Drag to reposition cover

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

Notice: Page may contain affiliate links for which we may earn a small commission through services like Amazon Affiliates or Skimlinks.

klui

༺༻
Feb 3, 2019
970
552
93
I learned last year while preparing to replace B0-stepping Atom C2000s the "paste" typically used in enterprise-class non-upgradable chips aren't thermal paste. Some are made of thermal plastic that melts and forms a bond between the chip and heatsink during first use power up. These TIMs have thermal conductivity of ~7.5 W/mK per their datasheet. https://www.mouser.com/datasheet/2/987/THR_DS_Tpcm_7000_Data_Sheet_03172023-3194660.pdf. My guess is these TIMs have more lasting properties than typical thermal paste.

I'm always concerned that improperly removing the heatsinks would delid the chip from its package. I have read some vendors use thermal glue instead of what I've linked above. Luckily by twisting the heatink and not force lifting I was able to remove the CPUs without incident. It would have been fine if the chips were damaged because they would have been tossed anyway due to the LPC bug.
 

GraceAbounds

New Member
Mar 4, 2024
1
1
3
I also just got a 7250-48p. For only $110 shipped! I'm pretty pumped about it. What a powerful switch for homelab. Unfortunately, it is also power hungry. Mine draws 63 watts without anything plugged into it. I would agree with others that "nearly silent" is... relative, I suppose. My homelab was nearly inaudible standing right next to it until I added this switch. Ha!

I also went ahead and updated to the latest FastIron 9 firmware. I know Ruckus recommends the latest FastIron 8, but I really wanted the snazzy new web interface. So far, so good. Next up, try and quiet this sucker down. I unplugged two fans, and that helped quite a bit. The switch is running hotter, but still around 8 deg-C lower than it bumping to speed 2. Here's to hoping that running hotter doesn't significantly shorten its life span. :D I'm looking into quieter fan options, now.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Koop

gregsachs

Active Member
Aug 14, 2018
600
210
43
Apologies if this has been asked; I searched but couldn't find a clear answer. I just ordered a 7250-48p to replace my 6450-48p. Can I backup the config from the 6450 and restore to the 7250? Obviously need to update firmware first.
 

Koop

Well-Known Member
Jan 24, 2024
382
290
63
ISome are made of thermal plastic that melts and forms a bond between the chip and heatsink during first use power up. These TIMs have thermal conductivity of ~7.5 W/mK per their datasheet. https://www.mouser.com/datasheet/2/987/THR_DS_Tpcm_7000_Data_Sheet_03172023-3194660.pdf. My guess is these TIMs have more lasting properties than typical thermal paste.

I'm always concerned that improperly removing the heatsinks would delid the chip from its package. I have read some vendors use thermal glue instead of what I've linked above. Luckily by twisting the heatink and not force lifting I was able to remove the CPUs without incident. It would have been fine if the chips were damaged because they would have been tossed anyway due to the LPC bug.
Yeah agreed and I too have encountered the same type of TIMs that are a thermal glue but it does vary. I've mostly messed with HBAs for my NAS and some had normal dried up paste and some were definitely thermal glues. No pads though. Not too sure the best way to remove the glue stuff other than physical force. Hell I'm not even sure if it's a good idea to mess with things glued at all and if you'll find a temp decrease using a normal paste. I know for my HBAs glue or no glue using a typical paste after cleaning it up always brought the temps down.

I've found a okayish indicator is to see how the heatsink is applied on the chip. If there are visible pushpins there's a better chance at it not being a glue (from my extremely limited experience). Obviously if the heatsink is just sitting on top of a chip it's definitely a glue or adhesive pad or something meant to be a permanent fixture. There's plenty on the board of this ICX7250-48P that I'm not going to mess with since they're attached like that. But this heatsink that was in the Broadcom chip was pushpins so I figured f it let's check it out. It still has the fabric square which is bigger than the surface of the chip (a silicone gap filler I think?) but once it came off the Broadcom chip itself almost looked untouched. The question is will removing it and using a typical paste improve things. We'll see I guess!

If the switch temps are still high and the fans are too loud for me I'll make my peace and decision with it then, hah.
 
  • Like
Reactions: klui

klui

༺༻
Feb 3, 2019
970
552
93
Oh, I totally forgot about the push pins. Maybe heating up the component would loosen some glues. Perhaps the glues are a permanent solution.
 

Koop

Well-Known Member
Jan 24, 2024
382
290
63
Oh, I totally forgot about the push pins. Maybe heating up the component would loosen some glues. Perhaps the glues are a permanent solution.
mine came off very easily- an extremely small twist. Why I am hopeful that I'll see improvement. Waiting on getting the new fans before I go full send.
 

TonyArrr

Active Member
Sep 22, 2021
155
76
28
Straylia
I’ve had my 7250-24P for about half a year, replaced the fans when I first got it and that dropped about 10 Dba, then replaced them again and got another 4-5 down. I did add one on the ASIC too.

Definitely still noisy but much better.

Also worth noting that these are designed to survive beefy temps. Just look at how high they need to go before they increase fan speed! So y’all have a little leg room there. Just make sure where-ever you’re putting it has enough airflow that it won’t build up around it
 

MacOS_Guy

New Member
Mar 7, 2024
2
0
1
I tried looking through the 470 pages but couldn't find anything for this lol. Have a 7250-24P, followed the guide here (which is awesome thank you Fohdeesha). If I upgrade the firmware to a FastIron 09xxxx, does the licensing guide still apply or would i have to get a new one from Ruckus
 

Gerhen

Member
Nov 29, 2023
44
7
8
I tried looking through the 470 pages but couldn't find anything for this lol. Have a 7250-24P, followed the guide here (which is awesome thank you Fohdeesha). If I upgrade the firmware to a FastIron 09xxxx, does the licensing guide still apply or would i have to get a new one from Ruckus
If you already set up the licenses then upgrading to 09 won’t change those.
 

adman_c

Active Member
Feb 14, 2016
275
148
43
Chicago
Apologies if this has been asked; I searched but couldn't find a clear answer. I just ordered a 7250-48p to replace my 6450-48p. Can I backup the config from the 6450 and restore to the 7250? Obviously need to update firmware first.
I'm pretty sure I did just that--I definitely did not start over from scratch. The only thing that I remember being different is the version of Fastiron on the 7250 no longer uses dual-mode--you can just set a port to have an untagged vlan and then any number of tagged vlans. But even that didn't trip up my config restore as far as I can remember.
 
  • Like
Reactions: gregsachs

adman_c

Active Member
Feb 14, 2016
275
148
43
Chicago
I also just got a 7250-48p. For only $110 shipped! I'm pretty pumped about it. What a powerful switch for homelab. Unfortunately, it is also power hungry. Mine draws 63 watts without anything plugged into it. I would agree with others that "nearly silent" is... relative, I suppose. My homelab was nearly inaudible standing right next to it until I added this switch. Ha!

I also went ahead and updated to the latest FastIron 9 firmware. I know Ruckus recommends the latest FastIron 8, but I really wanted the snazzy new web interface. So far, so good. Next up, try and quiet this sucker down. I unplugged two fans, and that helped quite a bit. The switch is running hotter, but still around 8 deg-C lower than it bumping to speed 2. Here's to hoping that running hotter doesn't significantly shorten its life span. :D I'm looking into quieter fan options, now.
I'd be cautious running with just a single fan, especially if/when you plug in some POE devices. Trying to exhaust 80W+ of heat through a single 40MM fan could go badly. On the other hand, there's no question that the cooling in these switches is substantially overprovisioned for homelab use. I know that I at least am pretty unlikely to push anything more than a tiny fraction of what these switches are capable of, both from a POE and a traffic standpoint.

Check out the fan replacement method listed above. It definitely improved my noise situation without making my temps noticeably worse.
 
  • Like
Reactions: GraceAbounds

frameshift18

Member
Jan 9, 2019
46
42
18
BTW here's an off the wall question. I see that that POE is delivered via a separate board and several headers. The headers are clearly labeled for what range of ports PoE is supplied to on each of them. Any idea what would happen if I were to say, leave some disconnect for a range of ports? What if I didn't attach it at all in a an attempt to make the switch non-PoE? Just curious if anyone ever experimented with doing something like that and what negative or possibly positive results may be?
I blew up one of those PoE chips on that daughter board that powers a bank of 8 ports when I connected my cable modem to a switch port on my 7250-48P. Switch power cycled itself and everything but to my absolute shock it only took out that PoE chip and everything else was fine. I just lost the ability to use PoE on 8 ports. I went in there after and removed that pin header feeding that chip and I've seen no ill effects.
 

frogtech

Well-Known Member
Jan 4, 2016
1,500
279
83
36
I’ve had my 7250-24P for about half a year, replaced the fans when I first got it and that dropped about 10 Dba, then replaced them again and got another 4-5 down. I did add one on the ASIC too.

Definitely still noisy but much better.

Also worth noting that these are designed to survive beefy temps. Just look at how high they need to go before they increase fan speed! So y’all have a little leg room there. Just make sure where-ever you’re putting it has enough airflow that it won’t build up around it
What fans are you using?
 

Koop

Well-Known Member
Jan 24, 2024
382
290
63
I blew up one of those PoE chips on that daughter board that powers a bank of 8 ports when I connected my cable modem to a switch port on my 7250-48P. Switch power cycled itself and everything but to my absolute shock it only took out that PoE chip and everything else was fine. I just lost the ability to use PoE on 8 ports. I went in there after and removed that pin header feeding that chip and I've seen no ill effects.
Interesting. Do you think doing this would bring down the overall power draw? I would guess maybe yes? I actually don't need PoE out of this particular switch so I'm wondering if I can lower power cost, heat, etc by removing it.

I may give it a boot with the whole PoE board removed and see how it goes. If it blows up I'll let you guys know.

Someone stop me if I'm going to blow my shit up please lol
 

frameshift18

Member
Jan 9, 2019
46
42
18
I'd think you'd eliminate the idle power draw of those PoE chips but thats probably not all that much, maybe 1 to 3 watts. I'd at least unplug one of the 3 fans if not using PoE, that would save you more.

I've not removed the PoE daughterboard myself so not sure what consequences that will bring.
 

Koop

Well-Known Member
Jan 24, 2024
382
290
63
I'd think you'd eliminate the idle power draw of those PoE chips but thats probably not all that much, maybe 1 to 3 watts. I'd at least unplug one of the 3 fans if not using PoE, that would save you more.

I've not removed the PoE daughterboard myself so not sure what consequences that will bring.
Ah I see, so I guess PoE power draw only really kicks in when you actually have a device connected and using it. Makes sense in retrospect.
 

gregsachs

Active Member
Aug 14, 2018
600
210
43
I'm pretty sure I did just that--I definitely did not start over from scratch. The only thing that I remember being different is the version of Fastiron on the 7250 no longer uses dual-mode--you can just set a port to have an untagged vlan and then any number of tagged vlans. But even that didn't trip up my config restore as far as I can remember.
Cool, thanks! So basically set different VE IP for the switch management, copy config file, get firmware to 8.0.90, get firmware to 9.x, then profit?
 

TeleFragger

Active Member
Oct 26, 2016
264
55
28
52
Wow got my switch in and during initial power on for like 5-10 minutes it was like a jet fighter throttling up!!!! so loud... but it chilled after and I can live with that... waiting on the console cable to get to the next phase.
 

Aidzer0

New Member
Mar 7, 2024
2
1
3
Hey Folks, I searched in this thread but I could not find any info about my question, I am about to pull the trigger on a ICX7250 but it is branded Ruckus, I know that Ruckus owns Brocade now, will the process that fohdeesha posted work on the Ruckus branded switches too or is it just for the Brocade models?
Thanks!
 
  • Like
Reactions: TeleFragger

Koop

Well-Known Member
Jan 24, 2024
382
290
63
I used the RoachCoach mod and it worked for me


So I was able to boot my switch with the entire PoE header/board/whatever removed and the broadcom chip with new thermal paste. The top is off so I don't expect the temp to be good.

Bash:
ICX7250#show chassis
The stack unit 1 chassis info:

Power supply 1 (AC - Regular) present, status ok
Power supply 2 not present

Fan 1 ok, speed (auto): [[1]]<->2
Fan 2 ok, speed (auto): [[1]]<->2

Fan controlled temperature: 71.3 deg-C

Fan speed switching temperature thresholds:
                Speed 1: NM<----->98       deg-C
                Speed 2:       67<----->105 deg-C (shutdown)

Fan 1 Air Flow Direction:  Front to Back
Fan 2 Air Flow Direction:  Front to Back
Slot 1 Current Temperature: 71.3 deg-C (Sensor 1)
Slot 2 Current Temperature: NA
        Warning level.......: 102.0 deg-C
        Shutdown level......: 105.0 deg-C
I'm not sure why Fan 3 is just.... not there? Comparing it to @Andydude's output is interesting.

edit: Ah I get it.. without the PoE board it thinks it's the ICX7250-48 non-POE model which apparently only has two fans.

1709859186865.jpeg
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: frameshift18