Ubiquiti / Dell switch compatibility issue:
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I think most well-read ML-goers are aware that NTG is sitting on a nice, shiny, new Scale 3-node HC3 cluster. We're trying to get it rolled out, so that we can play and post and do all sorts of fun stuff, but we've hit a bit of a snag that's thrown a wrench into our progress. Our cluster arrived equipped with a pair of Dell X-4012 switches. They're 12-port, all 10Gig-E, managed switches. Their purpose is to function as redundant backplane switches. Our LAN switch in the lab is a Ubiquiti EdgeMax Lite 48-port managed switch. It has only 2- 10Gig-E (SFP+) ports on it, so we're in a bind with having 3 nodes to connect. The simple solution was to give up the redundant backplane switch in favor of having 1 Dell for the backplane network and 1 Dell for the LAN-side connections, and then uplink the LAN Dell switch to a 10Gig-E port on the Ubiquiti. Well, that yields no link lights on the connection. I've Googled with basically no success, and no matter how I configure things, I just can't get the Dells to talk with the Ubiquiti. I saw something about connecting the 10Gig to a 1Gig port, and that didn't make any sense (and also did nothing when I tried it,out of desperation). Anyone with any more experience than myself with fiber, and especially some more insight with regards to switch compatibility over fiber connections,... fire away!
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@art_of_shred said:
I think most well-read ML-goers are aware that NTG is sitting on a nice, shiny, new Scale 3-node HC3 cluster. We're trying to get it rolled out, so that we can play and post and do all sorts of fun stuff, but we've hit a bit of a snag that's thrown a wrench into our progress. Our cluster arrived equipped with a pair of Dell X-4012 switches. They're 12-port, all 10Gig-E, managed switches. Their purpose is to function as redundant backplane switches. Our LAN switch in the lab is a Ubiquiti EdgeMax Lite 48-port managed switch. It has only 2- 10Gig-E (SFP+) ports on it, so we're in a bind with having 3 nodes to connect. The simple solution was to give up the redundant backplane switch in favor of having 1 Dell for the backplane network and 1 Dell for the LAN-side connections, and then uplink the LAN Dell switch to a 10Gig-E port on the Ubiquiti. Well, that yields no link lights on the connection. I've Googled with basically no success, and no matter how I configure things, I just can't get the Dells to talk with the Ubiquiti. I saw something about connecting the 10Gig to a 1Gig port, and that didn't make any sense (and also did nothing when I tried it,out of desperation). Anyone with any more experience than myself with fiber, and especially some more insight with regards to switch compatibility over fiber connections,... fire away!
Going to sound really silly... are you sure the TX and RX sides are flipped? That is generally what happens when you get no connectivity with fiber.
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@coliver said:
Going to sound really silly... are you sure the TX and RX sides are flipped? That is generally what happens when you get no connectivity with fiber.
Like the fiber equivalent of a crossover cable?
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@scottalanmiller said:
@coliver said:
Going to sound really silly... are you sure the TX and RX sides are flipped? That is generally what happens when you get no connectivity with fiber.
Like the fiber equivalent of a crossover cable?
Kind of. I always remember that TX needs to match with an RX.
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@coliver I know what you're talking about. Some fiber connections have individual terminals for each line. These are composite cables; no option to flip anything.
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So no flipping options?
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@art_of_shred Are you using the same SFP+ adapters?
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@brianlittlejohn said:
@art_of_shred Are you using the same SFP+ adapters?
That's a good question. Are you using SFP+ adapters that have the Dell firmware (I think?) on them. I know Cisco requires a special chip (again I think) on SFP adapters to work with their switches.
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If they are third party SFPs you might need to run commands to enable them.
Also are they are you sure they are multimode and not single mode? and what distance are the meant for? You can burn them up by using them on shorter cables than they are meant to be used with.
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I think @coliver nailed it at the start. Running switch-to-switch seems to require a crossover... but I'm not having any luck finding such a thing. I guess maybe you need to buy the separate transceivers and individual fiber cables to be able to cross them? The composite cables don't appear to come in a crossed configuration.
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@art_of_shred said:
I think @coliver nailed it at the start. Running switch-to-switch seems to require a crossover... but I'm not having any luck finding such a thing. I guess maybe you need to buy the separate transceivers and individual fiber cables to be able to cross them? The composite cables don't appear to come in a crossed configuration.
Can you take a picture of the cable? I've never seen one that doesn't have the ability to come apart.
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@coliver said:
@art_of_shred said:
I think @coliver nailed it at the start. Running switch-to-switch seems to require a crossover... but I'm not having any luck finding such a thing. I guess maybe you need to buy the separate transceivers and individual fiber cables to be able to cross them? The composite cables don't appear to come in a crossed configuration.
Can you take a picture of the cable? I've never seen one that doesn't have the ability to come apart.
Most of them come with clips on them. They usually can be removed but I've never ran into one backwards from the factory.
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Here's what we have...
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833997115) -
@art_of_shred said:
Here's what we have...
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833997115)Oh, that's not fiber.. that's copper Twinax. Twinax isn't something you generally do between differing models of switches. Because you need compatible SFPs on each end.
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@Jason said:
@art_of_shred said:
Here's what we have...
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833997115)Oh, that's not fiber.. that's copper Twinax. Twinax isn't something you generally do between differing models of switches. Because you need compatible SFPs on each end.
So what's the best way to make a 10G/10G connection between the 2 switches? Should I get fiber and cross it over?
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These are the only supported options on the Unifi.. for 10GB.
10GBase-SR
Fiberstore SFP-10G85-3M MMF
DAC/TwinaxAddon SFP-10G-PDAC1M-AO
Juniper ex-sfp-10ge-dac-1m - (Amphenol 584990001 Rev A)
This is a 10g DAC that appears to link up at 1g when both ends are plugged into the two SFP slots of the ES-24-250W
I haven't tested sending traffic over this cable, as I only have one ES-24-250W, and Juniper equipment wants to link up at 10g when using this DAC
MikroTik S+DA0001
Molex 74742-0001 -
10GBase-SR is what I would recommend. Get fiber between the switches that seems to be one of the best ways. How close are the switches can you do 10G over twisted pair?
I've never heard of Twinax, which isn't unusual just interesting.
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I'm using twinax to connect my servers to my backup storage, but the sfp+ adapters are connecting to the exact same Intel cards in both cases.
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@coliver said:
How close are the switches ?
can you do 10G over twisted pair?- They're pretty much touching each other
- Yes you can, but these Dell's have no RJ-45 ports
Fiber seems to make the most sense for this connection.
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@art_of_shred said:
@coliver said:
How close are the switches ?
can you do 10G over twisted pair?- They're pretty much touching each other
- Yes you can, but these Dell's have no RJ-45 ports
Fiber seems to make the most sense for this connection.
Yep, if you are going to invest in the modules anyway fiber is the way to go.
