Quanta LB4M 48-Port Gigabit Switch Discussion

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Chuntzu

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Jun 30, 2013
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Has anyone managed to quieten these down a bit? Maybe disconnect the mini fans and install bigger ones?
If your talking about the lb4m with 4 cx4 ports on the back I have used a cheap resistor based fan modulator to control the fans and it works well. In regards to the switch with dual sfp+ ports I find those switches dramatically more quiet and not necessary to decrease their fan noise. This is personal preference only it would depend on your acceptable level of noise but the sfp+ models modulate their levels.
 

bevz

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Mar 23, 2015
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Has anyone managed to quieten these down a bit? Maybe disconnect the mini fans and install bigger ones?
I have the Quanta switch with the dual sfp+ and ended up getting these low noise adaptors. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011EY3GME?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

Made a huge difference in noise. Temp is consistant at 52 degrees Celsius. Not using the sfp+ uplinks at this time. I might end up modding the top cover plate to put in an intake fan.
 
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Fritz

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Apr 6, 2015
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Just check my temp, it's 38c. But it's cool back there now. No doubt it was hotter a month ago. I'll order a couple of the low noise adapters and see how it goes.

If I mod the top and put a couple of big fans on it, can I wire then into the PSU fan headers or is there a more preferred way?

Mine has the 2 SFP+ ports and it's loud as Hades.
 

Lance Joseph

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Oct 5, 2014
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rEd2k

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Oct 16, 2015
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I have the Quanta switch with the dual sfp+ and ended up getting these low noise adaptors. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011EY3GME?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

Made a huge difference in noise. Temp is consistant at 52 degrees Celsius. Not using the sfp+ uplinks at this time. I might end up modding the top cover plate to put in an intake fan.
Ok, I looked into the fans you suggested because I also want to slow them down as mine could be quieter too. I am confused though, the inline fan connectors from Noctua are the "NA-SRC6" model, but I looked everywhere and came up short trying to find them. Because I live in Canada and that seller online doesn't ship internationally I couldn't buy it from them. I then went to the Noctua website and the model number appears to be "NA-SRC7" instead. I wonder if it was just a revision or something. Anyways, if your ordering them in Canada you should go here: Noctua NA-SRC7 4 Pin Sleeved Low Noise Adapters (3 Pack) - NA-SRC7

That's where I found them for a decent price anyways :) My concern though is this from the Noctua website: "While it may work with many other fans, use with third party fans is not officially supported by Noctua, is at the customer’s own risk and will void the warranty. The NA-RC7 adaptor is strictly not to be used with fans that draw more than 3W of power." and here's that link if your interested: http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=productview&products_id=70&lng=en

I think the fans in the Quanta probably draw much more than 3 watts each, but I have no idea, so I'm hoping anyone knows if these adapters are safe? These adapters they make for their own fans and are to slow down fans that run at like 1800 rpm max :S I hope these adapters will work for us Quanta users! Anyone know if it should be ok?
 

Fritz

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Apr 6, 2015
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Just got another LB4m and I have a couple of issues with it.

1. I can't access the web interface in band. When I try to configure Network Connectivity, the only protocol choice I have is "None". DHCP is what it needs to be but it doesn't give me any options.

2. This switch is running firmware v. 1.0.2.14. My other switch is running 1.0.2.17. Can I copy the config file from the second to the first?

Thanks
 

rEd2k

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Oct 16, 2015
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Just got another LB4m and I have a couple of issues with it.

1. I can't access the web interface in band. When I try to configure Network Connectivity, the only protocol choice I have is "None". DHCP is what it needs to be but it doesn't give me any options.

2. This switch is running firmware v. 1.0.2.14. My other switch is running 1.0.2.17. Can I copy the config file from the second to the first?

Thanks
Im not sure what that command is but I think its possible. I had a problem getting the 1.0.2.14 web interface to work, I just flashed it to 1.0.2.17 and the web interface works no problem. I wouldnt even bother with 1.0.2.14, it's obviously a little more buggy as it is supposed to have a functioning web ui but I couldnt use it either.

I will look at the commands when I get time and I might be able to figure out how to copy the config from one to another ;)
 

Fritz

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Well hell, it appears I've locked myself out. I tried to upload 1.0.2.17 via FTFP and it failed because of an illegal symbol in the file name, a - I assume. I then tried to upload it via HTTP and it told me there was already a file upload in progress. I then power cycled the switch and now I can't access it anymore. It's not pulling an IP. How do I proceed?

Thanks
 

rEd2k

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Oct 16, 2015
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Well hell, it appears I've locked myself out. I tried to upload 1.0.2.17 via FTFP and it failed because of an illegal symbol in the file name, a - I assume. I then tried to upload it via HTTP and it told me there was already a file upload in progress. I then power cycled the switch and now I can't access it anymore. It's not pulling an IP. How do I proceed?

Thanks
Damn, that sucks, so you tried to flash while on/using 1.0.2.14 and tried to overwrite that firmware while in use correct? Can the switch still boot up and you can get into the CLI? If not then there is a way to select the alternate firmware during the boot process as long as the other firmware is intact and functional (which it should be as long as you didn't try to overwrite the other one).

Reload/reboot the switch and make sure the CLI is showing you stuff and it's loading, upon rebooting the switch you should see a quick menu with only two options and you must be VERY QUICK and press "2" then the enter key. This is a rescue menu of sorts that the boot loader loads up on startup of the switch for fixing issues ect. and incase you want to know Option 1 loads the switch with the last settings applied and last firmware used. Anyways selecting Option 2 gets you into a menu with a lot more options, once in this menu type "11" (without the quotes) and hit enter, as that will activate the backup image. Then type "1" then hit enter again, to actually load/run the backup image and start using it. :)

Now that the backup firmware is loaded and running it should always boot that firmware and default to it. Now you should try to install a working firmware into the image slot you have the corrupt one in as to fix that in case of emergency in the future (kinda like now lol). If your backup image that your currently running is the 1.0.2.17 firmware you should have no problem installing firmware on to the other slot via the web ui and you can follow the instructions below on how that's done, but if you have no web gui access at all because you are stuck on 1.0.2.14 every time the switch boots up then you will have to use the CLI to upload a new firmware and then use the method I described above to switch to it to get web access back to proceed below.

I use the web ui to do this and it always works for me :) Under the "Navigation" panel on the left side in the gui you will see a folder called "system" click/expand that then look for "System Utilities" and click/expand that. You will then see "HTTP File Download" and click on that option. You will then see on the right hand pane the various options and you wanna make sure "File Type" is "Code" and "Image File Name" is either "Image1" or Image2" <-depending on which image slot you want to upload the firmware file to.

Then obviously click on the "Browse" button beside the "Select File" line and find the firmware you want to upload to the switch from your hard drive. After you select it click on the "Start File Transfer" Button and it will start to upload the firmware to your selected slot WITHOUT ANY INDICATION THAT ITS DOING SO EXCEPT FOR A POP UP WINDOW WARNING YOU NOT TO INTERRUPT THE PROCESS. You can close that pop up but LEAVE THE BROWSER WINDOW OPEN AND RUNNING AND DON'T TOUCH IT!! All you will see is the little loading circle (Firefox & IE anyways) and it will keep going for a long time, when it finally stops it means that the firmware has finished uploading. You can verify this by navigating to "Dual Image Status" under the original "System" folder you expanded earlier and you will see the firmware versions for both slots in there.

I have firefox for my web browser and my little "circle for loading" I mentioned is located on the top left of the tab that's currently open when using the web ui. Crap, I have to leave now, but I will be back later today or tm with more info, in the mean time, if you CAN access the CLI and you need a base IP address to get the web gui working the commands to set a STATIC IP is:

network protocol none
network parms 192.168.1.XXX 255.255.255.0 192.168.1.1
write memory

Make sure to use a STATIC ip address and those commands will make that happen for you, and that last command writes to the config file so when a reload happens it will always use the new settings. I hope that these instructions aren't too confusing, it's just because there is so much to look out for when doing this sort of thing and I really hope your switch isn't messed up!
 
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Fritz

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Thank you sir. I had to order a serial to RJ45 plug. Can't proceed until it gets here. The switch still works, just can't get into the web interface. Strange, the file failed to upload to the switch, it didn't fail to update. Unless it uploads and updates in one operation.
 

rEd2k

New Member
Oct 16, 2015
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Your welcome ;) Yes getting that serial to RJ45 is essential for owning one of these switches, esp since most of the firmware revisions out there pretty much don't have a working web ui. I would recommend making sure not to turn the switch off again for now (just in case) and keep using it. Though the switch probably wouldn't work at all if it wasn't using a functional firmware, so I'm going to guess and say that it's using the 1.0.2.14 firmware atm and that's why your stuck not getting the web ui.

You can at least check to see what your ip address is for the switch by looking at the router or server your using. Log in to your DHCP server or router and look for "Quanta Computer Inc" as the description/vendor assigned to an ip address. I had to look through like 50 ip addresses in my DHCP server list before I found the correct vendor description when I first started using my Quanta and knew nothing about CLI. Not all devices list a name to advertise over the network, but the Quanta does so you should be able to track down what the ip address actually is for the switch. If your using a router hopefully it's decent enough that it will actually list the various device names bound to the ip's and on some you may have to look through the device MAC address to ip address table instead to find the matching MAC address that's printed on the sticker on the Quanta enclosure. That may be all that is holding you back, the ip address simply may have changed since you were using DHCP to assign the base ip to the switch previously (DHCP is the default setting for these switches to grab a base ip address from any DHCP server connected to it, and one must always set a static ip address manually to stop this from happening as to avoid any possibility of the switch grabbing a new ip upon reboot/reload ect).

If you do manage to find the ip address and it still does not work trying to login to the web ui, you must be using that older firmware then atm. When your adapter arrives if you need help setting up a pc to connect to the switch using the CLI I can walk you through how that's done, it's actually quite easy. If you had access to your CLI I can tell you the command to see what firmwares you have installed in the 2 slots and also what commands to use to toggle between either firmware image slot upon reloading. There's also a command to flash/copy the firmware from one image slot to another if that was ever needed but I can't remember that atm, I have to dig that up.

Let me know if you had any luck logging into the switch in the mean time, you can always come back here for any help ;) I'm not an expert as I'm fairly new to the Quanta but I had to crash course learn this stuff to get mine working and I had really great help so the least I can do is pass it on the best I can :)
 
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rEd2k

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Oct 16, 2015
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Ok, I looked into the fans you suggested because I also want to slow them down as mine could be quieter too. I am confused though, the inline fan connectors from Noctua are the "NA-SRC6" model, but I looked everywhere and came up short trying to find them. Because I live in Canada and that seller online doesn't ship internationally I couldn't buy it from them. I then went to the Noctua website and the model number appears to be "NA-SRC7" instead. I wonder if it was just a revision or something. Anyways, if your ordering them in Canada you should go here: Noctua NA-SRC7 4 Pin Sleeved Low Noise Adapters (3 Pack) - NA-SRC7

That's where I found them for a decent price anyways :) My concern though is this from the Noctua website: "While it may work with many other fans, use with third party fans is not officially supported by Noctua, is at the customer’s own risk and will void the warranty. The NA-RC7 adaptor is strictly not to be used with fans that draw more than 3W of power." and here's that link if your interested: http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=productview&products_id=70&lng=en

I think the fans in the Quanta probably draw much more than 3 watts each, but I have no idea, so I'm hoping anyone knows if these adapters are safe? These adapters they make for their own fans and are to slow down fans that run at like 1800 rpm max :S I hope these adapters will work for us Quanta users! Anyone know if it should be ok?
So I took the chance and I ordered the Noctua NA-SRC7 inline fan adapters and I installed them today on my Quanta LB4M. I am VERY HAPPY to report that they work!! :) Right from the boot up of the switch usually the fans run super fast and loud before the OS kicks in but they were not running a million rpm like they usually do, it was a real pleasure to hear a WAY quieter fan speed right away after installing the adapters :) They limited the fans by about half or so. I get around 3600-4100 rpm and the fan duty level has gone up which I would expect since the fans are being limited now. I am at about 67% fan duty level and it was very slowly climbing but I'm sure this will eventually stop and settle at a certain duty level once the optimal temp vs fan speed are obtained, and I think that it has come very close or has stopped at about 67% for me.

Just to make sure that the switch doesn't try to burn out the circuits/fans/adapters I raised the "normal" max temp to about 55 degrees even if my switch gets warmer it doesn't bother me and I'm in a cool basement anyways. The switch ambient temp is the exact same as it was before and it sits at about 51-52 degrees on the read out. Even with the fans running at around 7000-8100 rpm before the switch was at the same temp anyways.

I don't put this switch under heavy load, I only have about 16 ports populated at any time and the 2 sfp+ ports do have twinax coppers in them running at 10gb/s and I have a LAG setup with 3 ports to one computer. I also only have a 250mb internet connection feeding the network for all users and devices connected. That should give you a good idea why not much has changed for me except the noise level :)
I get about 10db less noise than before, which is a lot since before hand I could always hear that beast running what sounded like a jet engine, but it was just running at idle basically. What a difference these adapters have made.

I will report back in a day or two to update any changes or possible problems I may run in to, but as it stands from this writing I see no problems and I am quite happy with the decision to buy these adapters and take the chance to install them. For the cheap price I paid for these adapters it's a great solution. I would stress to only do this at your own risk of course but for me I am quite a happy camper :)
 
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Fritz

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Thanks. :)

It's not pulling an IP at all. I checked the router and used Advanced IP Scanner. Hopefully I can still access it via the CLI.
 

rEd2k

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Oct 16, 2015
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Thanks. :)

It's not pulling an IP at all. I checked the router and used Advanced IP Scanner. Hopefully I can still access it via the CLI.
Damn, there goes that theory :p I'm sure we can get the CLI to work magic for ya, so no worries ;)
 

Fritz

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The adapter from Amazon will be here tomorrow thanks to Amazon Prime. :)

Just checked the 10g ports. They're working. Hooray. :D
 
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Fritz

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Just got the adapter in. Can someone tell me how to wire it up? I read the earlier post but I'm not going through a freight train to make the connection. I'm going from the LB4M to the connector and not through any other gizmo.

Thanks
 

nephri

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Sep 23, 2015
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Just got the adapter in. Can someone tell me how to wire it up? I read the earlier post but I'm not going through a freight train to make the connection. I'm going from the LB4M to the connector and not through any other gizmo.

Thanks
Connect to DB9 connector to your PC, the RJ45 to the console port.
I used "Hyperterminal" to connect to the switch with 9600 baud and "no control".

You may have to type some "enter" key in order the swicth auto-sense the input and start echoing.
 

Fritz

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Sorry, I should have explained it better. I need to know what wires go to which pins. According to an earlier post, only 3 wires are needed. But the post had other stuff in the link so I don't know if the same wiring will work for me.
 

Scott Laird

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Aug 30, 2014
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It's just a standard Cisco console cable; it's probably easiest to just search for directions that match your setup. These are really common.