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

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Alitech

Member
Feb 14, 2020
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Ok so SFP+ on both the cards and the switch then. Mellanox tends to work with "everything" so as long as either the DAC or optics are compatible on the switch side you should be fine. Are you within DAC distance (5M max for passive DAC) or do you need to go with optics?
Thanks for your help. Yes well within 5m for all gear across my tiny little home office so all good there.

Which item can I go and purchase then? I just need another compatible cable and dacs right?
 

Mithril

Active Member
Sep 13, 2019
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Thanks for your help. Yes well within 5m for all gear across my tiny little home office so all good there.

Which item can I go and purchase then? I just need another compatible cable and dacs right?
So a "DAC" is a cable, stands for "direct attach cable", think of it almost like a HDMI cable, many many copper wires that (mostly) connect from one side to the other, insulation from interference, etc. There's a small bit of electronics in each connector that tells what you plugged it into what you just plugged in. From an electrical point of view theres no difference between DACs of the same quality and length. However some devices (switches and cards both) are programmed to only work with specific cables (and/or optics).

My personal suggestion is either find someone in this long, long thread that mentions a specific DAC working, ideally with your exact switch, or buy a brocade brand DAC on ebay and make sure it works before buying a second. Personally for SFP+ I have a bunch of optics I picked up from computer recyclers (or good ebay listings) so I've got a bunch of brands. I have a 6610 that should be here this week, I'll test my optics and DACs and report what works. I know that's not your exact model, but it's the same generation I think
 

fohdeesha

Kaini Industries
Nov 20, 2016
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Thanks for your help. Yes well within 5m for all gear across my tiny little home office so all good there.

Which item can I go and purchase then? I just need another compatible cable and dacs right?
literally any 10gbe DAC will work, you won't gain anything by going "brocade certified", because there's no optics monitoring information from DAC cables as there's no optics

10G SFP+ DAC Cable 2m - Cisco SFP-H10GB-CU2M Twinax Copper Passive Cable in US 603149406483 | eBay
 

tommybackeast

Active Member
Jun 10, 2018
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literally any 10gbe DAC will work, you won't gain anything by going "brocade certified", because there's no optics monitoring information from DAC cables as there's no optics

10G SFP+ DAC Cable 2m - Cisco SFP-H10GB-CU2M Twinax Copper Passive Cable in US 603149406483 | eBay
Unrelated Question : was just watching a youtube video on 100GBe Switches. I"m certainly not buying one; but was curious about their noise : If you have experience with one, are they as insanely loud and power hungry as one might guess? What price range are they in? $10,000? 5000?
 

b1g_bake

New Member
Jun 27, 2019
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Not sure if anyone else noticed, but it looks like Commscope acquired Arris and Ruckus. Ruckus support site is still linked through the new Commscope pages.
 

itronin

Well-Known Member
Nov 24, 2018
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Not sure if anyone else noticed, but it looks like Commscope acquired Arris and Ruckus. Ruckus support site is still linked through the new Commscope pages.
Yeah this happened last year. I had to purchase some switches for a client and I was dealing with presales people who worked for Commscope, though they were VERY knowledgeable about the kit. hehe I still managed to score some Ruckus stickers after the deal (they had no more Brocade stickers) and the Ruckus stickers were almost gone.
 

cuco

Member
Feb 13, 2018
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Hello,
i am looking for a compatible RJ45 Tranceiver with 1G/2,5G/5G and 10G support. Has anyone tested this yet and can recomend a module?
Otherwise i would order the ordinary Fiberstore . com module with brocade compatibility. thanks
 

fohdeesha

Kaini Industries
Nov 20, 2016
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To answer my own question yes it appears different models are stackable

From Brocade stackable models
That paragraph means all those models support the stacking feature, not that they can be stacked together. The only models that support mixed stacking are the 6450 and 6610, but calling it stacking is a misnomer. If you used the search function in this thread you'd find this covered a lot of times https://forums.servethehome.com/ind...be-40gbe-switching.21107/page-154#post-253912
 
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CorvetteGS

Member
Jan 20, 2014
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Atlanta, GA
Hello all, just won an ICX 7150-C12P! Does anyone know if the 2x 1Gbe RJ45 uplink ports can just be used with normal hosts, making it a total of 14x 1Gbe RJ45 ports? Or are they required to be uplink only?
 
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DRAGONKZ

Member
Apr 9, 2018
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I’m just hoping to get some help getting my stack running, using the 2 x 40Gb ports between 2 ICX-6610-48P units.

I originally planned for 2 units, but due the having no luck getting people to ship to AUS I proceeded with 1 unit for a while, but my second has finally arrived.

My first is configured and working with all required vlans and ve and lags...etc, and I’ve updated the firmware and license on the second and configured a basic ve as part of that process.

I’ve plugged a 40Gb DAC between 1/2/1 ports on both and am trying to follow the guide linked in the first post.

None of the commands in the guide for the second unit work.

Am I right in assuming that a “normal” stack using multiple cables needs to be created first, and then the guide basically blows that config away and configures it differently... I also assume 2 cables between units are required to form a stack?

Ive tried to run the normal stack setup commands with just the one cable plugged in but nothing happens.

Any ideas where I’m going wrong? (Unless it’s just a case of set up a normal stack first with 2 cables as mentioned)

Thanks!
 

Mithril

Active Member
Sep 13, 2019
354
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Can anyone with a 6610 and a Rev B or C power supply comment on noise with 1 fan tray VS 2? My 6610-24 came with 1 fan tray but if it makes a big noise difference (aka "do the fans spin slower for the same load") I'm going to pick up a second fan tray. Also whats the part number I should search for?
 

itronin

Well-Known Member
Nov 24, 2018
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Denver, Colorado
I have 2 6610's with dual rev b and dual fans. YMMV as my hearing may not be as good as yours. I find 2 PSU's and 2 fans quieter than a single PSU and single fan. I have not payed attention to fan spin up or down for load. they tend to be pretty constant in my environment so someone else may need to comment.

ICX-FAN10-E or ICX-FAN10-I (Egress or Ingress)

I'd verify the pictures to make sure the stickers match the listing and airflow direction you require. If it were me I'd probably also contact the seller to verify too.

FWIW prices seem to be coming down on the 6610's again. I've seen listings with dual fans and dual psu's for ~199 you may find that it is cheaper to get what you need buying a whole switch if you need more than 1 fan and/or PSU. A number of the listings are spec'ing the psu's now as rev a and b so the sellers are getting more sophisticated. You could also get lucky though and score a rev b psu too...
 
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fohdeesha

Kaini Industries
Nov 20, 2016
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I’m just hoping to get some help getting my stack running, using the 2 x 40Gb ports between 2 ICX-6610-48P units.

I originally planned for 2 units, but due the having no luck getting people to ship to AUS I proceeded with 1 unit for a while, but my second has finally arrived.

My first is configured and working with all required vlans and ve and lags...etc, and I’ve updated the firmware and license on the second and configured a basic ve as part of that process.

I’ve plugged a 40Gb DAC between 1/2/1 ports on both and am trying to follow the guide linked in the first post.

None of the commands in the guide for the second unit work.

Am I right in assuming that a “normal” stack using multiple cables needs to be created first, and then the guide basically blows that config away and configures it differently... I also assume 2 cables between units are required to form a stack?

Ive tried to run the normal stack setup commands with just the one cable plugged in but nothing happens.

Any ideas where I’m going wrong? (Unless it’s just a case of set up a normal stack first with 2 cables as mentioned)

Thanks!
you need to set up a normal stack first so the second switch becomes a member, eg conf t, stack enable, exit, stack secure-setup on the master switch, then wait while the slave reboots 30 times, eventually "show stack" should show both switches