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

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beren

New Member
Oct 25, 2018
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I was eyeing the ICX6610-48P-E for home setup. I have a few 10GbE capable devices and this port has PoE+ so it fits the bill well. However, I need help to understand how to use the QSFP+ ports to add 10GbE RJ45 copper? I am a newbie and a bit lost here.
You can't afaik. 2 of the ports you can get breakout cables for DAC or fiber, the other 2 are 40G only. The front ports you could add 10GBase-T if you really wanted to, but it's the worst 10G interface for cost and power use.
 
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bluez

New Member
Sep 4, 2022
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You can't afaik. 2 of the ports you can get breakout cables for DAC or fiber, the other 2 are 40G only. The front ports you could add 10GBase-T if you really wanted to, but it's the worst 10G interface for cost and power use.
The first page of this thread that has the 6610's features, it says the following -

16x 10gbE (8x SFP+ in the front, 8x via 2 QSFP+ breakout ports on the rear)
This gave me the impression that the switch supports 16x 10GbE connections, 8 of which will come out of the 2 QSFP+ breakout ports. What am I missing?
 

LemonheadST

New Member
Aug 25, 2022
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The first page of this thread that has the 6610's features, it says the following -



This gave me the impression that the switch supports 16x 10GbE connections, 8 of which will come out of the 2 QSFP+ breakout ports. What am I missing?
The two QSFP+ ports require a breakout cable to get 4 male SFP+ connectors per port. AFAIK breakout cables to RJ45 connectors do not exist.
 
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LemonheadST

New Member
Aug 25, 2022
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The two QSFP+ ports require a breakout cable to get 4 male SFP+ connectors per port. AFAIK breakout cables to RJ45 connectors do not exist.
Actually there is a rather mysterious cable from Dell that *claims* to do what you want:

But for the price of 1312.99 Euro I don't think anyone here has bought it to see if it works.

Edit: just noticed that's not even 10GbE - it maxes at 1Gb :(
 

StarsAndBars

New Member
Jul 13, 2020
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Hello all! I am trying to fully reset a 6610 to factory defaults and clear out any references to a stack member, but even after doing so, I still get this:

ICX6610-48P Router#sh run
Current configuration:
!
ver 08.0.30uT7f3
!
stack unit 1
module 1 icx6610-48p-poe-port-management-module
module 2 icx6610-qsfp-10-port-160g-module
module 3 icx6610-8-port-10g-dual-mode-module
stack unit 2
module 1 icx6610-48p-poe-port-management-module
module 2 icx6610-qsfp-10-port-160g-module
module 3 icx6610-8-port-10g-dual-mode-module
stack disable


So then I try this and this is what I get:

ICX6610-48P Router#stack unconfigure clean
This command is not available on standalone or Active Controller


What should I do from here? I would have thought a factory reset command would have done it, but it did not. I am on the latest bootloader and software from the guide (at least I think I am, I followed the instructions to update in the guide).

Thanks!
 

AndroidCat

Member
Mar 3, 2015
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...

So then I try this and this is what I get:

ICX6610-48P Router#stack unconfigure clean
This command is not available on standalone or Active Controller


What should I do from here? I would have thought a factory reset command would have done it, but it did not. I am on the latest bootloader and software from the guide (at least I think I am, I followed the instructions to update in the guide).

Thanks!
You have old stacking configs still lingering on your switch. You have to delete them and reload.
I don't remember if you can do it from bootloader level too, but the below OS console method works for sure:

Code:
over serial (will not work over telnet/ssh)
#at any OS level:
#press ctrl+y, let go, then press m, then hit enter
#at the new console, show files with:
dir
#delete all the config files
del stacking.boot
del startup-config
del startup-config.backup
del startup-config.old
#reboot
reset
 
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AndroidCat

Member
Mar 3, 2015
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Hey folks, long time lurker, first time poster. I've scanned through this thread and have gotten mixed results (some people saying their 6610s ramp the fans to a million RPM all the time, others who never see north of 40C), and I think I just need to ask flat out:

Got an ICX6610 that I've been running for a few months now, and most of my learning has been from this thread (came from a Cisco C3750X-48P to a ICX6610-48P). Quick question - what do people see as far as temps are concerned with these? Mine seems to sit at 75C in a room that is around 72F-74F, and I can't figure out why it's so hot. I've heard it runs a bit spicy, but I didn't think it lived at its fan speed switching point.


Thoughts?

EDIT: Just glanced, my R720XD two rack-Us away from this switch sits at 21C.
That seems pretty hot. Maybe there is not enough room around the switch for proper cooling with all the POE stuff going on?

In any case you could look at that thread:

If you don't care about the noise 6610 is making, just take a look towards the end of said thread. Plexiglass top with external fans will do the trick.
 

seatrope

New Member
Oct 5, 2018
27
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Maine
www.ychng.com
What's best practice for "daisy-chaining" switches if I can't stack them, in terms of ACLs and VLANs?

I have a main ICX 6610 switch with all my VLANs and ACLs set up. There is a 10Gbe link to a ICX6450 in my office 3 floors up.

I have VLAN10, 20, 40 and 90 which I send through the 10Gbe link all as tagged. This seems to work ok.

So far ACLs seem to work when defined only on the ICX6610, but obviously if there is routing internal to the ICX6450 the ACLs will not apply I assume.

Questions for those who daisy chain switches (without stacking):
- Do you replicate all your ACLs on the second switch?

- how do you send your VLANs over to the second switch? just tag them all on the interface link between the two switches?

- Do you make additional router-interfaces (ve) for each VLAN on the subsidiary switch? I have been doing so.
For instance, VLAN 10 is 192.168.10.0/24. I have ve 10 on ICX6610 with ip addr 192.168.10.2/24 and ve 10 on ICX6450 with ip 192.168.10.3/24.

Not sure what is "best practice" here.
 

kpfleming

Active Member
Dec 28, 2021
383
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Pelham NY USA
I don't think there is a 'best practice'.

The first step is to determine whether the traffic in the 6450 needs to be routed there, or can go over the transport link to the 6610 and back. If it can do that, then your life with layer 3 routing and access-lists will be easier as they will only live in one location. You could even have the 6450 setup in purely layer 2 mode and not even worry about VEs and IP addresses on it.
 

seatrope

New Member
Oct 5, 2018
27
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Maine
www.ychng.com
I don't think there is a 'best practice'.

The first step is to determine whether the traffic in the 6450 needs to be routed there, or can go over the transport link to the 6610 and back. If it can do that, then your life with layer 3 routing and access-lists will be easier as they will only live in one location. You could even have the 6450 setup in purely layer 2 mode and not even worry about VEs and IP addresses on it.
you've sort of lost me there. Thanks for the input! but can you elaborate on how to determine if the traffic in the 6450 needs to be routed there?
 

kpfleming

Active Member
Dec 28, 2021
383
205
43
Pelham NY USA
you've sort of lost me there. Thanks for the input! but can you elaborate on how to determine if the traffic in the 6450 needs to be routed there?
If you have more than 10Gbit/s of traffic between devices attached to the 6450 *and* that traffic crosses VLANs, then you need layer 3 routing on the 6450 because otherwise the 10GbE link between it and the 6610 would be a bottleneck.

If you have less than 10Gbit/s of traffic between those devices, or they are on the same VLAN (and thus layer 2 switching would be sufficient), then you don't need any layer 3 configuration on the 6450 at all.
 

seatrope

New Member
Oct 5, 2018
27
11
3
Maine
www.ychng.com
I don't think there is a 'best practice'.

The first step is to determine whether the traffic in the 6450 needs to be routed there, or can go over the transport link to the 6610 and back. If it can do that, then your life with layer 3 routing and access-lists will be easier as they will only live in one location. You could even have the 6450 setup in purely layer 2 mode and not even worry about VEs and IP addresses on it.
this makes perfect sense! Thank you @kpfleming!
 

Craig Curtin

Member
Jun 18, 2017
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Just wanted to say a hearty thank you for all the work that has gone into the documentation from the OP - just followed through step by step on 3 new switches that i received and everything worked perfectly !

Craig
 

kpfleming

Active Member
Dec 28, 2021
383
205
43
Pelham NY USA
In the guide it says "By default, all ports are in VLAN 1" for the ICX 6450 does that include the 4SPF+ ports? I have an "Cable Matters 1000BASE-T Gigabit SFP to RJ45 Copper Ethernet Modular Transceiver" but doesn't work(ve interface 1 IP doesn't ping). Using any of the ethernet ports direct works (Cat 7 Ethernet Cable High-Speed Flat Gigabit RJ45 LAN)

If not how can I add them?
Have you confirmed that the SFP module is functional in another system? If not, you're dealing with at least two variables, instead of one :)
 

LodeRunner

Active Member
Apr 27, 2019
540
227
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In the guide it says "By default, all ports are in VLAN 1" for the ICX 6450 does that include the 4SPF+ ports? I have an "Cable Matters 1000BASE-T Gigabit SFP to RJ45 Copper Ethernet Modular Transceiver" but doesn't work(ve interface 1 IP doesn't ping). Using any of the ethernet ports direct works (Cat 7 Ethernet Cable High-Speed Flat Gigabit RJ45 LAN)

If not how can I add them?
I don't have a 6450, so I don't know, but do you have to manually set the speed for a SFP+ port if you're not using a 10G module, or will it properly auto-detect?