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

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Mithril

Active Member
Sep 13, 2019
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Well... how could you run those switches with an internal PSU with just 12V? Via the PSU#2 power socket at the back?

Oh, don't try to hook it up to an ATX PSU. The connector is the same but the voltages don't match, you'll end up damaging the board.
Per the teardowns, the non POE units use simply 12v PSUs inside for those models. What I'm curious about is if the POE voltage drops, if the switch handles that ok (both firmware and physically).
 

infoMatt

Active Member
Apr 16, 2019
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Per the teardowns, the non POE units use simply 12v PSUs inside for those models. What I'm curious about is if the POE voltage drops, if the switch handles that ok (both firmware and physically).
As far as I've read in this topic, you can unplug the PoE board off of a -P model and it will boot as a non-PoE model, but I can't tell you unfortunately what will happen if the 50Vish rail dissapears. The PSU however has a single control board, so a fault on a rail results in a poweroff over a fault for all the voltages, and it won't come back up until you unplug the mains for a couple of seconds.
 
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tommybackeast

Active Member
Jun 10, 2018
286
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[QUOTE="

1) Don't use the switch's DHCP server - it is non-authorative on the ICX6xxx series and this will not work with many devices. ISC's dhcpd server + BIND named for DNS is easy to configure together,, lightweight, and reliable.


[/QUOTE]

Can you explain what non-authorative DHCP means in this context ? google provided me with information that was too complex for me to understand.

Also, can DHCP and DNS server be used on a ICX7250 ?
 

tommybackeast

Active Member
Jun 10, 2018
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OK that definitely concretes the fact I need to get 8092 up on the guide instead of the old 8080
Thank you : naturally, you cannot have a guide for users who own more than one brocade / ruckus product; I am still on the older 8080 on 7250 and 7150-c12p as that was the version on your setup page. Since so many suggested it, also have a Ruckus r510AP :

My question (as I have no experience yet with firmware 8092 : is this the firmware that allows single pane of glass for 7250- 7150 - r510 AP ? if yes, can anyone comment on how well it has worked for them, thanks
 

neb50

Member
Aug 28, 2018
73
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Thank you : naturally, you cannot have a guide for users who own more than one brocade / ruckus product; I am still on the older 8080 on 7250 and 7150-c12p as that was the version on your setup page. Since so many suggested it, also have a Ruckus r510AP :

My question (as I have no experience yet with firmware 8092 : is this the firmware that allows single pane of glass for 7250- 7150 - r510 AP ? if yes, can anyone comment on how well it has worked for them, thanks
I switched to 8092 on my 7250 and use it with Ruckus Unleashed. I had to create a user/password that matched the Unleased, change some user permissions, and turn on LLDP.

You can see the port stat's in Unleashed for the switch and a few other things, but that is about it for me.
 
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klui

Well-Known Member
Feb 3, 2019
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1) Don't use the switch's DHCP server - it is non-authorative on the ICX6xxx series and this will not work with many devices. ISC's dhcpd server + BIND named for DNS is easy to configure together,, lightweight, and reliable.
Can you explain what non-authorative DHCP means in this context ? google provided me with information that was too complex for me to understand.

Also, can DHCP and DNS server be used on a ICX7250 ?
To be honest I wasn't aware of what the differences either. The DHCP entry in Wikipedia makes it more clear. Instead of the non-authoritative server rejecting a discovery request that is new to a network, it will ignore it waiting for an authoritative one to respond. If no other servers respond, it will wait until the client times out and then respond to a new discovery. The behavior of this request, timeout, retry would be implementation dependent on the client and that's where the compatibility comes from. Looks like Sonos doesn't have a robust implementation.

 
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tommybackeast

Active Member
Jun 10, 2018
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I switched to 8092 on my 7250 and use it with Ruckus Unleashed. I had to create a user/password that matched the Unleased, change some user permissions, and turn on LLDP.

You can see the port stat's in Unleashed for the switch and a few other things, but that is about it for me.
on the ICX7250 that was on 8080 ; that you upgraded to 8092 :: I had looked for the CLI to do this upgrade and was not able to find anything . May I ask where you found instructions on changing the firmware version from 8080 to 8092 ? thanks
 

neb50

Member
Aug 28, 2018
73
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on the ICX7250 that was on 8080 ; that you upgraded to 8092 :: I had looked for the CLI to do this upgrade and was not able to find anything . May I ask where you found instructions on changing the firmware version from 8080 to 8092 ? thanks
Try the link below for different options.

I used the USB method listed in the link. I was already on 8080 so I just went to 8092 with the load Primary, reboot, reload Primary, load Secondary and then rebooted once more just to make sure everything took.
 
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Roelf Zomerman

Active Member
Jan 10, 2019
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blog.azureinfra.com
a weird one..

I have a Unifi CloudKey Gen2+ that over the weekend went into "Ethernet Disconnected" mode - but still receiving power from the Brocade. I thought about trashing it, but thought, let's test it simply on a spare switch first (Juniper 2200C) - and behold, the CK+ boots and works perfectly..

I tried setting the brocade port to 100-Full, 100-Half, 1Gb Master and 1Gb slave, but nothing..

any further ideas?
 

rootpeer

Member
Oct 19, 2019
73
13
8
2 Questions:

  1. Do the ICX6430 ears work on the ICX6450?
  2. Does a break-out cable from a Mellanox SX6012 negotiate 1G?
My 6450 came without ears. I was thinking, instead of spending 50+ USD/EUR for ears or try to fabricate them, I can buy a 6430 at the same price, use its ears for my 6450 and then use the 6430 as a media converter for the basement where my SX6012 is.
 

dv007

New Member
Dec 13, 2014
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Wanted to post an update on my infinite quest to silence an ICX 7250-48P (I run this thing in a fairly warm closet with bad circulation). Call me obsessive, but I wasn't a fan (no pun intended) of my temps creeping into the low 70s after my previous fan swap. I believe I have come up with the perfect silent solution for this rig.

Replace all 3 rear fans with the Mechatronics MR4020X12B1-RSR fan. They will read just fine in CLI. Then add a Sunon MF60101V3-1000U-A99 fan to the ASIC heat sink (you'll still have around 1/3" to spare in the case, plenty). Wire it in with Fan 3. All the fans are reduced load vs stock so they won't draw too much and the Sunon only has power and ground, so doesn't affect the read on Fan 3.

The switch now runs next-to-dead silent; temperatures on the ASIC dropped ~20 degrees over my previous configuration into the low to mid 50s degrees and the PSU is in the upper 20s which is great. Been running around a week, everything has been perfect. I'm in love.

How do you mount the sunon fan on top of the ASIC heat sink? A picture would be nice.
 

gb00s

Well-Known Member
Jul 25, 2018
1,175
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Poland
I have a Ruckus 7250-48 and changed the fans to Noctua NF-A4x20 FLX 12V (3pin). Unfortunately, the switch doesn't fully boot with these fans. Just close before the boot sequence ends, the fans stop spinning and the switch reboots. This loop continues 3-5 times and then the switch switches off. I tried 6 of these fans. Same with all of them. Single and bundle of two.

Then I tried eg. Sunon MF40201VX-1000U-G99 and the switch boots perfectly fine. Ordered now some of these Sunon's for 3.70EUR per item as they are not really noticeable at 8k rpm and have double the airflow than the Noctuas.

Do these 7250-48 have some kind of fan rpm barrier to boot properly?
 
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UKEE

New Member
Jan 2, 2020
10
9
3
Lexington, KY
I have a Ruckus 7250-48 and changed the fans to Noctua NF-A4x20 FLX 12V (3pin). Unfortunately, the switch doesn't fully boot with these fans. Just close before the boot sequence ends, the fans stop spinning and the switch reboots. This loop continues 3-5 times and then the switch switches off. I tried 6 of these fans. Same with all of them. Single and bundle of two.

Then I tried eg. Sunon MF40201VX-1000U-G99 and the switch boots perfectly fine. Ordered now some of these Sunon's for 3.70EUR per item as they are not really noticeable at 8k rpm and have double the airflow than the Noctuas.

Do these 7250-48 have some kind of fan rpm barrier to boot properly?
Yes, it does. Not sure what the minimum is though. I designed and tested a tach multiplier using an Arduino board but never got around to installing it.
 
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noduck

Member
Sep 12, 2020
38
10
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Wanted to post an update on my infinite quest to silence an ICX 7250-48P (I run this thing in a fairly warm closet with bad circulation). Call me obsessive, but I wasn't a fan (no pun intended) of my temps creeping into the low 70s after my previous fan swap. I believe I have come up with the perfect silent solution for this rig.

Replace all 3 rear fans with the Mechatronics MR4020X12B1-RSR fan. They will read just fine in CLI. Then add a Sunon MF60101V3-1000U-A99 fan to the ASIC heat sink (you'll still have around 1/3" to spare in the case, plenty). Wire it in with Fan 3. All the fans are reduced load vs stock so they won't draw too much and the Sunon only has power and ground, so doesn't affect the read on Fan 3.

The switch now runs next-to-dead silent; temperatures on the ASIC dropped ~20 degrees over my previous configuration into the low to mid 50s degrees and the PSU is in the upper 20s which is great. Been running around a week, everything has been perfect. I'm in love.
Almost the same result: 7250-24p, same Mechatronics fans in the back (2), same Sunon 6x6x1 fan on top of the ASIC. I wouldn't call it silent, but a very large improvement. Oh, I also cut out the fan grill (or what ever you call the holes over the fan). ASIC 57C, PSU 36C (without much room ventilation).

I tried Sunon in the back before (MB40201VX-000U), and maybe the same absolute noise level as the Mechatronics, but the Sunon had a more annoying sound.

I mounted the ASIC fan with two screws into the ASIC fins (I went through my collection of screws until I found something that worked).
 
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anemoiac

New Member
Jan 7, 2021
25
13
3
Is this (Brocade ICX series) still a logical route to cheap 10Gb home networking in 2020? I know the cheaper 10Gb MikroTik switches are pretty popular these days, but I think I'd like to have L3 switching capabilities. Thanks in advance to anyone who can advise!

*Edit: I meant 2021...
 
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EngChiSTH

Active Member
Jun 27, 2018
108
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Chicago
Is this (Brocade ICX series) still a logical route to cheap 10Gb home networking in 2020? I know the cheaper 10Gb MikroTik switches are pretty popular these days, but I think I'd like to have L3 switching capabilities. Thanks in advance to anyone who can advise!
This was answered by @fohdeesha earlier - you are comparing different functionality sets of enterprise hardware vs more consumer oriented set. if you want basics of 10 Gb transfers, either should work for you , I think cheapest Miktorik are in <$150 range for basic switches with SFP+. Brocade basic is slightly cheaper however it used (e-bay) and more powerful in terms of learning. I dont know if Mikrotik has a line speed switching on their basic sets (i think i read somewhere it is done in CPU and it much slower for L3).

I use and like Mikrotik but not for their 10G. I use and like Brocade ICX (found them due to this switch).
 
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anemoiac

New Member
Jan 7, 2021
25
13
3
Thanks for the input! I've looked through a few dozen pages of this thread, but wasn't able to find a previous instance of my question. I guess that's one downside to ~ 250 page threads.

Anyway, from reading about both Brocade and MikroTik 10G switches, I've gotten a similar impression to you. It seems like the cheap MikroTiks get bogged down when doing L3 switching. While I'm sure the MikroTik's performance would be adequate for my actual use-case (a relatively basic home network), I'm interested in learning a bit about networking and enterprise networking hardware.

Perhaps a more precise phrasing of my question would be: Does the Brocade ICX series still represent the best cheap used enterprise 10G switch in 2021, or have other switches entered the discussion over the past few years?