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

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csementuh

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Oct 7, 2019
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yeah you could say that, I'd say about 90% of the units with bad PoE in this thread are from them
Yikes! lol. Well... eBay prices seemed to have peaked right now. 6450-48P models are sitting at $200+. I would have just replaced my 6450 but the current ones are more than I paid for mine a few months ago. So now I need another 6450 or a POE board. g-electronics had the cheapest 7250 on eBay at $300 shipped, so it seemed like a reasonable upgrade. The next cheapest was $400+. Guess I'll have to take my chances and test it quickly and return if needed. Fingers crossed that it's a clean and functional switch!
 

kapone

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May 23, 2015
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If the ICX series of switches supported 2.5gb/5gb/10gb speeds...you wouldn't find a single one on eBay...and if you did, you'd balk at the price for a "used" one.
 
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eduncan911

The New James Dean
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If the ICX series of switches supported 2.5gb/5gb/10gb speeds...you wouldn't find a single one on eBay...and if you did, you'd balk at the price for a "used" one.
I'm new to this thread. But, don't they all support 10 Gbps over the the SPF+ ports of the ICX models?

Perhaps you meant the SPF+ ports only support 1 Gbps or 10 Gbps, nothing inbetween?
 

cuco

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Feb 13, 2018
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i think he ment that. So i will search a 19gb wifi6 AP. Seems that there only is one from huawei...
 

eduncan911

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i think he ment that. So i will search a 19gb wifi6 AP. Seems that there only is one from huawei...
I'm curious. My Unifi AC HD access points are 2x 1Gbps ports over LAG to achieve 1733Mbps over a single wifi connection - over a single radio.

Are you saying there are APs out there that can have max 1733 Mbps speeds, across several clients at once? How is that possible without multiple 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz radios each?

Edit: ok, just read up on "WiFi6", aka 802.12ax that can make use of 8x8 MIMO whereas my AC HD are 802.11ac are 4x4 MIMO "wifi5". Eh, for the convienance of PoE+, and I already have 3x AC HDs on LAG each covering my house, I'm good. I did run 2x Cat6a to each AP. So upgrading to 10Gbps RJ45 for APs should be possible.

OT: Might be a political thing, might be a NSA thing, but I'd steer clear of Huawei due to the US gov ban on them.
 
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eduncan911

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This megathread is insane with info!

I'm confused at a few eBay listings though. I think it may be a Licensing thing?

Some listings say 1 Gpbs SPF ports, where the specs here say they are 10 Gbps SPF+. Some say "2x 10 Gbps Enable", whereas the device clearly has 4x SPF+ ports in the picture (e.g. 6450).

Is it as simple as upgrading the license to enable all 10 Gbps SPF+ ports on the device (and 40x Gbps for the insane of us here, heh)? And we get those licenses from here?
 
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Wolfstar

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Nov 28, 2015
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This megathread is insane with info!

I'm confused at a few eBay listings though. I think it may be a Licensing thing?

Some listings say 1 Gpbs SPF ports, where the specs here say they are 10 Gbps SPF+. Some say "2x 10 Gbps Enable", whereas the device clearly has 4x SPF+ ports in the picture (e.g. 6450).

Is it as simple as upgrading the license to enable all 10 Gbps SPF+ ports on the device (and 40x Gbps for the insane of us here, heh)? And we get those licenses from here?
Yes, it is a licensing issue. 6450s default to 2x SFP+ ports in 10G, with the other two only enabled for 1G. 6610s default to all 8 front SFP+ ports being 1G only, with 2x 40G and two 4x10G QSFP+ ports on the back; you need a breakout cable to use those but it's 8 10G ports.
 
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rootwyrm

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And I'm 100% sure you're wrong. I've actually seen photos my guys took of Brocade FCX648S-HPOE switches after they caught fire, and saw one that had burned out myself. The 6610s and the FCX line use extremely similar hardware. I can't say I've seen the same of the 6610s, but that's because we don't use them at work - we jumped straight to ICX7450s.
Yup... the whole deal is this. Start with the Foundry FastIron CX, already known for being one hot bastard in the rack. Well that turned into the FCX because duh. The ICX is an evolution of the FCX. Each iteration is cramming more and more components into the same amount of space, and those components run hotter and hotter. Cramming over 2000W into 1U (the ICX7450-48P can take 2x 1000W AC-DC or 2x1200W DC-DC) plus that much consumption, things are going to get toasty.
But they don't mess with the design because these things are, as you mentioned, nearly indestructible. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Which is why Juniper still runs on FreeBSD (and why it's the objectively superior software platform. Also IS-IS support but I'm biased there.) The reason the low-end models can take fan hacks is because by de-contenting and de-powering them, the actual power went down. Obviously not applicable to POE models.

Unfortunately, it sounds like I may be SOL on this unless somebody's hacked the software to do BGP on the lower CPU models. (It's absolutely technically possible; BGP doesn't get done in ASIC except possibly TCPMD5 and that's entirely optional. But it does require rebuilding the kernel most likely.)
 

Wolfstar

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Also keep in mind, the FCX and 6610/6650 platforms are NOT the same CPU/architecture as the 6430/6450 and 7xxx series lines. The 6430, 6450, and at minimum the 7450 and lower 7k switches are all ARM-based CPUs, not whatever the others use (PowerPC? I can't remember) so they suck a LOT less power just by default.

I agree that you're probably SOL on lower-power with BGP through the ICX line, but just on the off-chance you haven't, have you actually checked out the noise on a 7450? I've had them running on my desk for pre-deployment configuring and they're not really that loud, even the PoE ones. The FCXs and the 6610s are screamers (ESPECIALLY the PoE ones), but I haven't found the 7450s that terrible.

Of course, I haven't had one permanently parked 10 feet from my chair either, so yeah.
 

vangoose

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May 21, 2019
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Also keep in mind, the FCX and 6610/6650 platforms are NOT the same CPU/architecture as the 6430/6450 and 7xxx series lines. The 6430, 6450, and at minimum the 7450 and lower 7k switches are all ARM-based CPUs, not whatever the others use (PowerPC? I can't remember) so they suck a LOT less power just by default.

I agree that you're probably SOL on lower-power with BGP through the ICX line, but just on the off-chance you haven't, have you actually checked out the noise on a 7450? I've had them running on my desk for pre-deployment configuring and they're not really that loud, even the PoE ones. The FCXs and the 6610s are screamers (ESPECIALLY the PoE ones), but I haven't found the 7450s that terrible.

Of course, I haven't had one permanently parked 10 feet from my chair either, so yeah.
Yes 6650 is PowerPC. I have one and it's so loud. Maybe I should look at 7450? From spec sheet, running noise on 7450 is higher than 6650.
 

am45931472

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Feb 26, 2019
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Yes 6650 is PowerPC. I have one and it's so loud. Maybe I should look at 7450? From spec sheet, running noise on 7450 is higher than 6650.
I thought about getting a 6650 for a while, but hated the noise of my 6610-48P. And the fact that there was nothing you can do about changing the modding the fans. Do you know if its possible to change/mod the fans on the 6650?
 

eduncan911

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So why isn't the Brocade ICX7450 listed on the frontpage?

Seems to support the same specs, is ARM-based CPU so quieter/lower Watts. if I am reading the specs right has the flexibility of either 4x 10Gbps or 40 Gbps stacked (though I am not sure if that that is compatible with 40 Gbps NICs for servers).
 

am45931472

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Feb 26, 2019
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So why isn't the Brocade ICX7450 listed on the frontpage?

Seems to support the same specs, and if I am reading the specs right has the flexibility of either 4x 10Gbps or 40 Gbps stacked (though I am not sure if that that is compatible with 40 Gbps NICs for servers).
I beleive the front page listing of this thread was a list of switches that the OP found to be both cheep and high performing options. There are many switches in the Brocade Ruckus 6000 and 7000 series. The front page was not meant to be an exhaustive list of all 6000 and 7000 switches. Also this thread is more than a year old now, street prices on all of these have changed, sometimes drastically.
 
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Wolfstar

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So why isn't the Brocade ICX7450 listed on the frontpage?

Seems to support the same specs, is ARM-based CPU so quieter/lower Watts. if I am reading the specs right has the flexibility of either 4x 10Gbps or 40 Gbps stacked (though I am not sure if that that is compatible with 40 Gbps NICs for servers).
Fohdeesha actually listed several reasons why he dislikes them for homelab use, but it comes down to "the 6610 has more and better ports". Specifically, you have three module slots (one front, two rear) and you can use either 40G or 4x10G modules in each one. Whereas with the 6610, you've got 8x SFP+, 2x QSFP+, and 2x QSFP+ Breakout ports. There's just way more high-speed capacity. They also tend to be MUCH more expensive than the 7250, which loses any 40G option but gives you 8x SFP+ fixed ports.
 

Wolfstar

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Yes 6650 is PowerPC. I have one and it's so loud. Maybe I should look at 7450? From spec sheet, running noise on 7450 is higher than 6650.
It's possible that it's louder at peak, but it's certainly not as loud as my 6610 on average. Note, power supplies play a huge part in this - the higher the wattage, the more likely the PSU fan is a screamer regardless. The FCXs were notorious for that; we actually had installed FCXs where the personnel demanded we remove them and restore their older Cisco switch because it was in a living area (daycare center) and it was disturbing naptime.
 

kapone

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May 23, 2015
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I'm new to this thread. But, don't they all support 10 Gbps over the the SPF+ ports of the ICX models?

Perhaps you meant the SPF+ ports only support 1 Gbps or 10 Gbps, nothing inbetween?
Correct. That in between is much newer, and these switches are already EOL, which is why you can buy a 0.5tbps switching bandwidth switch for ~$200 (vs $10K or more)
 

vangoose

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I thought about getting a 6650 for a while, but hated the noise of my 6610-48P. And the fact that there was nothing you can do about changing the modding the fans. Do you know if its possible to change/mod the fans on the 6650?
No, it's same as 6610. I opened the cover, looked at it and gave up.

I've changed my plan for now. I have 2 7250 now, may get another 7250 and use it as core. another 2 7250 will run in layer 2 since I want pfc. BGP will be handled by juniper.

I will get the AC unit for the room so I can close the door, then 6650 will go live. Really love it.
 

FlorianZ

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Dec 10, 2019
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Uh oh! My new 7250-48P is from g-electronic. They have a bad track record of selling busted junk or?
Damn, I purchased from them as well. Short of physically testing all ports for functionality and power delivery, is there anything I should watch out for to determine whether my unit is broken? Any diagnostics I should be running? Thank you!
 

eduncan911

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Fohdeesha actually listed several reasons why he dislikes them for homelab use, but it comes down to "the 6610 has more and better ports". Specifically, you have three module slots (one front, two rear) and you can use either 40G or 4x10G modules in each one. Whereas with the 6610, you've got 8x SFP+, 2x QSFP+, and 2x QSFP+ Breakout ports. There's just way more high-speed capacity. They also tend to be MUCH more expensive than the 7250, which loses any 40G option but gives you 8x SFP+ fixed ports.
Yep, the 6610 is more ideal for ports and a little cheaper for more features. But it's also more power hungry, louder, and doesn't run an OS I can build (my ultimate goal since I've switched to Coreboot on most of my key devices). Less watts = less heat, which is also another key goal of mine since my closet I keep them is sensitive to a lot of heat (I build my servers for ultra-low power - 96 TB, 16 core server that idles at 45W).
 
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