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Transceiver "not supported" on ICX7750 in Breakout-Mode
Hello everyone,


we recently installed our first ICX7750 in Breakout-Mode.

While it was at first suprising for us that this switch can only either
break out 40G into 4x10G or enable stacking, I see an interesting
phaenomenon with the transceivers in breakout mode:

Our (third party) transceivers do not work in breakout mode while they
work fine in 40G-mode.
Does anybody have an idea why this is the case? Is there any feature on
the transceiver required for the breakout mode?

This is what show media looks like with two identical transceivers (port
6 is in breakout mode):

Port 1/2/1: Type : EMPTY
Port 1/2/2: Type : EMPTY
Port 1/2/3: Type : 40GE-SR4 100m (QSFP+)
Port 1/2/4: Type : EMPTY
Port 1/2/5: Type : EMPTY
Port 1/2/6:1: Type : 40GE-SR4 100m (QSFP+) (Not supported)
Port 1/2/6:2: Type : 40GE-SR4 100m (QSFP+)
Port 1/2/6:3: Type : 40GE-SR4 100m (QSFP+)
Port 1/2/6:4: Type : 40GE-SR4 100m (QSFP+)


Best regards,

Franz Georg Köhler
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Re: Transceiver "not supported" on ICX7750 in Breakout-Mode [ In reply to ]
Sorry, my email client keeps using the wrong from address for this list.
On May 18, 2016 8:07 AM, "Eldon Koyle" <ekoyle@gmail.com> wrote:

> You can run 40G without stacking on the 7750, although you may need to
> change some default stacking settings. What code version are you running?
>
> I suspect support for third-party breakout cables is very limited.
>
> --
> Eldon Koyle
> On May 18, 2016 3:20 AM, "Franz Georg Köhler" <lists@openunix.de> wrote:
>
>> Hello everyone,
>>
>>
>> we recently installed our first ICX7750 in Breakout-Mode.
>>
>> While it was at first suprising for us that this switch can only either
>> break out 40G into 4x10G or enable stacking, I see an interesting
>> phaenomenon with the transceivers in breakout mode:
>>
>> Our (third party) transceivers do not work in breakout mode while they
>> work fine in 40G-mode.
>> Does anybody have an idea why this is the case? Is there any feature on
>> the transceiver required for the breakout mode?
>>
>> This is what show media looks like with two identical transceivers (port
>> 6 is in breakout mode):
>>
>> Port 1/2/1: Type : EMPTY
>> Port 1/2/2: Type : EMPTY
>> Port 1/2/3: Type : 40GE-SR4 100m (QSFP+)
>> Port 1/2/4: Type : EMPTY
>> Port 1/2/5: Type : EMPTY
>> Port 1/2/6:1: Type : 40GE-SR4 100m (QSFP+) (Not supported)
>> Port 1/2/6:2: Type : 40GE-SR4 100m (QSFP+)
>> Port 1/2/6:3: Type : 40GE-SR4 100m (QSFP+)
>> Port 1/2/6:4: Type : 40GE-SR4 100m (QSFP+)
>>
>>
>> Best regards,
>>
>> Franz Georg Köhler
>> _______________________________________________
>> foundry-nsp mailing list
>> foundry-nsp@puck.nether.net
>> http://puck.nether.net/mailman/listinfo/foundry-nsp
>
>
Re: Transceiver "not supported" on ICX7750 in Breakout-Mode [ In reply to ]
Am 18.05.16 um 16:12 schrieb ekoyle+puck.nether.net at gmail.com (Eldon
Koyle):
> You can run 40G without stacking on the 7750, although you may need to
> change some default stacking settings. What code version are you running?

Hello,
we are running 08040a.

The Brocade manual says:
> In release 8.0.30, the breakout support on the 40G interfaces will be supported on a standalone mode only. Breakout ports will not be supported with stacking configuration.
http://www.brocade.com/content/html/en/feature-guide/brocade-icx7750-breakout-ports-fg/GUID-459FAE8C-4013-4E6C-9AE9-BEE4977BA22C.html

But this was just a side note as we did not expect such a limitation and
were suprised when we discovered that information in the manual.


> I suspect support for third-party breakout cables is very limited.

Is there any difference on the switch side if there is a breakout cacble
connected? Is there such a thing like hardware support for breakout cables?

Until now, I was under the impression that a 40G port is just an
aggregated 4x10G port and the switch just needs to deactivate the
aggregation in order to break out? Am I wrong?



Best regards,

Franz Georg Köhler



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Re: Transceiver "not supported" on ICX7750 in Breakout-Mode [ In reply to ]
On May 19, 2016 7:45 AM, "Franz Georg Köhler" <lists@openunix.de> wrote:
>
> Am 18.05.16 um 16:12 schrieb ekoyle+puck.nether.net at gmail.com (Eldon
Koyle):
>
>> You can run 40G without stacking on the 7750, although you may need to
>> change some default stacking settings. What code version are you
running?
>
>
> Hello,
> we are running 08040a.
>
> The Brocade manual says:
>>
>> In release 8.0.30, the breakout support on the 40G interfaces will be
supported on a standalone mode only. Breakout ports will not be supported
with stacking configuration.
>
>
http://www.brocade.com/content/html/en/feature-guide/brocade-icx7750-breakout-ports-fg/GUID-459FAE8C-4013-4E6C-9AE9-BEE4977BA22C.html
>
> But this was just a side note as we did not expect such a limitation and
were suprised when we discovered that information in the manual.
>

So you wanted to create a stack over a breakout cable? I suspect there are
some hardware or software limitations that make that difficult for brocade
to implement.

>
>
>> I suspect support for third-party breakout cables is very limited.
>
>
> Is there any difference on the switch side if there is a breakout cacble
connected? Is there such a thing like hardware support for breakout cables?
>
> Until now, I was under the impression that a 40G port is just an
aggregated 4x10G port and the switch just needs to deactivate the
aggregation in order to break out? Am I wrong?
>
>

Although at the physical layer a 40G port is 4 10G channels, there may be
some shared resources for the port that don't act separately, so the PHY
and the software both need to support breakout cables.

One other thing to note, I have found support for 3rd party twinax cables
to be abysmal (it will try to use them, but there may be issues where a
port shows up even though the remote end is disabled; also high error
rates).

--
Eldon
Re: Transceiver "not supported" on ICX7750 in Breakout-Mode [ In reply to ]
Am 19.05.16 um 16:27 schrieb ekoyle+puck.nether.net at gmail.com (Eldon
Koyle):
> So you wanted to create a stack over a breakout cable? I suspect there are
> some hardware or software limitations that make that difficult for brocade
> to implement.

No, we wanted to stack over the 40G interfaces and use one of the
remaining 40G interfaces for break out.
However, this is currently unsupported as you cannot enable stacking
mode as long as one of the ports in configured in breakout mode.


Best regards,

Franz Georg Köhler
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