Quanta LB4M 48-Port Gigabit Switch Discussion

[Fritz]

According to an earlier discussion, there was some question as to the proper wiring. Someone posted a pic of what worked for them. If it was standard Cisco, this would not have been necessary. Just trying to make sure I get it right.

 

[Scott Laird]

Ah. I've apparently fallen a few thousand messages behind here .

I'm about 95% sure that I used a Cisco cable for mine. Did you use a cat5/6 cable or a straight-through RJ45 cable? I can't remember which one is correct in this case, unfortunately. I can try to pull my LB4 out and plug in a serial console, but it may take a few days; I'm still cleaning up after yesterday's big storm in Seattle.

 

[razvanc.mobile]

I can confirm that the cable is cisco compatible, i'm using a cisco cable on my lb4m console (with a serial to usb adapter).

 

[rEd2k]

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.

Did you order an incomplete adapter? One in which you have to make the cable yourself? Like what is this "wiring" to which pins? Didn't you just get the serial to RJ45 cable? That's all you need. Then you connect to the serial port (DB9) on the PC and connect the RJ45 (Ethernet) to the "Console" port on the switch. Can you post the link from where your ordered the cable so we can take a look at it?

 

[Fritz]

I'm into the switch but the manual seems to be next to useless as most commands don't work.

It's in the firmware version 1.02.17 but no web interface. What I'd like to do is reflash it again after changing the name to something legal.

Any guidance greatly appreciated.

PS- I'm a dummy who doesn't know what he's doing.

And yes, the adapter came without the pins in the plug. I hooked up the red, yellow and black and that got me in.

 

[Fritz]

I have no idea how I did it but I'm back into the web interface. Strange thing is, when I tried to update the image it told me the update failed but yet it's now showing 1.02.17. Should I reflash just to be sure it's OK?

 

[rEd2k]

I have no idea how I did it but I'm back into the web interface. Strange thing is, when I tried to update the image it told me the update failed but yet it's now showing 1.02.17. Should I reflash just to be sure it's OK?

I have no idea how or why your web ui started magically working, but it must mean that you have a working base ip address correct? Just to make sure for future use and trouble shooting I recommend setting the switchs ip address to a static one like previously suggested. You shouldn't get a fail on the firmware update as long as you have a proper firmware file (not corrupt) and you made sure to wait a long time for the upgrade proccess to finish if you did do it the web ui way. Make sure both firmware image slots have a firmware version that supports the web ui like 1.0.2.16 & 1.0.2.17 for example. I have 1.0.2.17 on both image slots myself just in case.

 

[Fritz]

Thank you, sir.

I've learned more about this switch today than I knew previously.

What should the Network Protocol be set to? Options are none, bootp and DHCP. Currently it's set to DHCP.

And for anyone thinking about using the Nocturna inline resistors to quieten this beast down, they do work but at the expense of much higher temps. Mine went from 42c to 67c so I removed them. I'd rather have a live loud switch than a dead quiet one.

 

[rEd2k]

Thank you, sir.

I've learned more about this switch today than I knew previously.

What should the Network Protocol be set to? Options are none, bootp and DHCP. Currently it's set to DHCP.

And for anyone thinking about using the Nocturna inline resistors to quieten this beast down, they do work but at the expense of much higher temps. Mine went from 42c to 67c so I removed them. I'd rather have a live loud switch than a dead quiet one.

As stated in my earlier post to you, just do each one of these commands one after another and you will have set the static ip address:

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

Obviously replace the "XXX" with what ever you want your base ip (web ui access as well) to be.

Also the inline Noctua fan resistors work great for me, funny thing is that my temps didnt really change at all, they are always at 51-53 degrees and that's what they still are at after installing the adapters. I also thought that they would go way higher but they didn't and for like 6-8 bucks how could you go wrong to at least try them? If your in a very hot place I wouldn't recommend it, then I would say get quieter fans installed instead of course

 

[rEd2k]

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

Ok, so after a few days running as much load as I could using various combinations of the 2x 10gb ports plus all the LAN ports I have connected, I tried to push as much real world large file(s) data I could all at the same time while utilizing any and all devices during said data transfers, my switch never got over 54 degrees and the duty for the fans always stayed at at 70% and under during testing, meaning about 4500-4700 rpm on average.

I pushed and pulled files between various computers with various file size like 80GB files, 50 GB files, and smaller 4k-100k files (thousands) and even some 300MB and 5GB files all back and forth over and over for about 45 mins. Never did my switch even bat an eye at the work and stayed cool enough to make me very happy

I am always sitting at about 51-52 degrees with the fan duty showing at 67-68% and the fans running anywhere around 3800-4300 rpms for average every day use and idle temps. It's weird though, I just couldn't get the switch to get too hot at all during my testing, it must be because I'm in a basement and winter is on the way lol. My basement isn't freezing though, it's room temperature at around 19-20 degrees celsius at the lowest and gets much hotter during gaming LAN sessions I have from time to time

Although I'm not pushing this switch at all as it was designed for 48 ports and 2x 10gb uplinks to be utilized at all times with non-stop data flow, I do understand that it's not even being pushed at all. But for the lighter users and especially for home use even a very large home with the entire house and every room connected this switch would always perform quite well as it was made for a data center anyway and I would never expect the temps to reach a critical state even in a "home use heavy traffic state" <-lol.

Unless I move somewhere hot I think that I'm gunna stick with my $8 inline adapters for now, and like I said, I couldn't be happier. I hope this helps others out there make an informed decision with their switch when being a light user. Until next time Quanta guys and gals

 

[Fritz]

With winter approaching It would have been OK but summers are brutal here in the deep south so I thought I'd better leave them out. I have other uses for them so no loss.

I think I figured out what happened when I lost the web GUI. I started with the active image being #2. After getting the Web UI back I decided to replace image #1 with 1.0.2.17 and when I did I lost the Web UI. Rebooting the switch did nothing but power cycling it brought the Web UI back. I also switched the active image to #1 just to make things clean.

Gonna assign static ip's to both of them so there's no doubt as to where they are.

Advanced IP Scanner works good and it's free.

 

[BackupProphet]

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

Do the fan resistor cables work with the fans inside the psu? For me its the PSU's that are loud, not the 3 chassis fans.

 

[rEd2k]

Do the fan resistor cables work with the fans inside the psu? For me its the PSU's that are loud, not the 3 chassis fans.

I haven't tried the inline resistors with the psu yet, but I would imagine they would also work since the fans inside the psu look the same as the 3 fans on the back. I have 2 psu's with my model so I will crack one open and give you an update if they are in fact the same fans using the same connectors

 

[Fritz]

Yep, they do indeed work and quietens down the beast considerably. But watch you temps if you use them.

 

[rEd2k]

I haven't tried the inline resistors with the psu yet, but I would imagine they would also work since the fans inside the psu look the same as the 3 fans on the back. I have 2 psu's with my model so I will crack one open and give you an update if they are in fact the same fans using the same connectors

So I cracked open one of my PSU's and I was wrong about the fans being the same. They aren't the deep/extended chambered fans like the ones on the back, they are slimmer regular 40mm sized fans. The terminals aren't the same as the ones for the back fans as they are 3 pin and not 4 pin so you would need the "Noctua NA-SRC10 3 Pin low noise adapter" instead. If your in Canada get them here: Noctua NA-SRC10 3 Pin Sleeved Low Noise Adapters (3 Pack) - NA-SRC10

But I would highly recommend getting 2x of the "Noctua NF-A4X10 FLX 40mm" fans instead. It won't slow air flow so no worrying about the temps and you will get the super quiet fans your looking for. They also come with a 3 pin low noise adapter as well, so if your like me and are interested in buying on the cheap you could maybe use those 3 pin adapters those fans come with in the kit on your 2nd PSU (If you have a 2nd one installed like I do) and then you would only have to buy 2 of these fans for all 4 PSU fans to be quieter

I haven't done this, but after your request I looked into it and I could also do with an even quieter switch as my psu fans are also kinda loud too. I think I may buy the 40mm Noctua's and slap em in there Just so you know, the ones that are in there are 12 volt fans and are made by Delta (the PSU's are made by Delta too as per the printing on the PCB). I hope that helps you out, I know what I'm gunna be doing in the next few days lol. Can't wait to make the Quanta as quiet as a kitten

 

[thekmumm]

Does anyone know the command to update the flash with a new image? I have the VXWORKS 6.6 image on mine and the web interface does not work. I downloaded the image for 5.5 but I am unsure how to flash this switch.

 

[BackupProphet]

So I cracked open one of my PSU's and I was wrong about the fans being the same. They aren't the deep/extended chambered fans like the ones on the back, they are slimmer regular 40mm sized fans. The terminals aren't the same as the ones for the back fans as they are 3 pin and not 4 pin so you would need the "Noctua NA-SRC10 3 Pin low noise adapter" instead. If your in Canada get them here: Noctua NA-SRC10 3 Pin Sleeved Low Noise Adapters (3 Pack) - NA-SRC10

But I would highly recommend getting 2x of the "Noctua NF-A4X10 FLX 40mm" fans instead. It won't slow air flow so no worrying about the temps and you will get the super quiet fans your looking for. They also come with a 3 pin low noise adapter as well, so if your like me and are interested in buying on the cheap you could maybe use those 3 pin adapters those fans come with in the kit on your 2nd PSU (If you have a 2nd one installed like I do) and then you would only have to buy 2 of these fans for all 4 PSU fans to be quieter

I haven't done this, but after your request I looked into it and I could also do with an even quieter switch as my psu fans are also kinda loud too. I think I may buy the 40mm Noctua's and slap em in there Just so you know, the ones that are in there are 12 volt fans and are made by Delta (the PSU's are made by Delta too as per the printing on the PCB). I hope that helps you out, I know what I'm gunna be doing in the next few days lol. Can't wait to make the Quanta as quiet as a kitten

That is great to know. Yeah replacing the fan is probably the best idea, that is what I will do too.

 

[aj84]

Does anyone know the command to update the flash with a new image? I have the VXWORKS 6.6 image on mine and the web interface does not work. I downloaded the image for 5.5 but I am unsure how to flash this switch.

Haven't tried flashing under VxWorks 6.6 - only did that under VxWorks 5.5 (using CLI). The command in 6.6 seems to be the following:

copy tftp://<ip-of-tftp-server>/newimage TARGET
[ copy tftp://192.168.255.111/newimage backup ]

(<ip-of-tftp-server> = IP of PC running TFTP Server with accessible image file "newimage"; TARGET = "active" or "backup" image-slot on the switch -> see "show bootvar"-output to determine the active/backup images and select the currently inactive/not booted image as TARGET)

Afterwards you should verify the process using "show bootvar" once again...then activate the just flashed image using:

boot system TARGET
[ boot system backup ]

...and use "reload" to reboot the switch (or simply powercycle it).

 

[thekmumm]

Haven't tried flashing under VxWorks 6.6 - only did that under VxWorks 5.5 (using CLI). The command in 6.6 seems to be the following:

copy tftp://<ip-of-tftp-server>/newimage TARGET
[ copy tftp://192.168.255.111/newimage backup ]

(<ip-of-tftp-server> = IP of PC running TFTP Server with accessible image file "newimage"; TARGET = "active" or "backup" image-slot on the switch -> see "show bootvar"-output to determine the active/backup images and select the currently inactive/not booted image as TARGET)

Afterwards you should verify the process using "show bootvar" once again...then activate the just flashed image using:

boot system TARGET
[ boot system backup ]

...and use "reload" to reboot the switch (or simply powercycle it).

That worked perfect. Thank you

 

[Andrew Amacher]

Does anyone have experience running longer distances with these via fiber? Currently have been running 3 here all between different buildings via fiber. I just added a 4th in a distant building but am getting no link between the switches.

The 3 that are existing run on a 100 foot om1 cable with no issues. The connection between the 4th is ~65 meters and I originally bought a 0m2 cable based on Finisar's datasheet for the FTLX8571D3BCL stating that I would be able to do up to 82 meters. Pulled it and nothing no link. This week I figured I must have damaged the cable during the pull and purchased a 70 meter om3 cable. I pulled switch 3 and set it next to the 4th switch plugged in the fiber, booted and nothing, but when I hook one of the om1 cables in replacement of the new om3 I get a link instantly. Am I missing a setting or something? I can't seem to figure this one out!

-Andy