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

[u4096]

Hi all. Great content and lots of learning by reading through these thread. Special thanks to Fohdeesha for starting it!

What would be considered a reasonable price for the 6450-24p/7150-24p/7250-24p switches in 2023? The prices seem to be all over the place on eBay.

I am in the market for an ICX7150-24P. However, listing price for those seems to be between $500-$1200. I have been keeping an eye using the "Sold" prices as reference but I am not finding anything close to that range (200-400). One seller on eBay would not budge on less than $600 before shipping. What are people paying nowadays? What would you consider a deal?

I currently have 2 ICX7150-C12Ps that I've been running for a couple years and looking to consolidate into a single, ideally fanless (or as quiet as possible) low power switch.

Questions I have for all of you experts. I have not seen any recent answers to these and my searching didn't yield any recent results so thought I'd ask to gauge the situation at this point in time, especially with the current inflation.

1. Are the 6450s worth buying in 2023? Would $150-200 be a good deal for one?

2. I have been able to find a 7250-24p for almost same price as a 7150-24p. However, the noise (~42-44 dB with the stock fans) and power consumption (~50w) idle make me hesitate. How loud are they? Is it worth paying 4x for a 7250-24p (EOLd now) compared to a 6450-24p which has been EOLd for quite sometime but at least offers some savings upfront?

3. Is there a difference between the Brocade branded 7250 and the Ruckus branded ones?

4. If anybody has a 7150-24p that they are willing to part with for a reasonable price, I would be interested. I may be open to also partial trades.

I only have about 4 PoE devices at this point in time and not heavily invested in the 10GB ecosystem but would like to prep and expand for future needs.

Thank you in advance.

 

[kpfleming]

The 7250-24P is *not* quiet, although it's nowhere near as loud as most enterprise 10Gb switches. If you keep the total power consumption low (having only 4 PoE devices will help there) the fan will stay at its lowest speed, but it won't shut off.

One thing to consider: if you consolidate to a single switch, you have no redundancy. One of the benefits of using a stack of 7150-C12Ps is that you can have built-in redundancy with only the time required to move cables from one unit to another. I did that until I ran out of ports (with 50% overhead), so now I have a stacked pair of 7250-24Ps in the same situation.

 

[ManoftheSea]

1. Are the 6450s worth buying in 2023? Would $150-200 be a good deal for one?

Depends on your use case. IPv4? Yeah. IPv6? Maybe. Prefix delegation, SLAAC? No, not a good choice.

I got a 48p for $130 shipped. I later showed a buddy one for $90 on ebay. $150 seems too high.

 

[u4096]

The 7250-24P is *not* quiet, although it's nowhere near as loud as most enterprise 10Gb switches. If you keep the total power consumption low (having only 4 PoE devices will help there) the fan will stay at its lowest speed, but it won't shut off.

One thing to consider: if you consolidate to a single switch, you have no redundancy. One of the benefits of using a stack of 7150-C12Ps is that you can have built-in redundancy with only the time required to move cables from one unit to another. I did that until I ran out of ports (with 50% overhead), so now I have a stacked pair of 7250-24Ps in the same situation.

Thank you. Would the noise be noticeable say in a living room or bedroom closet? What are the best recommended fans at this point in time? Is it still the Sunons? Is it worth going down that route? How much would the noise levels drop? Noise/power consumption is the reason why I'm tempted by the 6450 but would prefer a switch that is continuing to receive updates for as long as possible.

Good point regarding redundancy. The issue that I have though is that they didn't come with rack ears and I have limited rack space so can't stack them as they are. The rack mounts seem to always be stupidly expensive and for the C12Ps, hard to find.

Depends on your use case. IPv4? Yeah. IPv6? Maybe. Prefix delegation, SLAAC? No, not a good choice.

I got a 48p for $130 shipped. I later showed a buddy one for $90 on ebay. $150 seems too high.

I don't have a need for IPv6 capabilities at this point.

Wow, your numbers are quite low compared to what I'm seeing . The original asking price for 6450-24p was $250 from a local seller. I thought I would be getting a deal for $150 . Why are they so overpriced still? Would $600 for a used 7150-24p be too much? What about a 7250-24p?

 

[kpfleming]

The 7250-24P, with a small number of PoE devices and *no* SFP+ modules, would be OK in a closet, not OK in living space. As soon as you plug in SFP+ modules, the fans speed up and the noise increases substantially.

I have 3d-printed rack ears for three of my C12Ps, they work fine and are much less expensive than the Ruckus-branded ears.

 

[sic0048]

1. Are the 6450s worth buying in 2023? Would $150-200 be a good deal for one?

There is a current EBay auction for lots of 6450-48p from a recycler with a BuyItNow price of $120 with shipping. They also take offers. My offer of $105 was immediately accepted, indicating there is likely be room for lower offers. Given this, I'd say $100 shipped is the current going price for 6450's on EBay. The unit I received unit was obviously used, but in good overall condition.

There seems to be another recycler offering 6450-48 (no POE) for a BIN price of $105 with offers accepted. So again, I'd say $100 shipped is the current going price for non-poe units too.

You can also get 6610-48p in the same $100 shipped price range (or lower) if you are patient at all.

 

[ManoftheSea]

I don't have a need for IPv6 capabilities at this point.

Wow, your numbers are quite low compared to what I'm seeing . The original asking price for 6450-24p was $250 from a local seller.

No IPv6? Shame

Brocade ICX6450-48P 48x 1Gb 4x 1/10 Gb Ports POE+ Switch 80-1005998-04 | eBay - Dedicated Networks, where I bought mine, at $120
Brocade ICX6450-48P 48-Port PoE Switch! No Reserve! Tested/Warranty included | eBay - Another link at $130 total

 

[MannyLNJ]

If I want a relatively quiet managed switch with 12 copper Ethernet ports or more capable of 1Gb speed and the ability to add 4 or 8 2.5GB copper Ethernet ports what do I need to get on Ebay?

 

[NablaSquaredG]

If I want a relatively quiet managed switch with 12 copper Ethernet ports or more capable of 1Gb speed and the ability to add 4 or 8 2.5GB copper Ethernet ports what do I need to get on Ebay?

ICX7150-C10ZP But it's very expensive.

 

[u4096]

No IPv6? Shame

Brocade ICX6450-48P 48x 1Gb 4x 1/10 Gb Ports POE+ Switch 80-1005998-04 | eBay - Dedicated Networks, where I bought mine, at $120
Brocade ICX6450-48P 48-Port PoE Switch! No Reserve! Tested/Warranty included | eBay - Another link at $130 total

Those 48 port versions are tempting for the price. Hate to not use half of the ports though and pay for idle power. Why are they cheaper than the 24 port versions?

What about the 7150-24p/7250-24p, any idea what's considered a good going price?

 

[sic0048]

Those 48 port versions are tempting for the price. Hate to not use half of the ports though and pay for idle power. Why are they cheaper than the 24 port versions?

Supply. Companies are much more likely to use 48 port network switches and so there is a much larger supply of these units with the recyclers right now. (Because they receive them from companies that are replacing their old switches with newer switches).

 

[MannyLNJ]

ICX7150-C10ZP But it's very expensive.

Yep too much for my budget at the moment. I am using 20 ports of a Cisco 48 port switch but most of the systems on it are 1Gb I could go larger on the.newer switch if it would be at lower price point.

 

[u4096]

The 7250-24P, with a small number of PoE devices and *no* SFP+ modules, would be OK in a closet, not OK in living space. As soon as you plug in SFP+ modules, the fans speed up and the noise increases substantially.

I have 3d-printed rack ears for three of my C12Ps, they work fine and are much less expensive than the Ruckus-branded ears.

What made you choose the 7250-24p vs the 6450-24p?

 

[ManoftheSea]

The 7250-24P

How's the IPv6 functionality on that? Can it do Prefix Delegation (either as a client or a server), can it inspect the delegations to route to other clients, and can it route to interfaces/ve's without needing an IP within the prefix? Can it Route Advertise with additional info like the DNS server?

 

[killergoalie]

So i'm bouncing between the 6450-48P and the 6610-48P, I'm looking to keep things as quiet as possible. I've seen some comments and videos mentioning that the 6610s are not really that quiet. Currently don't need any IPv6. lab is in my basement office with 2 DL380 Gen8 servers with the modified ILO4 firmware that allows for fan modification and I can keep those cool and quiet.

I have some 1us that I spin up for tests but i'm always upstairs when I do that so I don't have to hear them.

SO the point is how loud are the 6610?

thanks

 

[Kahooli]

So i'm bouncing between the 6450-48P and the 6610-48P, I'm looking to keep things as quiet as possible. I've seen some comments and videos mentioning that the 6610s are not really that quiet. Currently don't need any IPv6. lab is in my basement office with 2 DL380 Gen8 servers with the modified ILO4 firmware that allows for fan modification and I can keep those cool and quiet.

I have some 1us that I spin up for tests but i'm always upstairs when I do that so I don't have to hear them.

SO the point is how loud are the 6610?

thanks

Once it's booted fully, I can tolerate the 6610 sitting 3 feet from me all day. If it's in your basement while youre upstairs, you have nothing to worry about on them. get the 6610

 

[killergoalie]

Once it's booted fully, I can tolerate the 6610 sitting 3 feet from me all day. If it's in your basement while youre upstairs, you have nothing to worry about on them. get the 6610

Thanks, to clarify most of the time it'll be about ~2-3 feet away from also, but i'm slowly talking myself into a 6610

 

[kpfleming]

What made you choose the 7250-24p vs the 6450-24p?

I didn't want to be stuck on an older firmware train, primarily. The 7250 version also has more SFP+ slots.

 

[kpfleming]

How's the IPv6 functionality on that? Can it do Prefix Delegation (either as a client or a server), can it inspect the delegations to route to other clients, and can it route to interfaces/ve's without needing an IP within the prefix? Can it Route Advertise with additional info like the DNS server?

I can't answer most of those questions definitively since I use my 7250s as layer 2 devices, but since they run the same software as the 7150s I was running in layer 3 mode, the answer to most of those questions is probably 'no'. The DHCPv6 functionality in the ICX software is very limited.

It *can* send RAs with DNSSL and RDNSS info, I know because I had that in place.

 

[u4096]

I didn't want to be stuck on an older firmware train, primarily. The 7250 version also has more SFP+ slots.

Makes sense. Is the 7250 older? Is that why I see it as EOLd per this Ruckus announcement? How does the 7250 compare to the 7150? I haven't come across a detailed comparison between the two lines on this thread. Is the 7250 more capable? 7150 is described as entry level.