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

[sean]

Nice find. after skimming through the patch files some more it turns out the secret mode is still there, they just renamed the routine and environment variable.

Nice. I checked the patch files but they're big and I missed anything obvious. I now see the pp_init_enable and hilariously a comment about hiding the diag commands.

Is there any way to leverage all the access we have with these dev builds to modify the firmware to allow for fan modifications?

I defer to fohdeesha but for me, the other models using u-boot and Linux means Arris has to release their modifications. It's then "easy" (the u-boot patch is 400k lines) to go through their changes and find stuff they've hidden. In the case of Linux, it's easier to take their firmware images and open them to see the surrounding environment and how it boots. Actual hardware control however is still limited to FastIron and their kernel module. Those are proprietary and much harder to inspect, much less modify.

The 6610 has none of this however. Someone else was working on a way to lie about the fan RPMs and I think that will be the quickest/only way to modify the fans.

 

[spali]

I’d take 2 of the 40 gig ports on each 6610 and make them a stack
Then I’d take the other 2 ports off the 6610s and make an mlag to your arista. That way you get failover stack connections.

I'm new to mlag, but aren't the links then limited to 8x 10g per switch?

Thought a second time about it.
10g downlinks wouldn't be a bottleneck, due i will not serve higher bandwidth from the 6610.
Can i use a standard QSFP DAC in the breakout ports to uplink to an arista QSFP port just set to breakout mode? Kind of breakout to breakout?

Second question... My two 6110's I ordered each a single Rev. A PSU ... I have read the whole thread now and because they seem not to spin down when in "single mode" and because the intake version RPS16-I is really rare to find. I would like to ask if anyone which has a lot of equipment could do a test for me.
I'm thinking if it could work to put as second a non POE together with a POE PSU in each switch to let them spin down. If this would work I would just not have the redundancy in POE?
Hope explained it halfway understandable

 

[fohdeesha]

Is there any way to leverage all the access we have with these dev builds to modify the firmware to allow for fan modifications?
My 6610 is getting too loud for my office

like Sean said, on either the linux based models, or the non-linux based models, both of them use a proprietary module/binary to control the fans once booted, so nothing we can do there. you can control them all you want from the bootloader, but as soon as the fastiron app boots it takes over chassis control

 

[Emanuele]

Hi all! Thank to @kiteboarder I landed to this thread, @fohdeesha great work here ,and after a couple of pages I decided to go all in for 2x ICX 6610-24 (non poe version).
@fohdeesha great work
One of them arrived without rack ears, I read here where to find a set (they cost a lot BTW).
The problem has presented the moment I turned it on.
It has INTAKE FAN and EXHAUST PSU, so it is returning a critical error and reboot.

Again and again obviously.

So, I can't play with my new toy
I wrote down to the seller but I don't think he has lots of spare parts of this switch.

Does anyone here is willing to sell 4x INTAKE PSU to EU (Italy)? Maybe not too much €$£?

 

[spali]

Does anyone here is willing to sell 4x INTAKE PSU to EU (Italy)? Maybe not too much €$£?

Searched a lot in the last days, they are almost not available in Europe for a descent price.
But if switching airflow to exhaust is an option, I would get new FAN's. There are currently available for 100$ inc. shipping to Europe on ebay.

 

[Emanuele]

I did pay 480€ inc. shipping per the 2x switch, I can't afford 100$ per a single fan module... it's way overpriced...

 

[spali]

I did pay 480€ inc. shipping per the 2x switch, I can't afford 100$ per a single fan module... it's way overpriced...

I know, the prices in Europe are horrible and most times shipping from US is cheaper even the shipping costs are height. Just ordered two intake FANs from them, because my two 6610-48P-I that are on the way, have only one FAN and one PSU. PSU is also Rev. A
But was the best deal I found in the last time for 400$ inc shipping each. And I'm hopping to find some intake PSUs in the future. But mine work at least, but loud. But worst case would be for me to stack and just shut one of them down and put the PSU into the other to let the PSU fans spin down.
In your case it would be probably best to search for a good deal of any 6610 where you just take the fans out. Would be cheaper than buying them extra. Except someone in europe has some spare parts.

 

[Emanuele]

You are probably right, prices can't be helped. I'll start looking around for spare parts/broken 6610, if someone want to sell something, here I am

 

[spali]

You are probably right, prices can't be helped. I'll start looking around for spare parts/broken 6610, if someone want to sell something, here I am

I queue up behind @Emanuele for two RPS16-I

 

[arglebargle]

damn, I was hoping to extract those development images before wiping them

I mean, you could order a switch from g-electronic and dump them then return it as "faulty"

#JustSayin'

RE Rack ears: I think we've hit the point where modelling rack ears for the various switches would be a smart move so we can print our own and skip the $50-60 tax every time a switch ships without them. I'm eyeballing a couple of 3d printers at the moment, if no one else bites I'll do the work in the next couple of months if I continue to have free time like I do right now.

If anyone has experience doing simple static load modelling and can point me at some basic resources for designing durable parts I'd appreciate it.

 

[Hakujou]

I mean, you could order a switch from g-electronic and dump them then return it as "faulty"

#JustSayin'

While g-electronic has mostly bad switches and they probably just test them by checking they power on (to be fair, they don't claim otherwise), their customer service has always been honest and refunded everyone without trouble (they even let me kept my faulty switch while refunding me entirely).

That kind of behavior is just dishonest and could lead to a more troublesome customer service.

 

[ewer0012]

I managed to pick up an ICX6450 for $100 and an ICX7250 for $150 on Friday. Hoping these will do the trick so I can get away from MikroTik.

Thanks for sharing, OP.

 

[BeTeP]

RE Rack ears: I think we've hit the point where modelling rack ears for the various switches would be a smart move so we can print our own and skip the $50-60 tax every time a switch ships without them.

Are we still talking about 2 small pieces of angled steel with a few holes? I just grab ears from any old piece of equipment and drill the missing mounting holes if any. If you don't have any laying around - Cisco 1U rack ears sell for like $5/pair shipped from China.

 

[arglebargle]

Are we still talking about 2 small pieces of angled steel with a few holes? I just grab ears from any old piece of equipment and drill the missing mounting holes if any. If you don't have any laying around - Cisco 1U rack ears sell for like $5/pair shipped from China.

Yeah, we are. Rack ears are one of those things that are ludicrously priced when you want the actual OEM part. Being able to 3d-print them out of like $10 worth of nylon would be kind of nice.

 

[cuco]

Yeah, we are. Rack ears are one of those things that are ludicrously priced when you want the actual OEM part. Being able to 3d-print them out of like $10 worth of nylon would be kind of nice.

I would also appreciate it and go all in

 

[nthu9280]

I don't have any experience with 3D printing but not sure if the material used for making the brackets has enough strength to withstand this application especially for 6610. The rear of the switch sags due to the weight. Imagine the twist excerted even on the OEM metal brackets. It may be ok for 6450.

 

[fohdeesha]

it'll be fine for the 6450 but for the 6610 and 6650 you're going to need metal, and long ones (same length as the OEM brackets). If you slap on a couple of the 3 inch long ciscos it will shear the bolts straight off

 

[arglebargle]

I don't have any experience with 3D printing but not sure if the material used for making the brackets has enough strength to withstand this application especially for 6610. The rear of the switch sags due to the weight. Imagine the twist excerted even on the OEM metal brackets. It may be ok for 6450.

Yeah, I'm thinking the same. My plan was to make my own rail mounts on a printer to support a couple of lengths of aluminum angle cut to rack depth and either set the switch on that or fab brackets that slide onto those and screw into the switch. Either way the materials are readily available at the hardware store for a whole lot less than the cost of actual rack ears on eBay.

 

[Joao Paulo Mello]

Guys, I think ICX6610-48p isn't compatible with Checkpoint branded transceiver (NIY4444FRU). I have one CheckPoint 12200 P-210 with 4/10G module (which has Intel ports) . The ICX6610-48p cannot connect at 10G with this transceiver ( only 1G), the Nexus 3048TP can do without a sweat.
I have some Cisco DAC cables lying around and I tried one of them and guess what...10G between ICX and the Checkpoint.
1G only with fiber and 10G with cooper, so anyone had this compatibility problem? Intel 10G are very picky and it's hard to believe that this time the trouble is elsewhere.

EDIT:
Maybe I'm wrong, checking now I have the following:
10GigabitEthernet1/3/1 is up, line protocol is up
Port up for 2 minute(s) 42 second(s)
Hardware is 10GigabitEthernet, address is cc4e.24f8.ef2c (bia cc4e.24f8.ef67)
Interface type is 1Gig SX SFP
Configured speed 10Gbit, actual 10Gbit, configured duplex fdx, actual fdx

I'm not used to FastIron, but that means to me that I'm connected at 10G,. despite of interface type?

 

[EngChiSTH]

for a newbie in networking - can I do things like WAN connectivity/dual WAN set up/ failover and load balancing for ISP on ICX6540 or do I need "proper router" for that?

I have a little Hex device (Mikrotik RB 750G r3) currently serving as a router/firewall and upgrading my ISP link to gig cable + 100Mb backup from ATT . I think I need something in a router that can do dual WAN, basic failover, load balancing. I know I can do it through pfsense but do not have decent hardware for it (have older qotom with dual core Celeron which I would not think would cut it).

can I do any of that using brocade l3 switch or should I let switch do switching and buy something else from mikrotik/ubiquiti?

Thank you