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

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EngineerNate

Member
Jun 3, 2017
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For the ICX7450-48P, I see that it supports 8 PoH (95W) ports and vague mentions of 802.3bt Type 3 and Type 4. Is this functionality that was introduced via a firmware update that we can update to or is it vaporware?
Scrolled through a few pages here, did we ever get a firm yay/nay on this?
 

ViciousXUSMC

Active Member
Nov 27, 2016
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Stuck on something today.
Just bought a PoE splitter so I could run my Hue Hub closer to center of the house away from my server rack and AP interference.
I got this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MOIDXZ0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I hooked it up, turned on inline power and... nothing

I did some of the commands I had to do with my R710 like manually setting the Power-By-Class nothing.

Thinking the unit is defective I took it to the back of the house and hooked it up to my cheap Zyxel switch and it came on, working.

So I have been now trying every command I can find to get this working on the ICX 6450 without luck.

I tried decoupling the data link.
I ran the noinline power non-pd-detection enable and reloaded the switch
I tried all different power class settings.

I have the admin state of PoE enabled but nothing on the operating state.

When I had it on 1/1/5 I did get an error about PD Detection Fault, and that is what lead me to try to no inline power non-pd-detection command.
I moved it to 1/1/25 just in case it was a bad port, and I no longer get that error, but I still do not have power.

The R710 is still happy and running, so I know PoE works. Any ideas? What am I missing?
 

jd.developer

New Member
Jan 12, 2020
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On my ICX6610, I noticed the license capacity is 8 for ICX6610-10G-LIC-POD. Does this mean I can only use a maximum of 8 10g ports between the front and breaking out the 2xQSFP+ ports on the back? Is there a separate license needed to use both the QSFP+ break outs and the 8 SFP ports on the front?
 

StarsAndBars

New Member
Jul 13, 2020
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Just ordered my first 6610 to replace my home lab switch. I will probably be buying a second one soon after I get this first one configured. What is the preferred method (transceivers and cable parts) to link these? I also have a custom pfSense (Supermicro E300) box I just built that has SFP ports. If someone could link me to what they bought for interconnections, I would be VERY appreciative. Thanks in advance!
 

Spearfoot

Active Member
Apr 22, 2015
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Just ordered my first 6610 to replace my home lab switch. I will probably be buying a second one soon after I get this first one configured. What is the preferred method (transceivers and cable parts) to link these? I also have a custom pfSense (Supermicro E300) box I just built that has SFP ports. If someone could link me to what they bought for interconnections, I would be VERY appreciative. Thanks in advance!
These switches aren't very fussy about DAC cables and transceivers. My 6610 has accepted every DAC cable I've tried on it (FiberStore, Molex, Cisco). My Finisar model FTLX8571D3BNL-E5 transceivers work too.

I'm using a pair of Arista DAC QSFP to 4 x SFP+ breakout cables to get 8 x 10G connections from the 40G breakout ports on the back of the switch:


My second 6610-48P arrives this morning. This switch has become an essential component of my home lab, and, like you, I wanted to have a spare.
 
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StarsAndBars

New Member
Jul 13, 2020
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Thanks for the link, unfortunately it is out of stock. What does your connectivity between your firewall/router and your first 6610? What cables/modules? How do you plan to link the switches?
 

Spearfoot

Active Member
Apr 22, 2015
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Thanks for the link, unfortunately it is out of stock. What does your connectivity between your firewall/router and your first 6610? What cables/modules? How do you plan to link the switches?
Yeah, I noticed they were out of stock after I posted my reply... you can search for similar breakout cables, though.

My 6610-48P is out in my shop. I use the two breakout cables for SFP+ connections to 3 servers there -- each has a dual ported 10G NIC, so that's 6 x SFP+ connections. The only front panel SFP+ port I'm using is for a fiber run from the shop to my office switch (a Ruckus ICX 7150-C12P) using the Finisar transceivers I mentioned above.

I hired a local company to pull fiber from my shop to my office, installing wall sockets on each end. I don't know the brand or model number of the fiber they used. The patch cables I'm using are standard LC OM3 models, purchased on Amazon:


I won't be using my second 6610; it's a cold spare to replace the shop switch if necessary.

I use a standard 'trunk' connection between all of my switches (office, shop, living room). My setup is pretty simple with only a few VLANs. I use pfSense for firewall & routing, running it as a VM on a small AIO server in my office. I pass a quad Gb Intel NIC through to this VM, with one port each for AT&T and Comcast; a trunk port to the 7150; and the fourth port connected to my work laptop (which has its own VLAN).
 

EngineerNate

Member
Jun 3, 2017
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I decided to pick up an ICX7450-48P for the higher power PoE capability--I forsee more powerful access points being a bigger need for me than >4 or >8 10G ports. Power is listed at ~80W lower per Brocade vs the 6610, so hopefully their estimates are equally conservative on this switch. This felt like a good compromise between the 7250 and 6610 as far as capability and also has the higher power PoE capability. They do list 802.3BT "ready" in the datasheet, so I'm curious if I plug in an 802.3BT device if it'll work at full power. I know it can power the Ruckus APs that exceed PoE+ at full power (R730) and it does 90W PoH so I don't see why it wouldn't work for any PoE++ devices.

I picked up a 4x10G module for it and I have a bid in on 2x 40G modules. I'll test out a breakout cable in the 40G module and report back, and I'll also report back on power usage as I don't think I found that listed anywhere for the ICX7450.

Cheers,
Nathan
 

EngineerNate

Member
Jun 3, 2017
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Found my answer regarding ICX7450 PoE++/802.3BT capability. At the time of publishing the article shown below, it's rated for 802.3BT (PoE++) Type 3 (60W):

 
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StarsAndBars

New Member
Jul 13, 2020
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Yeah, I noticed they were out of stock after I posted my reply... you can search for similar breakout cables, though.

My 6610-48P is out in my shop. I use the two breakout cables for SFP+ connections to 3 servers there -- each has a dual ported 10G NIC, so that's 6 x SFP+ connections. The only front panel SFP+ port I'm using is for a fiber run from the shop to my office switch (a Ruckus ICX 7150-C12P) using the Finisar transceivers I mentioned above.

I hired a local company to pull fiber from my shop to my office, installing wall sockets on each end. I don't know the brand or model number of the fiber they used. The patch cables I'm using are standard LC OM3 models, purchased on Amazon:


I won't be using my second 6610; it's a cold spare to replace the shop switch if necessary.

I use a standard 'trunk' connection between all of my switches (office, shop, living room). My setup is pretty simple with only a few VLANs. I use pfSense for firewall & routing, running it as a VM on a small AIO server in my office. I pass a quad Gb Intel NIC through to this VM, with one port each for AT&T and Comcast; a trunk port to the 7150; and the fourth port connected to my work laptop (which has its own VLAN).
Thank you for the follow up. If you were in my shoes, and had all of your gear in a single rack, would you still use one of the breakout cables such as the one you linked? I have a whitebox pfSense firewall that has two SFP ports, and then I have a second (almost identical) whitebox (both are Supermicro E300) that I run ESXI 7 on. If I were to get a second 6610 I could then interconnect both of the 6610s and the two whiteboxes all with a single breakout cable, correct?

Thanks, I am just looking for the most cost-effective (but also high-performing) method to link up this gear. I know there is no real benefit in even 10G for the pfSense box, considering my ISP isn't even gigabit yet, but I would think 10G (or faster) would be the way to go between my 2 6610s and the ESXI server.
 

StarsAndBars

New Member
Jul 13, 2020
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Does anyone have a link to a reseller who offers the AC version of the PSUs for the 6610 so I can put redundant in and also maybe have a cold spare or two? Does the Rev B/C apply to the chassis of the 6610 itself, or does the revision apply to the individual PSUs? Thanks!
 

EngineerNate

Member
Jun 3, 2017
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Does anyone have a link to a reseller who offers the AC version of the PSUs for the 6610 so I can put redundant in and also maybe have a cold spare or two? Does the Rev B/C apply to the chassis of the 6610 itself, or does the revision apply to the individual PSUs? Thanks!
You'll have to just get lucky on eBay. I've seen them anywhere from $30-$200+. Wildly inconsistent. Might be more cost effective to buy a whole second switch if you want more than one spare.
 

kapone

Well-Known Member
May 23, 2015
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Thank you for the follow up. If you were in my shoes, and had all of your gear in a single rack, would you still use one of the breakout cables such as the one you linked? I have a whitebox pfSense firewall that has two SFP ports, and then I have a second (almost identical) whitebox (both are Supermicro E300) that I run ESXI 7 on. If I were to get a second 6610 I could then interconnect both of the 6610s and the two whiteboxes all with a single breakout cable, correct?

Thanks, I am just looking for the most cost-effective (but also high-performing) method to link up this gear. I know there is no real benefit in even 10G for the pfSense box, considering my ISP isn't even gigabit yet, but I would think 10G (or faster) would be the way to go between my 2 6610s and the ESXI server.
If all you have are these two "white boxes"...and your internet speeds aren't even gigabit...you're thinking of TWO 6610s??

Edit: To give you an idea...the attached picture shows all of the stuff running off of a single 6610 with two symmetric gigabit WAN connections. And it's not even utilized 60% yet. (Left pic is top half of rack, right pic is bottom half)

IMG_0298 copy.jpg
 

StarsAndBars

New Member
Jul 13, 2020
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It is two for the number of ports required throughout the house, not just the rack. I subscribe to the belief that WiFi is for convenience, and for devices without ethernet. If a piece of gear has an RJ-45, it is getting a wire. I just eclipsed the capacity of my first switch with all of the wired devices we have, especially security cameras. I could go on and on, but hopefully you get the point. Large family, and when I built the house, I ran ethernet EVERYWHERE. I could reply with no one needs that much disk, but I won't. I am not here to judge, I am here to learn, and specifically, what I need to learn to achieve my goals.
 

StarsAndBars

New Member
Jul 13, 2020
28
3
3
You'll have to just get lucky on eBay. I've seen them anywhere from $30-$200+. Wildly inconsistent. Might be more cost effective to buy a whole second switch if you want more than one spare.
Thank you. Is there a SKU or part number on these PSUs? Does the Revision apply to the chassis itself, or the PSU?
 

kapone

Well-Known Member
May 23, 2015
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It is two for the number of ports required throughout the house, not just the rack. I subscribe to the belief that WiFi is for convenience, and for devices without ethernet. If a piece of gear has an RJ-45, it is getting a wire. I just eclipsed the capacity of my first switch with all of the wired devices we have, especially security cameras. I could go on and on, but hopefully you get the point. Large family, and when I built the house, I ran ethernet EVERYWHERE. I could reply with no one needs that much disk, but I won't. I am not here to judge, I am here to learn, and specifically, what I need to learn to achieve my goals.
Ah, got it. It wasn't clear from your device list. That makes more sense.

Go for it. :)
 

StarsAndBars

New Member
Jul 13, 2020
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So to further qualify my original question on connectivity, what should I be using between the rack devices to maximize throughput in a cost-effective manner? If it is reasonably affordable, I would like max speed (40?) between the two 6610s in particular. Then I have my ESXI host and my pfSense. I'm a "buy once, cry once" kinda guy, so I am just trying to future proof this as much as possible. To frame this, if a 12TB HDD is 40% more expensive than the 8TB, I am going with the 8TB. Hopefully that paints a more clear picture of what I am going after here. Thanks in advance for any constructive input.