Quanta LB6M (10GbE) -- Discussion

[BlueTip]

Wow, that's an impressive solution I can see the appeal of not needing to cut a circle in the top panel, in case one later wanted to sell it.

Hope it all goes smoothly for you.



Yeah the fan detection is weird. I have had one Noctua fan work - the NF-A20, their 200mm beast. But none of their 120mm ones worked. I didn't bother trying any others, but it's good to know the 80mm doesn't work either.

So with the Arctic fans, as well as having them detected OK, do you also have functioning PWM control? You can change their speed from the switch (eg set fan-speed [1-3] in Brocade FW)? That's broken along with detection with my Noctua fan, though that's turned out to be OK because without PWM control it runs at a low/lowest speed, and that's proved perfectly fine for temperature.

My 1 x 120mm fan mod is holding up well. Completely silent when the switch is located in the annex area of my office, about 5 metres and around a corner away from me. Temperature holds steady at 50-52°C when ambient is 20-23°C. And I can get it as low as 40° if I open a door in the annex that opens into an undeveloped roof crawl space, allowing air to circulate which is at 10-15°C (at least for now, in the current wintery climate.)

One thing I didn't mention before: as well as modding the fan I also changed the thermal paste on the main CPU heatsink, using expensive enthusiast/overclocker's stuff instead. For some reason I didn't properly record before/after temps, but it may be helping to reduce temp another 2-4°C or so.

Good luck with your mod!

Hi, TheBloke,
To answer your question, I haven't hooked up the tach for the left fan (opposite the power supply), but I'm getting correct PWM control, reporting of fan status, and temperature with the Arctic F8 fans (33C intake, 36C idle exhaust at fan speed 3 - see below).

SSH@10g-sw1(config)#show chassis
Power supply 1 not present
Power supply 2 (NA - NA - Regular) present, status ok

fan 1 failed
Fan 2 ok, speed (manual): 1<->2<->[[3]]
Fan 3 ok, speed (manual): 1<->2<->[[3]]

Fan controlled temperature: 36.0 deg-C

Fan speed switching temperature thresholds:
Speed 1: NM<----->30 deg-C
Speed 2: 25<----->40 deg-C
Speed 3: 35<----->90 deg-C (shutdown)


Exhaust Side Temperature Readings:
Current temperature : 36.0 deg-C
Warning level.......: 80.0 deg-C
Shutdown level......: 90.0 deg-C
Intake Side Temperature Readings:
Current temperature : 33.0 deg-C
Boot Prom MAC: 00e0.52c1.ec8b
SSH@10g-sw1(config)#​

Here's some ballpark measurements after 30 minutes idle at each speed 1-3 (updated after repeating testing).

Fan Speed 1: 36C intake, 40C exhaust
Fan Speed 2: 36C intake, 38C exhaust
Fan Speed 3: 33C intake, 36C exhaust

I've got most of the design worked out, and I'm 3D printing the fan assembly in PETG via 3DHubs for about $30 - should be here by the weekend to test. I ended up making the fan shroud reversible (vertically) to allow more flexibility in my rack space.

 

[Corsaire]

I'm using Cisco three meter copper SFP patch cables I got for $5 each on ebay last year... no issues.

Hmm, yeah I used a similar offer and also use some DAC and SFP cards on my computers...

But it's not what my question is about.
Especially when you have a piece of equipment with a 10G RJ45 port, not SFP.

It needs a 10G RJ45(base-T) port on your switch to interface, hence a SFP+ transciever base-T.

So did someone test some of those ?

 

[fohdeesha]

So ,what can be a good alternatives with same parameters (24 TGE ports, redundant PSU, not too high price), but with full IPv6 support?

I know I'm a little late here, but the cheapest thing that fits these requirements is a Dell 8024. It's essentially an LB6M (same ASIC) but with a newer faster management CPU and firmware that supports full ipv6 routing

 

[charlie]

I know I'm a little late here, but the cheapest thing that fits these requirements is a Dell 8024. It's essentially an LB6M (same ASIC) but with a newer faster management CPU and firmware that supports full ipv6 routing

Hi,

I already found S5800-8TF12S switch for this purpose.

 

[alex1002]

I am having a serious problem. Please do not laugh at me. I configured the switch but forgot to write the mem. Now for some reason nothing happens when i plug in the console cable and try to connect. My other switch it works right away when I plug in the console cable.

 

[fohdeesha]

I am having a serious problem. Please do not laugh at me. I configured the switch but forgot to write the mem. Now for some reason nothing happens when i plug in the console cable and try to connect. My other switch it works right away when I plug in the console cable.

what do you mean you forgot to write the mem? do you mean run the "write memory" command? if so, that does not affect the switch booting and outputting data over the serial console port. Are you using the serial console port? did you try to flash or update the switch?

 

[alex1002]

what do you mean you forgot to write the mem? do you mean run the "write memory" command? if so, that does not affect the switch booting and outputting data over the serial console port. Are you using the serial console port? did you try to flash or update the switch?

I'm trying to connect via the serial port and won't connect. Screen stays blank.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

 

[fohdeesha]

what did you do before this happened? did you try to flash the switch or upgrade its software?

 

[alex1002]

what did you do before this happened? did you try to flash the switch or upgrade its software?

I didn't update anything. I configured the switch and forgot to save the settings. Now a day later the console window stays black. Nothing happens. I connected the console cable to my other quanta switches and right away I get text prompt.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

 

[fohdeesha]

I didn't update anything. I configured the switch and forgot to save the settings. Now a day later the console window stays black. Nothing happens. I connected the console cable to my other quanta switches and right away I get text prompt.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

the settings have nothing to do with the bootloader prompt being sent out the serial console port, so that's definitely not the issue.

Were you messing around in the bootloader by chance? (hitting B before it fully boots). The only way to effect serial output is to change some of the u-boot environment variables like:

stdin=serial
stdout=serial
stderr=serial

which is kind of hard to do on accident. Does it make noise when you turn it on? Have you tried different power supplies?

did you happen to buy this switch on ebay a month or two ago from a seller named "fifakingdom" ?

 

[cdawwgg]

Just Noctua-Modded my LB6M and so far-so good. For the PSU fans I just moved the pins around in the fan connectors to match the ones that were previously in it by pressing down on the slits with a small screwdriver while giving the cord a little tension. I also cut the heatshrink away so I had some manuverability. Left to right they need to be red black yellow. The noise floor in my office has gone from 60db down to 38db. I can hear myself think! I think I might try this on my Nexus next.

 

[Arb]

Could some kindly provide me step by step. After getting the switch out of the box
Plug the power outlet. Connect to M port.
How can I config the ports after installer the transivers.

In the manual indicated the default IP 192.168.2.1 but I can not ping the address or open a browser. Also were can I get the RS232 or get the pinout. So I have try few things but I can not get to configuration. Maybe starting basic steps will help

 

[qulix]

I just used a cisco console cable to connect to mine.
https://www.amazon.com/Cisco-72-3383-01-Console-Cable-RJ45-to-DB9/dp/B000GL3MOY

I don't remember the buad. Maybe 115200? If you have the manual, it should tell you how to connect to the console.

Its been a while since I configured mine, so I can't recall step by step. Its nothing like cisco, if you're from that world. I have to refer to my notes any time I have to make any basic changes that i could normally do blind folded on a cisco switch.

 

[Fritz]

Could some kindly provide me step by step. After getting the switch out of the box
Plug the power outlet. Connect to M port.
How can I config the ports after installer the transivers.

In the manual indicated the default IP 192.168.2.1 but I can not ping the address or open a browser. Also were can I get the RS232 or get the pinout. So I have try few things but I can not get to configuration. Maybe starting basic steps will help

Somebody posted this earlier in this thread. File attached.

 

[SamCN2]

Could some kindly provide me step by step. After getting the switch out of the box
Plug the power outlet. Connect to M port.
How can I config the ports after installer the transivers.
<snip>

See other reply on commands and serial. I found this cable to be quite good: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0753385H4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Before it arrives, you may wish to login and begin using the switch. As you did, this will require a connection to the management port. Connect the Management port to a LAN which has DHCP services. Find the last IP address assigned and telnet to that. You're in!

Here's what I did because I don't want a system with clear text (telnet) connections and no passwords connected to my network.

1) Configure a DHCP server on your laptop. I use dnsmasq on my Linux Mint laptop. I use a dedicated crash laptop that boots from a USB stick, and has dnsmasq and a few other tools. I can't help you with setting up a DHCP server on Windows or MacOS, but Google can.

2) Look at your DHCP logs and find either the MAC address that corresponds to your Quanta device, or look for the most recent DHCP lease.

3) Telnet to that address

OK, I actually set dnsmasq to serve exactly one address, and I just telnet to that.

admin : no password
en : no password

And you can configure the rest of the switch. Set the admin and enable passwords.

You only need the serial port kit to permanently set the management network to use a static IP address and allow only ssh. Unlike others, doing both of these on the management net connection is a 2 step affair that drops your connection before it is finished, but doesn't save the new settings, so you have to reset and .... Loop forever, go buy serial cable

 

[CKat]

Hello Everyone...

I have been using the LB6M for some time now, its mounted in the data center.
Recently I changed some configuration settings, but that caused some unexpected issues on network side.

I tried to undo them, but it seems any changes I make seems to break something unintended.

My setup:
1. Firewall at top, connected to Dell Switch. Dell connected to Quanta on port 0/25
2. There are 2 VLANs defined, 10 and 11 - I have defined them in all 3 places. Firewall acts as a DHCP server for each VLAN
3. I tagged the port on Dell sitch to include VLAN 10 and 11 as Trunk. I also tagged the port that connects to the Firewall for VLAN 10 and 11 as T
4. On Quanta, I have to define some ports as PVID 11. This is because we use XenServer and there is a limitation where the XenServer's management interface has to be untagged (This is corrected in a future version, but no budget for the paid version)
5. It used to work fine - until one day something went wrong and Pings stopped working.
6. I made some changes, deleted VLAN, recreated them etc. But now I cannot ping the servers as I used to be able to.

My assumption is that something is screwed up with the configuration of the switch.

Any idea what it could be?

I have set all ports to "VLAN Acceptframe all"
I have included vlan participation 10,11
I have included vlan tagging (if the PVID is 11, then there is no Tagging 11, instead I have to tag VLAN 1 and the ping works for SOME servers, but still not all)

I am going crazy here.. Random things are happening - Example,
I ping from one server to other. "Destination Host Unreachable"
then I shutdown firewall, For next 5-10 seconds, ping works, then again goes back to "Destination Host Unreacable"...

Any suggestions?

My Running Config

!Current Configuration:
!
!System Description "Quanta LB6M, 1.2.0.14, Linux 2.6.21.7"
!System Software Version "1.2.0.14"
!System Up Time          "0 days 0 hrs 16 mins 34 secs"
!Additional Packages     FASTPATH QOS
!Current SNTP Synchronized Time: Not Synchronized
!
vlan database
vlan 10-11
vlan name 10 "vlan10"
vlan name 11 "vlan11"
exit
ip ssh server enable
configure
aaa authentication enable "enableList" enable
line console
exit
line telnet
exit
line ssh
exit
spanning-tree configuration name "C8-0A-A9-03-B6-76"
!

--More-- or (q)uit

interface 0/1
vlan participation include 10-11
vlan tagging 10-11
exit
interface 0/2
vlan participation include 10-11
vlan tagging 10-11
exit
interface 0/3
vlan pvid 11
vlan participation include 10-11
vlan tagging 1,10
exit
interface 0/4
vlan pvid 11
vlan participation include 10-11
vlan tagging 1,10
exit
interface 0/5
vlan pvid 11
vlan participation include 10-11
vlan tagging 1,10
exit

--More-- or (q)uit

interface 0/6
vlan pvid 11
vlan participation include 10-11
vlan tagging 1,10
exit
interface 0/7
vlan pvid 11
vlan participation include 10-11
vlan tagging 1,10
exit
interface 0/8
vlan pvid 11
vlan participation include 10-11
vlan tagging 1,10
exit
interface 0/9
vlan acceptframe vlanonly
vlan participation include 10-11
vlan tagging 1,10-11
exit
interface 0/10
vlan acceptframe vlanonly
vlan participation include 10-11
vlan tagging 1,10-11

--More-- or (q)uit

exit
interface 0/25
vlan participation include 10-11
vlan tagging 1,10-11
exit
interface 0/26
vlan participation include 10-11
vlan tagging 10-11
exit
router rip
exit
router ospf
exit
exit

 

[fohdeesha]

I know this probably isn't the answer you wanted to here, but flash it to brocade and be done with the crappy fastpath demo build these things shipped with - https://forums.servethehome.com/ind...-flash-to-brocade-turboiron-big-update.17971/

Second, if you'd like all the enterprise features of xenserver, switch to XCP-ng – XenServer based, Community Powered.

it's a fork of xenserver (full disclosure, I am on the development team) where we removed the licensing daemon so all enterprise features come for free - zero limitations and ALL features including vgpu migration etc etc. other than that it's identical to xenserver, can take all your existing VM's, and you can even use our ISO to update existing xenserver installs. We "fixed" a few other things Citrix can't seem to figure out, like doing away with those ridiculous patch files for updates (patches are now handled with yum, just a simple yum update)

That paired with Xen Orchestra (built from sources, also all features for free) equals about the slickest VM and management stack I've used, especially with xen orchestra's backup features (continuous replication across pools, delta backups, etc). Makes Proxmox seem like a college students project if I'm being blatantly honest, but I know these things come down to mostly taste

 

[CKat]

I know this probably isn't the answer you wanted to here, but flash it to brocade and be done with the crappy fastpath demo build these things shipped with - https://forums.servethehome.com/ind...-flash-to-brocade-turboiron-big-update.17971/

Second, if you'd like all the enterprise features of xenserver, switch to XCP-ng – XenServer based, Community Powered.

it's a fork of xenserver (full disclosure, I am on the development team) where we removed the licensing daemon so all enterprise features come for free - zero limitations and ALL features including vgpu migration etc etc. other than that it's identical to xenserver, can take all your existing VM's, and you can even use our ISO to update existing xenserver installs. We "fixed" a few other things Citrix can't seem to figure out, like doing away with those ridiculous patch files for updates (patches are now handled with yum, just a simple yum update)

That paired with Xen Orchestra (built from sources, also all features for free) equals about the slickest VM and management stack I've used, especially with xen orchestra's backup features. Makes Proxmox seem like a college students project if I'm being blatantly honest, but I know these things come down to mostly taste

Thanks for the quick reply.

I will look into the Brocade flash -- as well as the XCP-ng -- did not realize that was already available after the 7.2 version changes that happened in XenServer licensing.

However, neither is an immediate solution..

So let me ask this - if on the Quanta I run "clear config" - I know it will clear all configuration, but when it comes back up, will it have:
1. Telnet or SSH enabled by default?
2. Will it keep DHCP for Switch's IP or will it default to 192.168.2.1?

Those two things have to work - otherwise I will physically have to fly to the DC to plugin a cable and manually edit these settings.. which is not a good idea,

 

[CKat]

I know this probably isn't the answer you wanted to here, but flash it to brocade and be done with the crappy fastpath demo build these things shipped with - https://forums.servethehome.com/ind...-flash-to-brocade-turboiron-big-update.17971/

Second, if you'd like all the enterprise features of xenserver, switch to XCP-ng – XenServer based, Community Powered.

it's a fork of xenserver (full disclosure, I am on the development team) where we removed the licensing daemon so all enterprise features come for free - zero limitations and ALL features including vgpu migration etc etc. other than that it's identical to xenserver, can take all your existing VM's, and you can even use our ISO to update existing xenserver installs. We "fixed" a few other things Citrix can't seem to figure out, like doing away with those ridiculous patch files for updates (patches are now handled with yum, just a simple yum update)

That paired with Xen Orchestra (built from sources, also all features for free) equals about the slickest VM and management stack I've used, especially with xen orchestra's backup features (continuous replication across pools, delta backups, etc). Makes Proxmox seem like a college students project if I'm being blatantly honest, but I know these things come down to mostly taste

Forgot to day this --- THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE XCP-ng... I just downloaded the iso and will be experimenting with it ASAP...

I know one enhancement on 7.3 (Xenserver) was that we can have management network on a tagged VLAN. Hopefully that would solve some of my issues by not having to set PVID (which I think may be dropping vlan 1)..

 

[J Hart]

My experience with VLANs has been similar to yours. When you set it up the first time it just seems to work, but when re-configuring something goes haywire. I think that something in the processing of tagged frames hangs around in the volatile regions of the switch when you unset some options related to VLAN. I have found cutting power to the device and letting it load back up will restore it to sanity.

Hello Everyone...

I have been using the LB6M for some time now, its mounted in the data center.
Recently I changed some configuration settings, but that caused some unexpected issues on network side.

I tried to undo them, but it seems any changes I make seems to break something unintended.

My setup:
1. Firewall at top, connected to Dell Switch. Dell connected to Quanta on port 0/25
2. There are 2 VLANs defined, 10 and 11 - I have defined them in all 3 places. Firewall acts as a DHCP server for each VLAN
3. I tagged the port on Dell sitch to include VLAN 10 and 11 as Trunk. I also tagged the port that connects to the Firewall for VLAN 10 and 11 as T
4. On Quanta, I have to define some ports as PVID 11. This is because we use XenServer and there is a limitation where the XenServer's management interface has to be untagged (This is corrected in a future version, but no budget for the paid version)
5. It used to work fine - until one day something went wrong and Pings stopped working.
6. I made some changes, deleted VLAN, recreated them etc. But now I cannot ping the servers as I used to be able to.

My assumption is that something is screwed up with the configuration of the switch.

Any idea what it could be?

I have set all ports to "VLAN Acceptframe all"
I have included vlan participation 10,11
I have included vlan tagging (if the PVID is 11, then there is no Tagging 11, instead I have to tag VLAN 1 and the ping works for SOME servers, but still not all)

I am going crazy here.. Random things are happening - Example,
I ping from one server to other. "Destination Host Unreachable"
then I shutdown firewall, For next 5-10 seconds, ping works, then again goes back to "Destination Host Unreacable"...

Any suggestions?

My Running Config

!Current Configuration:
!
!System Description "Quanta LB6M, 1.2.0.14, Linux 2.6.21.7"
!System Software Version "1.2.0.14"
!System Up Time          "0 days 0 hrs 16 mins 34 secs"
!Additional Packages     FASTPATH QOS
!Current SNTP Synchronized Time: Not Synchronized
!
vlan database
vlan 10-11
vlan name 10 "vlan10"
vlan name 11 "vlan11"
exit
ip ssh server enable
configure
aaa authentication enable "enableList" enable
line console
exit
line telnet
exit
line ssh
exit
spanning-tree configuration name "C8-0A-A9-03-B6-76"
!

--More-- or (q)uit

interface 0/1
vlan participation include 10-11
vlan tagging 10-11
exit
interface 0/2
vlan participation include 10-11
vlan tagging 10-11
exit
interface 0/3
vlan pvid 11
vlan participation include 10-11
vlan tagging 1,10
exit
interface 0/4
vlan pvid 11
vlan participation include 10-11
vlan tagging 1,10
exit
interface 0/5
vlan pvid 11
vlan participation include 10-11
vlan tagging 1,10
exit

--More-- or (q)uit

interface 0/6
vlan pvid 11
vlan participation include 10-11
vlan tagging 1,10
exit
interface 0/7
vlan pvid 11
vlan participation include 10-11
vlan tagging 1,10
exit
interface 0/8
vlan pvid 11
vlan participation include 10-11
vlan tagging 1,10
exit
interface 0/9
vlan acceptframe vlanonly
vlan participation include 10-11
vlan tagging 1,10-11
exit
interface 0/10
vlan acceptframe vlanonly
vlan participation include 10-11
vlan tagging 1,10-11

--More-- or (q)uit

exit
interface 0/25
vlan participation include 10-11
vlan tagging 1,10-11
exit
interface 0/26
vlan participation include 10-11
vlan tagging 10-11
exit
router rip
exit
router ospf
exit
exit