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

[sic0048]

I have a icx7250-48p and a icx7250-48 in a stack with 4x DACs on 1/2/1-1/2/4 <-> 2/2/1-2/2/4 for maximum throughput linear stack. I have recently started to get low on 10G ports, and have started to consider what I should do if I need another 10GB port.

Can I "downgrade" the stack interconnect to "only" 2x DAC, rather than the 4x DAC I have now? Can I use those other 2x2 ports as non-stacking? I probably don't really need 40 Gb of bandwidth on the stack, I'm guessing 20 Gb would be fine the vast majority of the time.

If I can, does removing the extra 2 DAC connections save any appreciable power?

Does using 4x10gb ports in a stack even give you 40gb of throughput? I thought the primary reason to use 4x ports was to create a circular stack where if one switch in the stack went down, the others would still function normally. However with only two switches in the stack, this isn't really necessary as there are other work arounds.

That being said, I am not an expert/professional and could be misunderstanding what I've read.

 

[kpfleming]

Does using 4x10gb ports in a stack even give you 40gb of throughput? I thought the primary reason to use 4x ports was to create a circular stack where if one switch in the stack went down, the others would still function normally. However with only two switches in the stack, this isn't really necessary as there are other work arounds.

Yes, if they are configured in the special "two unit linear topology" stacking mode, which utilizes both directions of all the links.

 

[John T Davis]

Does anyone make generic rack ears for the ICX-7150 that would work in a 10 inch mini rack? I might have to 3D print something, but I was hoping there was at least a tempalte out there for that if not a set of generic metal ears I can get.

 

[Stratbasher]

Hello all,

I recently picked up an ICX 6450-48P and updated it all the way, licensed, etc. I'm running into an oddity and I'm hoping someone can help. I'm trying to achieve a "router on a stick" setup with an Opnsense router via a LAG for my uplink. Currently, I have an HP 1810-24G doing that work.

I've created a lag on ethernet 1/1/1 and 1/1/2.

I run "show vlan 1" and see that 1/1/1 and 1/1/2 are untagged members.

Then, I run "vlan 99 100", followed by "tagged ethernet 1/1/1 to 1/1/2" to add the tagged vlan 99 and 100 traffic to the lag.

Unfortunately, this causes my untagged vlan 1 to drop off the lag. When running "show vlan 1" now, port 1/1/1 and 1/1/2 are missing.

From my reading, it should be possible to have untagged and tagged traffic on the same port (like Cisco VLAN and "native" VLAN), but it's as if I'm running into weird quirks with VLAN 1 being special as well as LAGs acting differently.

If I try to type "vlan 1" and then "untagged 1/1/1" to apply that config to the lag, "untagged" is just not an option.

Any ideas? Thanks!

 

[mourgne]

Hello all,

I recently picked up an ICX 6450-48P and updated it all the way, licensed, etc. I'm running into an oddity and I'm hoping someone can help. I'm trying to achieve a "router on a stick" setup with an Opnsense router via a LAG for my uplink. Currently, I have an HP 1810-24G doing that work.

I've created a lag on ethernet 1/1/1 and 1/1/2.

I run "show vlan 1" and see that 1/1/1 and 1/1/2 are untagged members.

Then, I run "vlan 99 100", followed by "tagged ethernet 1/1/1 to 1/1/2" to add the tagged vlan 99 and 100 traffic to the lag.

Unfortunately, this causes my untagged vlan 1 to drop off the lag. When running "show vlan 1" now, port 1/1/1 and 1/1/2 are missing.

From my reading, it should be possible to have untagged and tagged traffic on the same port (like Cisco VLAN and "native" VLAN), but it's as if I'm running into weird quirks with VLAN 1 being special as well as LAGs acting differently.

If I try to type "vlan 1" and then "untagged 1/1/1" to apply that config to the lag, "untagged" is just not an option.

Any ideas? Thanks!

https://forums.servethehome.com/index.php?threads/brocade-icx-series-cheap-powerful-10gbe-40gbe-switching.21107/post-201530

 

[Stratbasher]

https://forums.servethehome.com/index.php?threads/brocade-icx-series-cheap-powerful-10gbe-40gbe-switching.21107/post-201530

Thank you very much! I searched this thread for some keywords but didn't find this post.

Amazing how our AI overlords ChatGPT and Gemini are not only completely wrong in like 90% of the syntax (even after providing my exact model and firmware version), but they didn't even tell me about dual-mode, despite me specifically asking if I needed to do anything special with the port for it to have tagged and untagged traffic simultaneously.

Seriously, I appreciate it.

 

[viperk1]

Fan mod question! I have an ICX7250-48P and I found some delta fans on a walmart seller (5 for $20) which were the right model I was looking for, but of a weird revision that doesn't seem to exist on their site.

Anyways, long story short, I swapped three fans in, and the noise level is great, but the temperature is on the high side - stabilized at 85.6C mgmt thermal plane, and 31C air outlet near PSU. This will probably cause the fans to ramp up very quickly under load since I run quite a few PoE devices. I was wondering if I could splice in the two other delta fans at the side for exhaust? Just drill a 40mm hole and mount them. What do you guys think?

 

[TonyArrr]

Fan mod question! I have an ICX7250-48P and I found some delta fans on a walmart seller (5 for $20) which were the right model I was looking for, but of a weird revision that doesn't seem to exist on their site.

Anyways, long story short, I swapped three fans in, and the noise level is great, but the temperature is on the high side - stabilized at 85.6C mgmt thermal plane, and 31C air outlet near PSU. This will probably cause the fans to ramp up very quickly under load since I run quite a few PoE devices. I was wondering if I could splice in the two other delta fans at the side for exhaust? Just drill a 40mm hole and mount them. What do you guys think?

View attachment 46006

I have a 24P, and I added a thin 60mm fan on the ASIC’s heatsink, tilted slightly to pull air up through the heatsink and towards the back to be exhausted by the rear fans, worked pretty well.

I’ll jump into my digikey account tomorrow at home and find the model

 

[viperk1]

I have a 24P, and I added a thin 60mm fan on the ASIC’s heatsink, tilted slightly to pull air up through the heatsink and towards the back to be exhausted by the rear fans, worked pretty well.

I’ll jump into my digikey account tomorrow at home and find the model

Is that the black heatsink on the left of the board? I noticed it was really hot. Thank you for looking up the part!

 

[mourgne]

Is that the black heatsink on the left of the board? I noticed it was really hot. Thank you for looking up the part!

I also found that I needed a fan on that heat sink otherwise the temperatures were too high after replacing the exhaust fans with quieter ones on my 7250-24p. I used a MF60101V3-A99-A based on recommendations earlier in the thread.

 

[viperk1]

I also found that I needed a fan on that heat sink otherwise the temperatures were too high after replacing the exhaust fans with quieter ones on my 7250-24p. I used a MF60101V3-A99-A based on recommendations earlier in the thread.

Thank you! I see that they're not stocked at digikey anymore for some reason (unless I buy 200), but there are alternative ones I can try.

 

[TonyArrr]

Is that the black heatsink on the left of the board? I noticed it was really hot. Thank you for looking up the part!

sorry for the late reply!
Yes, that’s the one.

I ordered both a MB6010M12B-RSR and a EFB0612MA, and tried both but can’t remember which I stuck with.
If getting the MB6010, make sure it’s the RSR one, there is a super similar model that won’t work

 

[viperk1]

sorry for the late reply!
Yes, that’s the one.

I ordered both a MB6010M12B-RSR and a EFB0612MA, and tried both but can’t remember which I stuck with.
If getting the MB6010, make sure it’s the RSR one, there is a super similar model that won’t work

Thanks! I was eyeing both of those since a lot of people used mechatronics in this thread and my main fans got replaced with delta, but ultimately I went with a MF60101V2-1000U-A99 since it was a decent amount cheaper. Happy to report that the management plane temperature went from 85.6C no load, to 61.2C no load. I'm very happy with this mod and now I can put this to work, replacing two Aruba S2500-24Ps. Ought to cut down both the noise and power from the Arubas!

 

[TonyArrr]

Thanks! I was eyeing both of those since a lot of people used mechatronics in this thread and my main fans got replaced with delta, but ultimately I went with a MF60101V2-1000U-A99 since it was a decent amount cheaper. Happy to report that the management plane temperature went from 85.6C no load, to 61.2C no load. I'm very happy with this mod and now I can put this to work, replacing two Aruba S2500-24Ps. Ought to cut down both the noise and power from the Arubas!

Very nice! Yes, my mains are also deltas, humming along nicely for the last two years

 

[iiq_87cjs]

Hello,

New member here. Just purchased the ICX 7250-24P from the Bay. I'm fed up with my Aruba 2500.
I'll report back when it's up and running.

Thank you, @fohdeesha

 

[Zariel]

how have people mounted the fan to asic heatsink? I have the replacement fans but ill need to get screws or some other way to mount

 

[RoachedCoach]

how have people mounted the fan to asic heatsink? I have the replacement fans but ill need to get screws or some other way to mount

I just used thickly threaded screws that 'bite' into the heat sink fins a bit. Works well.

 

[papkee]

Hi all!

I noticed my AP (Unifi U6+) was offline this morning, and my 6450 was showing "PD Detection Fault" for any port the AP is plugged into. However, I can power up the AP just fine using an external PoE injector. I tried adding the "no legacy-inline-power" line recommended by fohdeesha, and now my AP's switch port is reporting "non-standard PD" and still not providing power. I'm guessing the PoE frontend died. sigh. At least it worked for a few months! I guess I can't complain too much for $60

 

[frameshift18]

Hi all!

I noticed my AP (Unifi U6+) was offline this morning, and my 6450 was showing "PD Detection Fault" for any port the AP is plugged into. However, I can power up the AP just fine using an external PoE injector. I tried adding the "no legacy-inline-power" line recommended by fohdeesha, and now my AP's switch port is reporting "non-standard PD" and still not providing power. I'm guessing the PoE frontend died. sigh. At least it worked for a few months! I guess I can't complain too much for $60

Worth checking if some of the other ports still work for PoE. Can't recall on the 6450 but on the 7250 each PoE controller chip powers a group of 8? ports. I had a power surge on a port that took out it's group of 8 but the other groups still worked fine.

 

[Cheburashka]

Thank you @fohdeesha for this post. A while back I purchased the ICX7150-C12p and it's been great (after an RMA). Now I'm upgrading to the ICX7250-24p-2x10 to utilize the 10GB SPF+ ports for my new Proxmox cluster upgrade.