Based on my research, we have these:
Aruba S2500-48P
Brocade ICX6450-48p
Which is better between the two? In eBay, I see that the Brocade is cheaper. And by default, it has 2 SFP+ ports that are not enabled for 10GbE. I’m reading that a simple CLI command is what’s needed to enable these for 10GbE. Is this accurate?
How about the Aruba S3500, is it better than the S2500? Or are there better Brocade switches out there?
I’m partial to the Brocade stuff since there is better tech support for them with 7k replies here:
The difference is that the Aruba S3500 has a modular card slot instead of fixed SFP+ and dual power supplies instead of a single integrated PSU. Dual PSU also allows for higher POE wattage capacity.
Everything else is the same between the two Arubas.
This is what I saw too. I’m pretty much set on the ICX6450.
I thought the 2nd PSU is only there for redundancy?
Agree with this. The ICX6450 is a pretty good switch. If you have the budget (cash and power) you may also want to look at the ICX6610 as well. It has more 10Gbps ports, hot-swap power supplies, and hot-swap-fan trays. I personally own one and it’s great. The guide from STH for them is very well put together as well.
Yeah, my plan now is to buy one ICX6450 for my sister’s new house and one ICX6610 to replace the two 16-port unifi switches that I use in the homelab of my parent’s house. Time to invest in some >1GbE gears.
How’s the noise level of the ICX6610? Not that it matters much because my server rack is located in its own room.
The noise level is what I’d call “typical” of an enterprise switch. It is definitely louder than consumer and SMB switches. I know a lot of home labbers have moded them with Noctua fans. I have not because mine lives in a dedicated room.
Fun fact about the ICX66XX series, if they do not have BOTH power supplies installed and powered. The fans run at full speed because it thinks it’s in a failure mode.
Good luck.
I see. And I just read in fohdeesha’s guide, that there are three PSU brick revisions for the ICX6610. The best one, in terms of noise, are revisions B and C. I hope the one I just bought will have revision C PSU blocks. Mine will live in a dedicated room too so it doesn’t matter much but it’s nice if it’s still quiet.
With time and hackery, you can modify the psu fans with noctua’s also. I am in the process of hacking my 7450 psu’s a noctua fan and acrylic top panel with fan cutouts
Do you have any leads to any guides for this?
So I just bought the Aruba S2500 48p but now as an additional switch or backup wanted to get another.
Based on what I am seeing here it appears the best value version to get is the ICX6610
I had thought about Aruba 3600 but is the ICX6610 the better buy?
Thanks
Like what was mentioned above, I went with the ICX6610 (and another ICX6450 for another installation) because of how it is used by many in STH and the very good guides by fohdeesha: