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Hello!
I recently scored a used 10G/40G switch on eBay that I want to use for a 10GbE home network setup.
It's a Broadcom BCM956845KQ-02 with 18 QSFP ports on the front and 2 RJ45 ports (labeled RS232 and Ethernet) on the back.
It didn't come with any form of documentation and it seems impossible to find anything online either. I think this might be a prototype or something like that.
Some pictures...
Front:
Back:
My other 10GbE hardware:
I can confirm that the combination of my Brocade cards, Brocade transceivers and cables works - both in NIC-to-NIC and NIC-to-switch configurations (I also have a Gigabit switch with 2 SFP+ uplinks that I've tested this with).
However, since the NICs are SFP+ and the Broadcom switch comes with QSFP ports, I need some kind of conversion from the QSFP to the SFP+ form factor.
There are various options: QSFP to SFP+ hybrid cables (direct attach copper), QSFP to 4xSFP+ breakout cables (direct attach copper), QSFP transceivers (very expensive!) with MPO to 8xLC breakout cables (fiber) and finally there's a QSFP to SFP+ adapter that enables you to use SFP+ modules/cables with QSFP gear.
The hybrid DACs I linked aren't an option because they're passive and the Brocade cards only work with active ones.
Since I already had the SFP+ transceivers I went ahead and got those QSFP to SFP+ adapters.
So I powered up the switch, plugged in the QSFP to SFP+ adapter, slid an SFP+ transceiver into it and hooked it up to one of my Brocade cards with appropriate fiber.
Unfortunately, I did not get a link (that would've been too easy, right?).
I figured the switch must be either
Hopefully it is the latter.
Naturally, I tried the RJ45 port on the back labeled "Ethernet", figuring it must be for management porpuses, maybe even a web GUI.
I connected it to my Gigabit switch but unfortunately it didn't get a link either, suppose the port is disabled or something like that.
So my last resort was that RS232/console port. I hooked it up to my PC's COM port with a Cisco console cable (RJ45 to DB9).
I got a response - finally some progress!
Here's what it said during bootup:
I'm basically clueless, so I type in help:
I didn't play around with it any further, as I have neither the experience nor the knowledge regarding VxWorks and the like.
Needless to say, I would love to get it to work, as 10GbE switches tend to be very expensive and I got lucky on this one (provided that it actually works).
I was hoping some of you more knowledgable folks could help me out here
Thank you very much in advance and sorry for the long post!
I recently scored a used 10G/40G switch on eBay that I want to use for a 10GbE home network setup.
It's a Broadcom BCM956845KQ-02 with 18 QSFP ports on the front and 2 RJ45 ports (labeled RS232 and Ethernet) on the back.
It didn't come with any form of documentation and it seems impossible to find anything online either. I think this might be a prototype or something like that.
Some pictures...
Front:
Back:
My other 10GbE hardware:
- Brocade 1020 CNA (dual port 10G SFP+ card)
- Brocade SFP+ transceivers (compatible with the 1020 cards)
- Brocade active direct attach twinax copper cables
- Fiber optic patch cables (multi-mode 850nm, OM3)
I can confirm that the combination of my Brocade cards, Brocade transceivers and cables works - both in NIC-to-NIC and NIC-to-switch configurations (I also have a Gigabit switch with 2 SFP+ uplinks that I've tested this with).
However, since the NICs are SFP+ and the Broadcom switch comes with QSFP ports, I need some kind of conversion from the QSFP to the SFP+ form factor.
There are various options: QSFP to SFP+ hybrid cables (direct attach copper), QSFP to 4xSFP+ breakout cables (direct attach copper), QSFP transceivers (very expensive!) with MPO to 8xLC breakout cables (fiber) and finally there's a QSFP to SFP+ adapter that enables you to use SFP+ modules/cables with QSFP gear.
The hybrid DACs I linked aren't an option because they're passive and the Brocade cards only work with active ones.
Since I already had the SFP+ transceivers I went ahead and got those QSFP to SFP+ adapters.
So I powered up the switch, plugged in the QSFP to SFP+ adapter, slid an SFP+ transceiver into it and hooked it up to one of my Brocade cards with appropriate fiber.
Unfortunately, I did not get a link (that would've been too easy, right?).
I figured the switch must be either
- broken
- not an Ethernet switch
- not compatible with the QSFP to SFP+ adapter and/or SFP+ transceiver
- not configured properly
Hopefully it is the latter.
Naturally, I tried the RJ45 port on the back labeled "Ethernet", figuring it must be for management porpuses, maybe even a web GUI.
I connected it to my Gigabit switch but unfortunately it didn't get a link either, suppose the port is disabled or something like that.
So my last resort was that RS232/console port. I hooked it up to my PC's COM port with a Cisco console cable (RJ45 to DB9).
I got a response - finally some progress!
Here's what it said during bootup:
Code:
CFE-NTSW-5.1.2 for BCM98548XMC (32bit,SP,BE,PPC)
Build Date: Tue Dec 1 08:04:52 PST 2009 (sdkrel@lc-sj1-3183)
Copyright (C) 2000-2008 Broadcom Corporation.
Initializing Arena.
Initializing PCI. [normal]
PCI[0] bus 0 slot 0/0: unknown vendor 0x1057 product 0x0013 (PowerPC processor, rev 0x21)
PCI[1] bus 0 slot 0/0: unknown vendor 0x1957 product 0x0013 (PowerPC processor, rev 0x21)
PCI[1] bus 2 slot 0/0: Broadcom product 0xb845 (ethernet network, rev 0x05)
Initializing Devices.
CORE clock: 997MHz
CCB clock: 399MHz
BCM98548XMC Board Id: 0x51
CPU type 0x80210022: 998MHz
Total memory: 0x20000000 bytes (512MB)
Total memory used by CFE: 0x1FF38300 - 0x1FFFFF30 (818224)
Initialized Data: 0x1FF79C40 - 0x1FF7CAB0 (11888)
BSS Area: 0x1FF7CAB0 - 0x1FF7DF30 (5248)
Local Heap: 0x1FF7DF30 - 0x1FFFDF30 (524288)
Stack Area: 0x1FFFDF30 - 0x1FFFFF30 (8192)
Text (code) segment: 0x1FF38300 - 0x1FF7867F (263039)
Boot area (physical): 0x00000000 - 0x00000000
Relocation Factor: I:20038300 - D:20038300I'm basically clueless, so I type in help:
Code:
CFE> help
Available commands:
ptable save Save flash partition table.
ptable clear Clear flash partition table.
ptable del Delete flash partition table.
ptable add Delete flash partition.
ptable show Show flash partition table.
@ Boot VxWorks
c Change the VxWorks boot string
p Parse and display VxWorks boot string
M Show or set Ethernet MAC address
reset Reset the system.
import nvram Import env variabled to Vxworks NVRAM
pcicw Write PCI config space
pcicr Read PCI config space
pciw Write PCI memory
pcir Read PCI memory
phy set Set the value of a PHY register
phy dump Dump the registers on the PHY
write msr write MSR register.
write hid0 write HID0 register.
read msr read MSR register.
read hid0 read HID0 register.
crash cause an exception
test timer Test the timer
set date Set current date
set time Set current time
set console Change the active console device
sleep Wait for some period of time
loop Loop a command
flash Update a flash memory device
memtest Test memory.
f Fill contents of memory.
e Modify contents of memory.
d Dump memory.
u Disassemble instructions.
pci dump Dump PCI configuration space.
reserve Mark a region of memory as reserved
autoboot Automatic system bootstrap.
batch Load a batch file into memory and execute it
go Start a previously loaded program.
boot Load an executable file into memory and execute it
load Load an executable file into memory without executing it
save Save a region of memory to a remote file via TFTP
ping Ping a remote IP host.
arp Display or modify the ARP Table
ifconfig Configure the Ethernet interface
show flash Display information about a flash device.
show time Display current time according to RTC
show pci Display information about PCI buses and devices
show heap Display information about CFE's heap
show memory Display the system physical memory map.
show devices Display information about the installed devices.
sizeenv Get environment space size information.
clearenv Clear environment variables.
unsetenv Delete an environment variable.
printenv Display the environment variables
setenv Set an environment variable.
help Obtain help for CFE commands
For more information about a command, enter 'help command-name'
*** command status = 0I didn't play around with it any further, as I have neither the experience nor the knowledge regarding VxWorks and the like.
Needless to say, I would love to get it to work, as 10GbE switches tend to be very expensive and I got lucky on this one (provided that it actually works).
I was hoping some of you more knowledgable folks could help me out here
Thank you very much in advance and sorry for the long post!
