Recommendations on a used 40gbe switch?

[lahatte]

Are there certain brand 40gbe switches on eBay that should be avoided? Any advice on what brand or model used/refurbished switch to consider that is 40gbe? Preferrably 4 or 6 40gbe ports and the rest 10gbe rj45 if possible, but I'm not sure if any 40gbe switches have 10gbe rj45 ports as well? I think they are only spf?

I currently have fiber lines with Mellanox QSFP+ modules so I'm assuming the switch must be compatible with those Mellanox modules?

Thanks!

 

[altmind]

Eh? Avoid switches that require extra licensing and the old onces based on intel C3000(specific revisions).
There are very few switches that are not recommended. Maybe the Meraki(require a continuous license to operate), d-link(not stable enough), new cisco(being out-of DNA contract is a pain), netgear.

 

[i386]

Any advice on what brand or model used/refurbished switch to consider that is 40gbe?

Arista 7050 switches, they are eol, a little bit power hungry, cheap, stable (to be honest I'm using my 40gbe switch like a dumb switch without special configuration and had so far no problems in 3+ years), fans can be configured to run at 30% from cli without modding, firmware downloads require a valid support contract (or you could read the posts in the network section of this forum and find people who have access to the downloads)
Brocade/Ruckus Brocade ICX6650, eol but still gets firmware updates, see this thread for more information https://forums.servethehome.com/ind...s-cheap-powerful-10gbe-40gbe-switching.21107/ , has great support by @fohdeesha
Mellanox 6018/6036 infiniband switches (search for the hpe part numbers on ebay), require a license to be used as a ethernet switch, also eol, consume less power than the arista 7050, a little bit more expensive, jet engine fans , firmware/os downloads require a support contract directly by mellanox, but oems like hpe and lenovo have free downloads of the vanilla mlnx-os

 

[Rand__]

Mellanox 6018/6036 ... firmware/os downloads require a support contract directly by mellanox, but oems like hpe and lenovo have free downloads of the vanilla mlnx-os

lenovo only, hpe is now behind license/paywall

O/c there is always the EMC conversion option for the MLX 6 series

https://forums.servethehome.com/index.php?threads/beware-of-emc-switches-sold-as-mellanox-sx6xxx-on-ebay.10786/

 

[i386]

Weird, I can still download the zip file without a registration: Drivers & Software - HPE Support Center.

 

[Rand__]

Hm ok... I can too at this time, but had issues a couple of weeks back

 

[tsteine]

@i386 +1
I've been extremely pleased with my Arista 7050Q-16.

 

[mmk]

Would also recommend an old Arista. I've got a 7050S and it's been good. The 40g ports work out of the box with some random QSFP DACs pulled from the trash can or whatever. Same goes for the 10g ports, used whatever random junk sfp+ optics and with the right config it doesnt really care. The power consumption is better than with similar age Nexus kit possibly with the exception of the 3k series (around 80w with only a few ports populated and both power supplies in). Primary drawback with these is I think the fact the software support has already been dropped.

 

[lahatte]

Thanks everyone! I'm gonna try that sx6018. Is there a way to make the fans quiet?

 

[jmsq]

The point that the 7050's fans are configurable has my interest up; does it get as quiet as the smaller 1-2 fan 10gbe SOHO switches? Are there any other 40gbe switches I should be aware of that can be run reasonably quietly for a home/office setting? I have an SX6036 but I'm not currently using it due to the fan noise.

 

[i386]

All arista switches with eos can be configured to run the fans at slower speeds.
Switches which run (microsoft) sonic should allow configuration of fan speeds (https://www.servethehome.com/get-st...-azure-sonic-for-under-1k/#_fix_the_loud_fans).

One thing to remember: there are system and psu fans. Even when you can configure the system fans it's not always possible to configure the psu fans.

 

[vangoose]

The point that the 7050's fans are configurable has my interest up; does it get as quiet as the smaller 1-2 fan 10gbe SOHO switches? Are there any other 40gbe switches I should be aware of that can be run reasonably quietly for a home/office setting? I have an SX6036 but I'm not currently using it due to the fan noise.

Arista psu fan speed will be lowered with that command too.

I have 7060CX, running 35% fan speed and the noise is around 51-53 dB measured in 1cm to the fans.

sh sys env all
System temperature status is: Ok
                                                                 Alert  Critical
                                               Temp    Setpoint  Limit     Limit
Sensor  Description                             (C)         (C)    (C)       (C)
------- ----------------------------------- ------- ----------- ------ ---------
1       Cpu temp sensor                        47.4   (60) 61.6     90        95
2       Cpu board temp sensor                  42.0   (55) 56.6     75        80
3       Back-panel temp sensor                 36.1   (50) 51.6     75        85
4       Board sensor                           37.0   (55) 56.6     65        75
5       Front-panel temp sensor                29.0   (55) 56.6     65        75
6       Switch chip right sensor               40.0   (55) 56.6     95       105
7       Switch chip left sensor                40.5   (55) 56.6     95       105
8       Tomahawk top left outer sensor         52.1   (80) 81.6    100       110
9       Tomahawk top right outer sensor        51.6   (80) 81.6    100       110
10      Tomahawk bottom right outer sensor     49.6   (80) 81.6    100       110
11      Tomahawk bottom left outer sensor      48.2   (80) 81.6    100       110
12      Tomahawk top outer sensor              49.1   (80) 81.6    100       110
13      Tomahawk left inner sensor             50.1   (80) 81.6    100       110
14      Tomahawk bottom inner sensor           47.7   (80) 81.6    100       110
15      Tomahawk bottom outer sensor           50.1   (80) 81.6    100       110

PowerSupply 1:
                                                                 Alert  Critical
                                               Temp    Setpoint  Limit     Limit
Sensor  Description                             (C)         (C)    (C)       (C)
------- ----------------------------------- ------- ----------- ------ ---------
1       Hotspot                                43.0   (80) 81.6     95       100
2       Inlet                                  31.0   (55) 56.6     70        75

PowerSupply 2:
                                                                 Alert  Critical
                                               Temp    Setpoint  Limit     Limit
Sensor  Description                             (C)         (C)    (C)       (C)
------- ----------------------------------- ------- ----------- ------ ---------
1       Hotspot                                44.0   (80) 81.6     95       100
2       Inlet                                  32.0   (55) 56.6     70        75

System cooling status is: Ok
Ambient temperature: 29C
Fan speed override mode enabled at 35%
Airflow: port-side intake
                      Config Actual                  Speed               Stable
Fan            Status  Speed  Speed           Uptime Stability           Uptime
-------------- ------ ------ ------ ---------------- --------- ----------------
1/1            Ok        35%    34% 16 days, 0:27:21 Stable    16 days, 0:26:13
2/1            Ok        35%    35% 16 days, 0:27:21 Stable    16 days, 0:26:13
3/1            Ok        35%    34% 16 days, 0:27:21 Stable    16 days, 0:26:13
4/1            Ok        35%    35% 16 days, 0:27:21 Stable    16 days, 0:26:13
PowerSupply1/1 Ok        35%    35% 16 days, 0:27:01 Stable    16 days, 0:26:19
PowerSupply2/1 Ok        35%    35% 16 days, 0:27:02 Stable    16 days, 0:26:20

Power                        Input  Output  Output
Supply Model       Capacity Current Current  Power Status           Uptime
------ ----------- -------- ------- ------- ------ ------ ----------------
1      PWR-500AC-F     500W   0.66A   5.05A  61.3W Ok     16 days, 0:27:01
2      PWR-500AC-F     500W   0.71A   5.56A  66.6W Ok     16 days, 0:27:02
Total  --             1000W      --      -- 127.9W --                   --

Here are the ports I'm using now, will get another 2 100Gb ports soon.

sh int st
Port       Name         Status       Vlan     Duplex Speed  Type         Flags Encapsulation
Et1/1                   connected    trunk    full   25G    100GBASE-CR4
Et1/2                   connected    trunk    full   25G    100GBASE-CR4
Et1/3                   connected    trunk    full   25G    100GBASE-CR4
Et1/4                   connected    trunk    full   25G    100GBASE-CR4
Et2/1                   notconnect   trunk    full   100G   Not Present
Et3/1                   connected    trunk    full   25G    100GBASE-CR4
Et3/2                   connected    trunk    full   25G    100GBASE-CR4
Et3/3                   connected    trunk    full   25G    100GBASE-CR4
Et3/4                   connected    trunk    full   25G    100GBASE-CR4
Et4/1                   notconnect   routed   full   100G   Not Present
Et5/1                   connected    trunk    full   25G    100GBASE-CR4
Et5/2                   connected    trunk    full   25G    100GBASE-CR4
Et5/3                   connected    trunk    full   25G    100GBASE-CR4
Et5/4                   connected    trunk    full   25G    100GBASE-CR4
Et6/1                   notconnect   routed   full   100G   Not Present
Et7/1                   notconnect   routed   full   25G    Not Present
Et7/2                   notconnect   routed   full   25G    Not Present
Et7/3                   notconnect   routed   full   25G    Not Present
Et7/4                   notconnect   routed   full   25G    Not Present
Et8/1                   notconnect   routed   full   100G   Not Present
Et9/1                   connected    trunk    full   25G    100GBASE-CR4
Et9/2                   connected    trunk    full   25G    100GBASE-CR4
Et9/3                   connected    trunk    full   25G    100GBASE-CR4
Et9/4                   connected    trunk    full   25G    100GBASE-CR4
Et10/1                  notconnect   routed   full   100G   Not Present
Et11/1                  notconnect   routed   full   100G   Not Present
Et12/1                  notconnect   routed   full   100G   Not Present
Et13/1                  notconnect   routed   full   100G   Not Present
Et14/1                  notconnect   routed   full   100G   Not Present
Et15/1                  notconnect   routed   full   100G   Not Present
Et16/1                  notconnect   routed   full   100G   Not Present
Et17/1                  connected    trunk    full   40G    40GBASE-CR4
Et18/1                  connected    trunk    full   40G    40GBASE-CR4
Et19/1                  notconnect   routed   full   100G   Not Present
Et20/1                  notconnect   routed   full   100G   Not Present
Et21/1                  notconnect   routed   full   100G   Not Present
Et22/1                  notconnect   routed   full   100G   Not Present
Et23/1                  notconnect   routed   full   100G   Not Present
Et24/1                  notconnect   routed   full   100G   Not Present
Et25/1                  notconnect   routed   full   100G   Not Present
Et26/1                  notconnect   routed   full   100G   Not Present
Et27/1                  notconnect   routed   full   100G   Not Present
Et28/1                  notconnect   routed   full   100G   Not Present
Et29/1                  notconnect   routed   full   100G   Not Present
Et30/1                  notconnect   routed   full   100G   Not Present
Et31/1                  notconnect   routed   full   100G   Not Present
Et32/1                  notconnect   routed   full   100G   Not Present
Et33                    connected    in Po1   full   10G    10GBASE-SR
Et34                    connected    in Po1   full   10G    10GBASE-SR
Ma1                     notconnect   routed   auto   auto   10/100/1000
Po1        ICX7250-LACP connected    trunk    full   20G    N/A

 

[mmk]

The point that the 7050's fans are configurable has my interest up; does it get as quiet as the smaller 1-2 fan 10gbe SOHO switches? Are there any other 40gbe switches I should be aware of that can be run reasonably quietly for a home/office setting? I have an SX6036 but I'm not currently using it due to the fan noise.

In my opinion they will still be too noisy to run in a home/office setting. Would personally not want to work from home next to one. This likely differs from switch model to another though; my experiences are with the 7050S. It's also a rather annoying type noise as it's primarily coming from the PSUs like someone else implied.

 

[tsteine]

In my opinion they will still be too noisy to run in a home/office setting. Would personally not want to work from home next to one. This likely differs from switch model to another though; my experiences are with the 7050S. It's also a rather annoying type noise as it's primarily coming from the PSUs like someone else implied.

Agreed.
The fans on my 7050Q, even when set to 30%, are still noisy enough that I wouldn't want it anywhere near my desk.

 

[lahatte]

Can the 7050's be run with only one PSU to cut down on noise?

 

[i386]

Can the 7050's be run with only one PSU to cut down on noise?

Yes, you can run it with just one psu. But from memory it doesn't reduce the "noise".

In my opinion they will still be too noisy to run in a home/office setting. Would personally not want to work from home next to one. This likely differs from switch model to another though; my experiences are with the 7050S. It's also a rather annoying type noise as it's primarily coming from the PSUs like someone else implied.

Agreed.
The fans on my 7050Q, even when set to 30%, are still noisy enough that I wouldn't want it anywhere near my desk.

I have a 7050q-16-r where I set the fans to run at 30%. Using my phone for measuring the sound the 7050q was quieter than a supermicro 836 server with the 920 sq psu and 16 7k rpm 6tb sata drives.