19 UTC 2004: Core file collected as /tmp.gz, processing the core file ...
Sun Dec 26 05:28:19 UTC 2004: Removing the oldest core file:core_929-28620.gz of size 2832 kbytes
seq 28621
Sun Dec 26 05:28:19 UTC 2004: Calculating checksum: core_1224_FastIron-28622_2004-12-26_05-28-19.gz
Sun Dec 26 05:28:19 UTC 2004: Checking integrity of core_1224_FastIron-28622_2004-12-26_05-28-19.gz
...
Any ideas what's broken? SPI Flash fried? Repairable?
 

LodeRunner

Active Member
Apr 27, 2019
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Have you tried reflashing with 8090 and matching boot loader from the uBoot environment?

Failing that, you could try a NAND scrub as a last resort, then flash again.

That one SPI error is concerning.
 

NablaSquaredG

Bringing 100G switches to homelabs
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Have you tried reflashing with 8090 and matching boot loader from the uBoot environment?
Yes, that is the first thing I did after receiving the switch.

That one SPI error is concerning.
Yes, and I believe it is the root cause for the CPU lockup.

Because saveenv in u-boot also didn't work (aka didn't save anything) and took way longer to execute / return than it should
 

LodeRunner

Active Member
Apr 27, 2019
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Yes, that is the first thing I did after receiving the switch.


Yes, and I believe it is the root cause for the CPU lockup.

Because saveenv in u-boot also didn't work (aka didn't save anything) and took way longer to execute / return than it should
Yeah then it's probably toast. Only reason I mentioned reflash first was the cross-boot warning which means the uBoot version and the flash version are mismatched somewhere, or you flashed an UFI image from uBoot so the boot code didn't properly update.

Maybe recoverable via JTAG if you have the right stuff? That's an area where have no experience though.
 

NablaSquaredG

Bringing 100G switches to homelabs
Aug 17, 2020
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Yeah then it's probably toast. Only reason I mentioned reflash first was the cross-boot warning which means the uBoot version and the flash version are mismatched somewhere, or you flashed an UFI image from uBoot so the boot code didn't properly update.
I always get that warning when following @fohdeesha 's guide, i.e. first flashing the new 10118 u-boot, then the mc image and from there the UFI image

As the 7XXX series has redundant SPI flash, I might be able to revive it by selecting the other SPI flash?
I looked through the source and there should be a switch_uboot command...
 

narapon

New Member
Mar 31, 2017
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Just got a ICX6450-48P that powers on but I can't get anything from either the console port or the management port.
I've used the same RS232 USB RJ45 that works on my ICX7150-C12P

Is there any possibility that the console port or the management port gets disabled? If so how do I reset it or gain access to reconfigure it? Also is there a default IP for the management port?

Thanks!